GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE

Geospatial information plays an increasingly important role in many cutting-edge industries, including agriculture, engineering, environmental science, disaster recovery, health, social science, and digital humanities. The U.S. Department of Labor has defined geospatial technologies as one of the major areas of job growth in the coming decade, with a recent survey showing that the average salary for people with related GIS certification is $10k more than those who do not. A systematical training in geospatial information skills not only allows students to integrate data from various domains but also provides them additional analytical methods to reveal relationships that may not be obvious in traditional analyses.

At Purdue University, geospatial information have been applied in all the academic units. Students enrolled in this Certificate Program will not only learn about GIS from introduction to advanced analysis, but also have the opportunity to apply geospatial information in a variety of disciplinary projects. Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies is pleased to be the home for the Graduate Certificate Program in Geospatial Information Science (GIS).


The Graduate Certificate Program in Geospatial Information Science will provide a systematic training program in the area of geospatial information application, analysis, and management for post-baccalaureate students of all disciplines. The program will help students secure fundamental knowledge and skills in acquiring, integrating, analyzing, evaluating, and managing geospatial information across multiple disciplines, in addition to exploring advanced topics in their own application areas.

The program will include four 3-credit courses in four different categories: introduction courses, advanced topics, application courses, and a project-based practice course. These courses are offered from various departments on campus with the goal to provide a complete yet flexible learning system for students to get systematic training.

The certificate is available for both currently enrolled degree seeking students and nondegree seeking students.

  1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
  2. Official transcripts for every higher education institution attended (in English)
    • Includes Purdue transcript if current Purdue graduate student (unofficial copy is acceptable)
  3. Recommendation letter from a supervisor
  4. CV/Resume with cover letter
  5. English proficiency (for international students)
  6. No GRE required
  7. Note: Per US regulations, a student visa cannot be issued for a residential certificate program only. Non-dual program applicants will need to already reside in the US before being accepted into the GIS graduate certificate program.

Introductory Course (choose one 3-credit course from this category)

ASM 540: GIS Applications
CE 508: Geographic Info Systems
ILS 595: GIS Research Methods
ANTH 523: GIS for Humanities and Social Science Research

Advanced Topics Course (choose one 3-credit course from this category)

AAE 523: Introduction to Remote Sensing
AGRY 545: Remote Sensing of Land Resources
FNR 558: Remote Sensing Analysis and Applications
CE 507: Geospatial Data Analytics
CE 597: Geospatial Modeling and Analysis
CS 531: Computational Geometry
EAPS 507: Introduction to Analysis and Computing with Geoscience Data
CGT 670: Applications in Visual Analytics
ILS 595: Geodata science with ArcGIS&python
STAT 598: Applied Spatial Statistics

Geospatial Information Application Course (choose one 3-credit course from this category)

ABE 527: Computer Models in Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering
ABE 529: Nonpoint Source Pollution Engineering
ABE 651: Environmental Informatics
AGRY 565: Soils and Landscapes
FNR 598: Advanced Spatial Ecology and GIS
AAE 575: Introduction to Satellite Navigation and Positioning
CE 549: Computational Watershed Hydrology
CE 506: Adjustment of Geospatial Observations
CE 503: Digital Photogrammetric System
CE 525: Built Environment Modeling
ANTH 605: Seminar in Ethnographic Analysis
ANTH 641: Discovery and Design: Making Projects Work
EAPS 527: Principles Of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
EAPS 541: Geodetic Data and Applications
EAPS 577: Remote Sensing of the Planets
CGT 575: Data Visualization Tools and Applications
AT 519: Aviation GIS Applications

Project-based Practice Course

ILS 590: Independent Study – GIS Capstone Experience

  1. Understand the principle and value of using and curating geospatial information.
  2. Understand the key concepts of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
  3. Be able to apply the geospatial information and research methods to the students’ research area.
  4. Be able to efficiently acquire, evaluate, and integrate geospatial from multiple sources.
  5. Be able to produce professional spatial data visualization products, including professional maps, web maps or apps, and mobile maps/apps
  6. Be able to efficiently manage spatial data using coherent/standardized way, and document the datasets.
  7. Understand several spatial analysis methods that are relevant to the students’ research area.
  8. Demonstrate abilities to plan, design and implement a GIS project.

Name: Shirley Li
Title: GIS Instructional Coordinator
Phone: 765-494-0202
Email: li1050@purdue.edu
Address: WALC 3053L

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