Program Overview

Geographic Information Science Graduate Certificate

The Geographic Information Science Graduate Certificate is offered by Oregon State University. This certificate program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of Geographic Information Science (GIScience), which combines theory and principles underlying geospatial data collection, technologies to manage and analyze geospatial data, computational methods to analyze and model geospatial data, cartography and geovisualization, and 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, conservation, public health, urban planning, and many others.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate skill in integrative spatial thinking and effective implementation of various spatial analysis methods, as well as collaborative learning across several sub-disciplines within the GIScience field.
• Develop solid grounding in GIScience technology and the appropriate application of that technology (software, data collection instruments and devices).
• Express familiarity with a wide variety of research applications, management and decision-support scenarios, with the capacity to apply knowledge to natural resource problems at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.

Requirements

The certificate requires a total of 23 credits.

• Background Course:
  • GEOG 370: CARTOGRAPHY 1 (4 credits)
• Required Core:
  • GEOG 560: GISCIENCE I: INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE (4 credits)
  • GEOG 580: REMOTE SENSING I: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS (4 credits)
• Electives:
  • Select 11 credits from the following list:
    • CE 513: GIS IN WATER RESOURCES
    • CE 562: DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELING
    • CE 566: 3D LASER SCANNING AND IMAGING
    • CS 553: SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION
    • CS 554: GEOMETRIC MODELING IN COMPUTER GRAPHICS
    • FE 523: UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM REMOTE SENSING
    • FOR 510/GEOG 510: INTERNSHIP (1 or more credits with advisor approval)
    • GEOG 551: PLANNING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES
    • GEOG 561: GISCIENCE II: ANALYSIS AND APPLICATIONS
    • GEOG 562: GISCIENCE III: PROGRAMMING FOR GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS
    • GEOG 563: GISCIENCE IV: SPATIAL MODELING
    • GEOG 564: GEOSPATIAL PERSPECTIVES ON INTELLIGENCE, SECURITY AND ETHICS
    • GEOG 565: SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION IN ECOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCE
    • GEOG 566: ADVANCED SPATIAL STATISTICS AND GISCIENCE
    • GEOG 571: ADVANCED WEB MAPPING
    • GEOG 572: GEOVISUALIZATION: GEOVISUAL ANALYTICS
    • GEOG 581: SATELLITE IMAGE ANALYSIS
    • H 547: GIS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
    • H 592: SPATIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
    • OC 678: OCEAN REMOTE SENSING
    • SOIL 568: SOIL LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS
    • ST 565: TIME SERIES
    • ST 567: SPATIAL STATISTICS

Additional Courses

The following courses may count towards elective credits after consulting with and receiving approval from the program director:

• CE 501: RESEARCH
• CE 560: SELECTED TOPICS IN GEOMATICS ENGINEERING
• CS 519: SELECTED TOPICS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
• CS 549: SELECTED TOPICS ON DATA SCIENCE & SYSTEMS
• GEO 501: RESEARCH
• GEOG 501: RESEARCH
• GEOG 599: SPECIAL STUDIES
• GEOG 699: SPECIAL STUDIES

Admission Criteria

Students must have completed GEOG 370 or have equivalent introductory cartography experience. The course can either be completed prior to starting the certificate program or pursued in tandem with the other courses in the certificate.