Need credits? Want skills? Consider taking Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) online this summer.
GIS is much more than just making maps on a computer. By evaluating the relationship between spatial information, you can identify the best location for a new housing 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.
This three-credit course aims to teach students basic GIS concepts such as spatial data sources and structures, projections and coordinate systems, data editing and creation, and geospatial analysis. The 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. It involves the hands-on use of the software product ArcGIS on a Windows PC platform.
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 May 19 to June 27. It is open to graduate and undergraduate students, as well as career professionals. Enrollment opens March 17.