EIU Department of Biological Sciences

GISci Graduate Certificate

Program Mission: The mission of the GISci Graduate Certificate Program is to provide individuals who hold a Bachelors degree in the environmental life sciences with the requisite knowledge base to be proficient in GISci. Specifically, the certificate will allow individuals to be competitive in both the job market as well as in admission to higher‐level degree programs.

Admission Requirements: To be eligible for admission to the GISci Graduate Certificate Program, applicants must meet all of the requirements for admission to the Graduate School (see “Admission to Graduate Degree and Certificate Programs”).

Degree Audit: A Bachelors degree in Biological Sciences or closely related field.

Recommended Course Sequence (19 credits) 

• GEO 5810 - Introduction to Geographic Information Science I Credit: 3
• GEO 5820 - Remote Sensing I I Credits: 3
• GEO 5870 - Remote Sensing II I Credits: 3
• GEO 4910 - GIS Programming I Credits: 4
• GEO 5830 - GIS: Building Geodatabases I Credits: 3
• GEO 5880 - Geospatial Data Models I Credits: 3

Biological Sciences Courses

• BIO 4820 - Spatial Analysis for Environmental Sciences  I Credits: 3
• BIO 4840 - Resource Management and Environmental Assessment  I Credits: 3
• BIO 5380 - Landscape Ecology I Credits: 3

* Other BIO graduate courses can be applied with permission from both the instructor and Certificate Coordinator.

If students have equivalent courses from their undergraduate degree programs, alternative GISci courses may be taken instead upon approval of the Biological Sciences Graduate Coordinator.

Courses Applicable Toward a Concurrent or Future Degree

Courses in this program my be counted toward an MS in Biological Sciences with permission of graduate student's committee.