Research, design, and create novel analytical and visualization solutions to complex problems that intersect people and the environment.
Program Overview
Our Graduate Certificate in Spatial Data Science is designed for students with some previous GIS experience to engage with key theories, emerging research, and contemporary spatial analysis techniques. Students will develop new spatial data science software, analytical methods, and cartographic products to visualize and communicate analytical results.
Explain and communicate the distinguishing characteristics of spatial data, including how they are created, sensed, stored, manipulated, and represented.
Leverage advances in geocomputation, geovisual analytics, open geospatial data, and strategic spatial thinking to develop ethically responsible and reproducible data science workflows.
Design and implement interactive geovisual analytical frameworks that advance the state of the art in spatial data science and solve real-world problems.
Research, critique and map spatial analysis results to support ethical decision-making in a variety of data-intensive contexts.
Prepared for the Future
Graduates of this program will have a strong foundation in spatial data science and the tools to apply to a variety of fields. Many students continue their studies in one of our online master’s degree programs.
Curriculum
The Graduate Certificate in Spatial Data Science is a 15-credit, fully online certificate program. Credits earned in the program can be applied toward the Master of GIS or Master of Science in Spatial Data Science degree programs. The certificate consists of a combination of required courses (9 credits) and elective courses (6 credits).
The typical student course load is one course per 10-week session. At that pace, students can complete the certificate in less than one year. Time off can be taken between courses if necessary.
| COURSE NUMBER | TITLE | NEXT OFFERING | TECHNOLOGY |
|---|---|---|---|
| GEOG 485 | GIS Programming and Software Development | Spring 1, 2025 | ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Pro, Python |
| GEOG 486 | Cartography and Visualization | Spring 1, 2025 | ArcGIS Pro, Mapbox, Mapbox Studio, Tableau |
| GEOG 586 | Geographic Information Analysis | Spring 1, 2025 | ArcGIS Pro, GeoDa, R |
Each of these courses is three credits.
| COURSE NUMBER | TITLE | NEXT OFFERING | TECHNOLOGY |
|---|---|---|---|
| GEOG 580 | Geovisual Analytics | Spring 1, 2025 | ArcGIS Insights, ArcGIS Pro, CARTO, Tableau |
| GEOG 581 | Spatial Data Science Ethics | Summer 2025 | |
| GEOG 583 | Geospatial System Analysis and Design | Spring 1, 2025 | Varies |
| GEOG 585 | Open Web Mapping | Spring 2, 2025 | CSS, GDAL, GeoServer, HTML, Javascript, Leaflet, OGR, OpenLayers, OpenStreetMap, QGIS, TileMill |
| GEOG 588 | Analytical Approaches in Spatial Data Science | Spring 1, 2025 | R, R Studio |
| GEOG 589 | Emerging Trends in Remote Sensing | Spring 2, 2025 | ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, Google Earth Engine, Javascript, Python |
Each of these courses is three credits.