Fall 2020 GIS Courses

The Geography Program is offering several exciting GIS remote-learning courses for the Fall 2020 term. To register, contact the instructor via the link, or, if you're a student, register using SPIRE.

Classes start Monday, August 24th, 2020 and will be held on state and federal holidays as per the revised UMass Academic Calendar for this semester.

Introduction to GIS

GEOG 593G / NRC 585 / SPP 697B

Dr. Forrest Bowlick

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/GEOGRAPH/593G/01 https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/NRC/585/01 https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/SPP/697B/01

The goals of this course are to teach you basic GIS concepts such as spatial data sources and structures, projections and coordinate systems, geospatial analysis, cartographic modeling, and the integration of remote sensing and GIS. By the end of the course, students will be proficient in ESRI ArcGIS software.

Spatial Decision Making and Support

GEOG 493S/693S

Dr. Seda Şalap-Ayça

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/GEOGRAPH/493S/01

Seeing interactive / intelligent maps around and wondering how those can be integrated in your decision-making process? Are you interested in learning Python to solve spatial decision-making problems? What about spatial uncertainty and showing it to establish the confidence in your results? By delving int Python scripting first, and then constructing the decision-masking fundamentals, this course will help you to lean anything you wonder about spatial decision making!

GIS Programming

GEOG 491P/691P

Dr. Seda Şalap-Ayça

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/GEOGRAPH/491P/01 I

f you are a GIS User already, learning Python will expand your capabilities! In this course, you will be introduced to lots of useful Python libraries, ArcGIS Pro tools, and stand-alone scripting examples which will elevate your GIS experience. If you would like to build spatial models to automate your workflow, learn ArcPy to excel in geoprocessing, and write standalone tools to make your geospatial analysis independent, this course is just right for you!

Spatial Databases & Data Interoperability

ECO 697DD

Alexander Stepanov

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/ECO/697DD/01

This course will introduce students to modern approaches in working, managing and sharing geospatial data. The course focuses on exposing students to state-of-the-art practices in retrieving/selecting, aggregating, analyzing and processing geospatial data from multiple heterogeneous sources and technologies, such as relational databases (RDBMS), spatially enabled RDBMS, NoSQL databases, file-based databases, CAD, BIM, web-services, web-APIs, XML-based spatial data, GeoJSON, KML, cloud-based repositories and open data hubs.

Remote Sensing & Image Interpretation

GEOGRAPH 426/626

Dr. Qian Yu

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/GEOGRAPH/426/01

This course introduces the principles of digital image analysis for interpreting remotely sensed data for environmental, resource and urban studies. Emphasis will be given to the processing and information extraction from optical and thermal imagery.

Teaching and Learning in GIS

GEOG 593T

Dr. Forrest Bowlick

https://www.fivecolleges.edu/courses/UM/2020/FALL/GEOGRAPH/593T/01

Students in this course will learn about the pedagogy behind GIS curriculum and instruction through practice as lab assistants in an introductory GIS course. Alongside readings establishing evidence-based practices in GIS instruction, students will work to identify barriers and frustrations for GIS learners, and ways to overcome them.