Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Geoinformatics
Geoinformatics is the science of measuring, storing, organizing, analyzing and visualizing data related to phenomena occurring on or near the earth’s surface. Geoinformatics is, therefore, inherently interdisciplinary and includes concepts from measurement technologies (e.g. remote sensing), geographic information science, statistics, dynamic modeling and simulation, and computer science. Geographic location, with its associated attributes and processes, tie these domains together in the context of geoinformatics. Faculty from the departments of Geography, Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, Computer Science, Urban and Regional Planning, and Geoscience have teamed up to offer a Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Geoinformatics to help students across campus, and those already in the workforce, develop expertise in this rapidly growing field. Certificate requirements are described below.
Coursework
The Geoinformatics Certificate program is a subtrack option within the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Informatics (IGPI). All students enrolled in IGPI subtracks must complete the “Foundation of Informatics” core requirements. These requirements include the following:
Introductory informatics coursework (3 s.h.)
22C: 104 Introduction to Informatics
Programming coursework (3 s.h.), either:
22C:109 Programming Languages and Tools, or
051:123 Bioinformatics Techniques
Data handling coursework select one from (3 s.h.):
06K:272 Database Analysis and Design
06K: 275 Knowledge Discovery
21:124 Database Systems
22C:144 Database Systems
22C:244 Database System Implementation
171:161 Introduction to Biostatistics
22S:152 Applied Linear Regression
22S:164 Applied Statistics I
22S:166 Computing in Statistics
In addition to the 9 s.h. of foundation courses, students pursuing the geoinformatics certificate must take 12s.h. of disciplinary requirements (for a total of 21 s.h.)
All geoinformatics students will take:
Introduction to Geoinformatics, 3 s.h., new course
For the remaining 9 s.h. students will in consultation with their geoinformatics advisor and committee select from the following courses:
From the Department of Geography
44:105 (Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing, 3 s.h.
44:109 Introduction to Geographic Visualization, 3 s.h.
44:110 GIS for Environmental Studies: Introduction, 3 s.h.
44:112 Mapping American Cities and Regions, 3 s.h.
44:125 Environmental Impact Analysis, 3 s.h.
44:128 GIS for Environmental Studies: Applications, 3 s.h.
44:134 Health and Environment: GIS and Spatial Analysis, 3 s.h.
44:137 Environment and Health – GIS Applications, 3 s.h
44:139 Spatial Analysis & Location Models, 3 s.h.
44:141 Introduction to Geographic Databases, 3 s.h.
44:145 Advanced Geographic Remote Sensing, 3 s.h.
44:188/12:178 Applied Geostatistics , 3 s.h.
44:241 Integrating Time in GIS, 3 s.h.
44:243 Modeling space and time, 3 s.h.
44:296 Topics in Geographic Information Science, 3 s.h.
From the Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning
102:224 Spatial patterns, networks and dynamics, 3 s.h.
102:215 Applied GIS for Planners, 3 s.h.
102:217 Spatial Analysis in Planning, 3 s.h.
102:218 GIS for Local Government, 1 s.h.
102:220 Virtual Reality and Urban Development, 3 s.h.
102:262 Transportation Demand Analysis, 3 s.h.
From the Department of Geoscience
12:110 Introduction to Applied Remote Sensing, 4 s.h.
12:153 Geocomputing, 1-3 s.h.
12:178 /44:188 Applied Geostatistics, 3 s.h.
From the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences
22S:167 Environmental and Spatial Statistics, 3 s.h.
Affiliated faculty in sponsoring departments
Faculty in the sponsoring programs of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, Geoscience, and Statistics who are actively engaged in geoinformatics research and teaching include:
Marc Armstrong, Professor, Geography
David Bennett, Associate Professor, Geography
Kate Cowles, Associate Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science
Charles "Tom" Foster, Professor, Geoscience
Richard Funderburg - Asst Professor, Urban and Regional Planning
Paul Hanley, Associate Professor, Urban and Regional Planning
Naresh Kumar, Assistant Professor, Geography
Marc Linderman, Assistant Professor, Geography
George Malanson, Professor, Geography
Claire Pavlik, Lecturer, Geography
Raj Rajagopal, Professor, Geography
Gerard Rushton, Professor, Geography
Kathleen Stewart, Associate Professor, Geography
You-Kuan Zhang, Professor, Geoscience
Dale Zimmerman, Professor, Statistics and Actuarial Science
Student Status and Advisory Committee
Candidates for the geoinformatics certificate sub-tract must be in good academic standing in an existing graduate degree program. At the point of admission to the geoinformatics subtrack, the subtrack Coordinating Committee works with the student to appoint an advisor and to form a committee of no less than three members (including the advisor). This committee will be drawn from the faculty affiliated with the geoinformatics certificate. Each student, in consultation with his or her committee will prepare a plan of study that is reviewed at least once a year and revised if necessary, until all coursework necessary for the Certificate in Informatics (Geoinformatics) is completed. The student’s advisory committee has the authority to restrict the set of core and discipline-specific courses available to the student, and to substitute discipline-specific options as appropriate. Core coursework must be selected from the approved list of core coursework. When that list is inadequate, the Graduate College can be petitioned to add specific courses to the approved list of core coursework. Motions to add specific courses to the approved core-coursework list must be approved by the IGPI advisory committee prior to reaching the Graduate College.
Special admissions requirements
There are no special admission requirements.
Departmental resources
The Department of Geography maintains a 25 seat state of the art geographic information system teaching (GIS) laboratory (GISIL, JH 243) and a research computing cluster of 12 computers (3rd floor Jessup Hall). All of these computers are equipped with GIS, remote sensing, and statistical software. High and medium quality GPS equipment, spectrometers, and over 4TB of data storage are also available.
The Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning hosts an ITC with 14 machines all equipped with GIS and related software.
The Department of Geoscience maintains six computer laboratories in Trowbridge Hall that contain a total 80 computers. Remote sensing software is available in all of these machines.
