GIS and the Natural Environment

In this course students will be introduced to the concepts and applications of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing through the lens of physical environmental change. We will apply technological solutions to an array of real-world geospatial problems, including land use change, climate, wildfire, and forest ecology. Students will build expertise in geospatial workflows by independently acquiring, cleaning, analyzing, and visualizing datasets from local to global scales. The first half of the course will focus on building analytical and cartographic skills in QGIS, before delving into cloud-based geospatial coding. Students will leave the course grounded in the how (technical) and why (theoretical) of spatial analysis for physical environmental systems. (Not open to students who have already completed GEOG 0251.)