GIS Certificate Requirements

The certificate will be awarded when a student passes 15 credits of the following courses. All courses are 3 cr unless otherwise noted; *indicates courses available on-line

Required Courses:

• Geog 385 GIS Primer* (3 credits, Fall, Spring, Summer)
• Geog 475 Intermediate GIS (3 credits, Spring)

Choose three of the following elective courses: 

• Geography 390 Cartographic Design and Geographic Visualization (Fall)
• Geography 402 GIS Skills Development (1 cr, intermittent)
• Geography 407/507 Spatial Analysis & Modeling (alternate yrs)
• Geography 414 Socioeconomic Apps in GIS (alternate yrs)
  Geography 424/524 Hydrologic Application of GIS & Remote Sensing* (Fall)
• Geography 479 GIS Programming (Fall)
• Geography 483/583 Remote Sensing/ GIS Integration (Spring)
• Geography 487/587 Topics in Geospatial Analysis (intermittent)
• LARC 395 GIS Applications in Land Planning 1
• FOR/NRS 375 Intro to Spatial Analysis for Natural Resources (Fall, Spring)
• REM407 GIS Applications in Fire Ecology and Management* (2 cr hrs, Spring)
• Other courses as approved by the department

Note: Curriculum requires 15 credits, 9 or more credits of which must be taken in GEOG courses at the University of Idaho (i.e., up to 6 cr can be from other universities or from the courses in the list above from other departments). All required coursework for an undergraduate academic certificate must be completed with a grade of 'C' or better unless the certificate specifies a higher grade requirement. 

Course Descriptions

• Geog 385 GIS Primer (3 credits): Intro to basic concepts and applications geographic information systems (GIS), lab exercises on PC-based GIS packages. 
• Geog 475 Intermediate GIS (3 credits): Course covers in-depth geographic information systems models and applications. Topics include network analysis, watershed analysis, spatial interpolation, terrain mapping and analysis, 3D visualization, and GIS modeling. Students develop spatial analysis and modeling skills to solve real-world problems.
• Geog 390 Cartographic Design & Geovisualization (3 credits): Map projections, map generalization, cartographic design, map symbology, and typographic; statistical, isarithmic and multivariate mapping, static versus dynamic mapping; interactive and internet mapping; cartographic animation. 
• Geog 407/507 Spatial Analysis and Modeling (3 credits): Point Pattern Analysis, Nearest Neighbor, K-Functions, Quadrat Analysis, Spatial Autocorrelation (Moran's I, Geary's ratio, General G-statistics), Order Neighbor Analysis, Spatial Regression (creating prediction models, improving accuracy, validating and working with spatial weighted lags), Spatial Sampling Techniques/Methods, Spatial Dispersion, Spatial Diffusion, Gravity Models, Modeling in GIS, Model Builder, Weighing Layers. Applications in ArcGIS and Matlab. Additional assignments and exams required for graduate credit. 
• GEOG 414 Socioeconomic Applications of GIS (3 credits): Current topics and GIS applications in social sciences literature including urban planning, transportation, environmental justice, public health, retail and business location, and others.
• Geog J424/J524 Hydrologic Applications of GIS and Remote Sensing (3 credits): Concepts of area-based hydrologic modeling and assessment and the various types of spatially-distributed information commonly used in these activities, such as topographic data, vegetation cover, soils and meteorologic data. Hands-on experience in manipulating these types of data sets for hydrologic applications. 
• Geog 479 GIS Programming (3 credits): An introduction to the use of programming languages, such as Python, with standard ArcGIS concepts. 
• Geog 483/583 Remote Sensing/GIS Integration (3 credits): Concepts and tools for the processing, analysis, and interpretation of digital images from satellite and aircraft-based sensors. The integration of remotely-sensed data and the other spatial data types within Geographic Information Systems. Additional assignments and exams required for graduate credit.