Program Overview

Geographic Information Science Certificate

The Geographic Information Science Certificate is offered by Oregon State University, providing undergraduate and graduate students with a comprehensive understanding of Geographic Information Science (GIScience). GIScience is a discipline that combines theory and principles underlying geospatial data collection, technologies to manage and analyze geospatial data, computational methods to analyze and model geospatial data, digital cartography and geovisualization, and cognitive, social, and environmental implications of GIScience.

Program Overview

The OSU GIScience certificate can help lead to certification as a nationally-recognized geographic information systems (GIS) professional (GISP). GIS professionals are in high demand for jobs in government, NGOs, and the private sector, and have rewarding careers in natural resource management, online and interactive mapping, business, planning, and many others.

Course Requirements

The certificate requires the following courses:

• Required Core:
  • FE 208: Forest Surveying (4 hours)
  • GEOG 201: Foundations of Geospatial Science and GIS (4 hours)
• Select one of the following:
  • GEOG 360: GIScience I: Geographic Information Systems and Theory (3-4 hours)
  • FE 257: GIS and Forest Engineering Applications (3-4 hours)
  • CE 202: Civil Engineering: Geospatial Information and GIS (3-4 hours)
  • GEOG 370: Geovisualization: Cartography (4 hours)
  • GEOG 480: Remote Sensing I: Principles and Applications (4 hours)
• Electives: Select 7-8 credits from the following:
  • CE 413: GIS in Water Resources
  • CROP 414/HORT 414: Precision Agriculture
  • ECE 468: Digital Image Processing
  • ENSC 410: Environmental Science Internship (1 or more)
  • FOR 410: Internship
  • GEO 410: Internship
  • GEOG 410: Internship
  • FE 209: Forest Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
  • FE 310: Forest Route Surveying
  • FE 423: Unmanned Aircraft System Remote Sensing
  • FW 303: Survey of Geographic Information Systems in Natural Resource
  • GEO 401: Research
  • GEOG 401: Research
  • GEO 403: Thesis
  • GEOG 403: Thesis
  • GEOG 361: GIScience II: Analysis and Applications
  • GEOG 371: Geovisualization: Web Mapping
  • GEOG 451: Planning Principles and Practices for Resilient Communities
  • GEOG 462: GIScience III: Programming for Geospatial Analysis
  • GEOG 463: GIScience IV: Spatial Modeling
  • GEOG 464: Geospatial Perspectives on Intelligence, Security, and Ethics
  • GEOG 472: Geovisualization: Geovisual Analytics
  • GEOG 481: Remote Sensing II: Digital Image Processing
  • RNG 430: Applied GIS in Rangeland Science
  • SOIL 468: Soil Landscape Analysis

Career Opportunities

GIS professionals are in high demand for jobs in government, NGOs, and the private sector, and have rewarding careers in natural resource management, online and interactive mapping, business, planning, and many others. The OSU GIScience certificate can help lead to certification as a nationally-recognized geographic information systems (GIS) professional (GISP).