圣路易斯大学

Saint Louis University’s master’s program in geographic information science addresses an increasing demand for professionals with geospatial science skills. It offers a combination of geospatial theory and practical training.

The interdisciplinary Master of Science (M.S.) in Geographic Information Science (GIScience), also known as Geospatial Science, from Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Saint Louis University, is offered in cooperation with Department of Sociology and Anthropology and other departments that offer GIScience courses (e.g., Department of Biology). The program combines geospatial theory and practical training in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and global positioning system software. The program prepares students to become experts well qualified to meet the increasing demand for experts in geospatial analysis. As an interdisciplinary program, the M.S. in GIScience focuses on research to address environmental, social and economic issues.

Students apply GIS, remote sensing, geovisualization, spatial analysis and statistics, database management and GIS programming within natural science, social science and integrative human-environment domains using innovative technologies and software programs (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS, ENVI+IDL, SARscape, Python, GeoDA, R).

Curriculum Overview

Students in the program choose from three completion options:

• A coursework-only, no-thesis option for students who do not plan to pursue a doctoral degree or academic career
• A coursework-plus-research-project option for students who wish to enhance their geospatial research skills in a particular area
• A coursework-plus-thesis option for students who plan to pursue a doctoral degree or academic career

Other program highlights:

• Curriculum informed by the Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge (GIS&T BoK),
• Late-afternoon or evening classes that accommodate working professionals
• Instructors with advanced degrees who work and conduct research in the field
• State-of-the-art research labs equipped with modern computing, commercial and open-source software tools, various remote sensing sensors, and manned and unmanned aircrafts

Careers

Graduates from SLU’s GIS master’s program have a very good employment outlook. According to the Geospatial Information and Technology Association, employment in this field is growing at an annual rate of almost 35 percent, with the commercial subsection of the market expanding by 100 percent each year.

Recent graduates from this program have been employed by various environmental, remote sensing and GIS companies, including Monsanto, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).