OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Humans have been making maps since we learned to walk upright, from stick drawings in the Stone Age to cutting-edge satellite imagery in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Images of landscapes and neighborhoods, continents and oceans, help us understand the world around us, and each other, in new ways. Geographic Information Science (GIScience) combines theory and principles underlying geospatial data collection and analysis with modeling, map-making and the human dimensions of such data collection. The Oregon State Undergraduate GIS Certificate, consisting of 27 credit hours added on to any other degree, or 27 credit hours as a standalone post-bacc, will empower students to use geospatial data to analyze environmental and social issues. Certificate holders will be in demand as spatial analysts in the government, environmental, health, agricultural, construction, and tech sectors, among others. Read on for information about degree requirements and curriculum.
Geographic Information Science Curriculum Worksheet
This certificate is available to all OSU undergraduate degree-seeking students (in good standing), in any major and any degree program. Make an appointment with a CEOAS advisor to discuss or declare the GIScience Certificate.
This certificate is also available to post-baccalaureate students. If you have already earned an undergraduate degree and would like to pursue the certificate:
Learning Outcomes: Students in Geographic Information Science shall:
Program director, Kuuipo Ann Walsh
Employment opportunities in GISciences have grown substantially over the last 10 years. With a GIScience certificate, students will be more in-demand than ever.
Michael G. Wing
Associate Professor, Senior Research; PhD, Oregon State University; spatial applications and environmental research, stream habitat, visibility analysis, GIS, remote sensing, spatial statistics. Email: Michael.Wing at oregonstate.edu
Robert Kennedy
Professor, CEOAS; PhD, Oregon State University; Geospatial analysis, remote sensing, modeling, landscape ecology, disturbance dynamics, computational methods. Email: rkennedy at coas.oregonstate.edu
Kuuipo Walsh
Program Director, Undergraduate, Graduate, and Online Grad Certificate Adviser, Faculty Research Assistant; MS, Oregon State University; marine and coastal GIS, particularly spatial analysis, metadata, and web GIS. Email: Kuuipo.Walsh at oregonstate.edu
Jamon Van Den Hoek
Associate Professor, CEOAS; PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison; using large volume satellite imagery, open source programming, machine learning, and social datasets to examine interrelationships between land degradation, environmental resource deprivation, and social conflict. Email: jvandenhoek at coas.oregonstate.edu
Arras, Tracy
Instructor, Civil Engineering. MS, California State University-Fresno; GIS, remote sensing, image processing. Email: arrast at engr.oregonstate.edu
Bailey, Mike
Professor, School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. PhD, Purdue University; Scientific visualization, solid freeform fabrication, design for manufacturing and assembly, geometric modeling, stereographics/virtual reality, hardcopy, color theory, and user interaction. Email: mjb at eecs.oregonstate.edu
Becker, Lorene Yokoyama
Senior Instructor II, CEOAS. MS, University of Wisconsin-Madison; GIS, environmental conservation, decision-support systems. Email: lorene.yokoyama_becker at geo.oregonstate.edu
Hystad, Perry
Assistant Professor, College of Public Health and Human Sciences; PhD, University of British Columbia; Spatial exposure assessment methods to determine the chronic health effects associated with exposure to air pollution, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancer. Email: perry.hystad at oregonstate.edu
Jones, Julia A.
Distinguished Professor, CEOAS. PhD, Johns Hopkins University; spatial analysis in ecology and CEOAS, soils, geomorphology, effects of land use on forest hydrology. Email: geojulia at comcast.net
Kennedy, Robert
Professor, CEOAS; PhD, Oregon State University; Geospatial analysis, remote sensing, modeling, landscape ecology, disturbance dynamics, computational methods. Email: rkennedy at coas.oregonstate.edu
Kiser, Jim
Lecturer, Forest Engineering, Resoures & Management. MS, Oregon State University; GPS, photogrammetry, laser technologies, commercial thinning operations and damage. Email: jim.kiser at oregonstate.edu
Lybrand, Rebecca
Assistant Professor, Department of Crop and Soil Science. PhD, University of Arizona; Pedology in the Critical Zone. Email: rebecca.lybrand at oregonstate.edu
Nelson, Peder
Senior Instructor I / Senior Faculty Research Assistant II, CEOAS. Remote sensing, GIS, satellite imagery, automated visualization and analysis. Email: peder.nelson at oregonstate.edu
Olsen, Mike
Assistant Professor, Civil & Construction Engineering. PhD, University of California, San Diego; geomatics engineering, digital terrain modeling, applications of terrestrial laser scanning and GIS to earthquake, liquefaction, and coastal hazards. Email: michael.olsen at oregonstate.edu
Park, Jihye
Assistant Professor, Civil and Construction Engineering. Phd, The Ohio State University; Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning/navigation and GNSS remote sensing. Email: jihye.park at oregonstate.edu
Parrish, Christopher
Associate Professor, Civil & Construction Engineering. PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Full-waveform LiDAR, topographic-bathymetric LiDAR, hyperspectral imagery, uncertainty modeling, and UAVs for coastal applications. Email:christopher.parrish at oregonstate.edu
Reuter, Ron
Associate Professor, Natural Resources, OSU Cascades Campus, Bend. PhD, University of Minnesota; soils and landscape ecology, forest resources, GIS. Email: ron.reuter at oregonstate.edu
Ripple, William J.
Professor, Forest Ecosystems & Society. PhD, Oregon State University; remote sensing, GIS. Email: bill.ripple at oregonstate.edu
Wing, Michael
Associate Professor, Senior Research, Forest Engineering, Resources & Management. PhD, Oregon State University; spatial applications and environmental research, stream habitat, visibility analysis, GIS, remote sensing, spatial statistics. Email: Michael.Wing at oregonstate.edu
Zhao, Bo
Courtesy, Associate Professor at University of Washington, Department of Geography; ; PhD, Ohio State University; Cartography, geo-visualization and analysis of big data and the critical evaluation of behaviors and dynamics in space and time. Email: zhao2 at oregonstate.edu
Ashkenas, Linda
Senior Faculty Research Assistant, Fisheries and Wildlife (GIS, stream ecology, environmental history). Email: Linda.Ashkenas at oregonstate.edu
Boggess, William G.
Professor and Chair of Agricultural and Resource Economics. PhD, Iowa State University; interactions between agriculture and the environment (water allocation, groundwater contamination, surface water pollution, water and environmental policy); applied decision theory under risk and uncertainty, stochastic/dynamic simulation and optimization techniques. Email: bill.boggess at oregonstate.edu
Bolte, John P.
Associate Professor, Bioengineering. PhD, Auburn University; mathematical modeling and simulation of agricultural, aquacultural and environmental systems, GIS-based spatial modeling, artificial intelligence applications in bioresource management. Email: boltej at engr.orst.edu
Cohen, Warren
Research Forester, USDA Forest Service PNRS. PhD, Colorado State University; remote sensing, scaling field-based ecological information to landscape and regional levels, forest structure. Email: Warren.Cohen at oregonstate.edu
Coop, Len
Assistant Professor Senior Research, Botany and Plant Pathology. PhD, Oregon State University; integrated pest management, decision support systems, phenology and systems modeling, GIS, the web, and IPM delivery systems. Email: coopl at bcc.orst.edu
Daly, Chris
Professor, Senior Research, Chemical, Biological & Environmental Engineering . PhD, Oregon State University; climatology, meteorology, author of the PRISM climate parameter expert system. Email: chris.daly at oregonstate.edu
Dietterich, Tom
Professor, Computer Science. PhD, Stanford University; adaptive computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence. Email: tgd at cs.orst.edu
Edwards, Mark
Associate Professor, Sociology. PhD, University of Washington; research methods and statistics, stratification, GIS and society. Email: medwards at oregonstate.edu
Fern, Xiaoli
Associate Professor, School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. PhD, Purdue University; Machine learning, data mining and knowledge discovery. Email: xfern at eecs.oregonstate.edu
Freilich, Michael H.
Professor, CEOAS. PhD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; surface wave modeling, nearshore processes, microwave ocean remote sensing. Email: mhf at coas.oregonstate.edu
Goldfinger, Chris
Professor, CEOAS. PhD, Oregon State University; seafloor imaging, mapping and visualization, marine GIS, subduction earthquakes, accretion and erosion of active margins. Email: gold at coas.oregonstate.edu
Good, James W.
Professor Emeritus, CEOAS, Marine Resource Management Program. PhD, Oregon State University; coastal erosion/shoreline management, urban waterfront development, coastal hazards, wetlands management. Email: jgood at coas.oregonstate.edu
Grant, Gordon
Research Hydrologist U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Research Station and Courtesy Professor of Geosciences. PhD, Johns Hopkins University; fluvial geomorphology of mountain-forest streams. Email: grantg at fsl.orst.edu
Hannaway, David
Professor, Crop and Soil Science. PhD, University of Kentucky; forage crops, GIS-based mapping technologies for climate, soils, and species characteristics. Email: david.hannaway at oregonstate.edu
Hunter-Zaworski, Kate
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Director, National Center for Accessible Transportation. PhD, Oregon State University; transportation engineering, transportation GIS. Email: hunterz at engr.orst.edu
Jackson, Philip L.
Professor Emeritus, CEOAS. PhD, University of Kansas; climatology, physical geography, land-resource planning and management, natural hazards policy. Email: jacksonp at geo.oregonstate.edu
James, Corrine
Faculty Research Assistant, CEOAS (Remote Sensing). Email: corrine at coas.oregonstate.edu
Keon, Dylan
GIS Research Specialist, Northwest Alliance for Computational Science. Email: keon at nacse.org
Lancaster, Stephen
Associate Professor, CEOAS. PhD, MIT; fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, GIS. Email: Stephen.Lancaster at oregonstate.edu
Meyers, S. Mark
Faculty Research Assistant, CEOAS (GIS, geographical analysis, wildlife science). Email: meyerss at geo.oregonstate.edu
Noller, Jay
Professor, Crop and Soil Science. PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder; landscape pedology, soil geomorphology, GIS. Email: jay.noller at oregonstate.edu
Olsen, Mike
Assistant Professor, Civil & Construction Engineering. PhD, University of California, San Diego; geomatics engineering, digital terrain modeling, applications of terrestrial laser scanning and GIS to earthquake, liquefaction, and coastal hazards. Email: michael.olsen at oregonstate.edu
Pancake, Cherri
Professor and Intel Faculty Fellow, Computer Science. PhD, Auburn University; usability engineering, parallel processing, user interfaces, distributed databases and computing, Director of Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering. Email: pancake at cs.orst.edu
Reitsma, Rene
Professor, College of Business. PhD, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands; cartography of information space, information systems, information management. Email: reitsmar at bus.oregonstate.edu
Schultz, Robert, J.
Professor, Civil Engineering. MSCE, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; cadastral, geodetic, and photogrammetric surveying. Email: robert.schultz@oregonstate.edu
Spies, Thomas A.
Professor, Forest Ecosystems & Society. PhD, University of Michigan; landscape ecology, ecology and management of old-growth forests, forest succession. Email: spiest at fsl.orst.edu
Turner, David P.
Professor, Senior Research, Forest Ecosystems & Society. PhD, Washington State University; biogenic emissions, global ecology. Email: turnerd at fsl.orst.edu
Vincent, Paul
Associate Professor, Senior Research, CEOAS. PhD, University of Colorado; Surface deformation measurements using terrestrial and satellite geodesy; advanced InSAR techniques; coupled, multi-physics source characterization; dynamic simulations. Email: pvincent@coas.oregonstate.edu
White, Denis
Faculty Research Associate, CEOAS, (GIS, cartography, geographic analysis and synthesis). Email: white.denis at epa.gov
Wright, Dawn J.
Founder of the GIScience Certificate Program. Chief Scientist at Esri and Courtesy Professor at CEOAS; PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara; GIS, marine and coastal geography, mid-ocean ridges, geography of cyberspace. Email: dwright at esri.com
What Can I Do with My Certificate (PDF on Box)
Many Oregon State Geographic Information Science certificate students go on to graduate programs in geospatial science, geography, natural resources, and more, while others enter the work force right away. Recent Oregon State Geographic Information Science certificate students are now employed at:
