Environmental GIS

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Geographic Information Science (GIS) has emerged as a powerful data visualization and analysis discipline. This course investigates how GIS is currently being used to understand better and address environmental problems, as well as manage and conserve natural resources. Specific topics include air pollution, climate change, biodiversity conservation, forest management, soils management and agriculture, natural hazards, water resources, environmental challenges in the urban environment, and alternative energy production. This course introduces the key concepts and skills of GIS, including coordinate and project systems, building geodatabases, and collecting spatial data, with a specific focus on environmental applications. The students will learn to critically evaluate maps and environmental datasets. Students will have the opportunity to conduct their independent research or work on case studies relevant to the course topics, using GIS data.