Geographic Information Systems (GIS) programs allow you collect, manage, display and analyze geographic data. Understanding GIS is valuable in today’s competitive and tech-dependent job market. This summer, graduate students, undergrads and professionals can all gain a basic knowledge of this important tool through an online introductory GIS course.
GIS is much more than just making geographic maps using a computer! By evaluating the relationship between different spatial information you can identify the best location for new development, locate pollution point sources, find the easiest way to get from point A to point B, and develop a better understanding of the way the world interacts around us.
The goals of this three-credit course are to teach you basic GIS concepts such as spatial data sources and structures, projections and coordinate systems, data editing and creation, and geospatial analysis. This course is designed with environmental applications of GIS in mind, but is relevant for students in almost any field that deals with place-based information and is widely used in public policy and administration settings. It involves the hands-on use of the software product ArcGIS on a Windows PC platform.
This is a great opportunity to learn from a team with both practical and research experience in applied information management as it relates to environmental policy. Associate Professor Charles Schweik (environmental conservation and public policy) has taught classes like this for more than 12 years. He is also the associate director of the National Center for Digital Government and is an affiliated researcher with the Science, Technology and Society Initiative; both of which are housed within CPPA. Co-instructor Walter Jaslanek is an environmental conservation Ph.D. candidate at UMass Amherst who has more than a decade of hands-on professional experience working with GIS and related technologies.
The course runs from July 8 to August 16. Enrollment opens March 18.