Graduate Admissions

Graduate Programs

Accelerated B.A./M.A Program: Geographic Information Science

Overview

Geographic Information Science (GISc) is a sub-field of Geography concerned with the acquisition, storage, analysis and communication of geographic information. In addition it conducts primary research on the manner in which we acquire knowledge from spatially referenced data. Geographic information analysts have applied skills in the concepts of Geodesy, Cartography, Remote Sensing, Spatial Analysis and Decision Science, and strong working knowledge of the Global Positioning System, Geographic Information Systems and Digital Image Processing software, Dynamic Modeling and Geostatistics. They are skilled in the problems of spatial georeferencing, error modeling and the propagation of uncertainty, the modeling of spatial processes, and procedures for multi-criteria and multi-objective decision making. In addition, they have the graphic communication and cartographic skills required for the production of effective map displays and geographic information presentations.


Program of Study

The M.A. degree in Geography specializing in Geographic Information Science requires the completion of 10 graduate course credits, two of which are taken during the senior year and two of which are completed during the summer between the senior year and the fifth year. Three of the 10 credits are devoted to the completion of a master’s research project. The breakdown is as follows:

  • Senior year: Geog. 296/397: Advanced Raster GIS (please note prerequisites for Geog. 296/397 are Geog 190: Introduction to GIS and Geog 206: Advanced Vector GIS) plus one additional 200- or 300- level course approved by the B.A./M.A. Advisor. Candidates for the fifth year program are also required to develop a master’s research proposal, with a signed statement of support from two faculty sponsors who will act as the advisor and the reader. The proposal must include a three-semester work plan. See the Departmental Requirements section for details on timing.

  • Summer following senior year: a one-credit internship in Geographic Information Science and a one-credit directed research project associated with the master’s research project. This project is focused on database development for the Master’s project, and may be linked to the internship project. Typically, this course is completed off-campus. However, it requires frequent communication with the student’s advisor. Details of the mechanism for this communication must be included in the project proposal.

  • Fifth year: six graduate course credits (three per semester), of which one credit each semester will be devoted to the completion of the master’s research project. In April the student will be required to give an oral presentation of the findings of the master’s research project, along with other students in the GIS and GISDE masters programs. In addition, the student must submit to the B.A./M.A. Advisor, by the end of the spring semester, a publication quality paper, associated with the project, certified by the student’s advisor and reader.

Of the six courses not associated with the master’s project and internship (taken during the senior and fifth years), a minimum of four must be directly associated with Geographic Information Science and two may be electives associated with the application area of specific interest to the student.

Departmental Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the fifth year M.A. program in GISc, the student must complete a B.A. with a major (or second major) in Geography or a major in IDCE at Clark and meet all university requirements for entry into the fifth year program. In addition, the student will have needed to have completed Geography 190: Introduction to GIS, Geography 206: Advanced Vector GIS, Geography 293: Introduction to Remote Survey,and Geography 397: Advanced Raster GIS by the end of their senior year. A GPA of 3.6 (overall Clark GPA) is required for entry into this program, although students not meeting this requirement may petition the School for a waiver. Beginning in the Spring semester 2008 applicants are expected to complete an Honors Thesis in their senior year, although in some circumstances students may opt to enroll in the honors program for the spring semester of the junior year and fall semester of the senior year.

In accordance with these requirements, students who have declared their intention to apply for the fifth year program must submit a formal application to the Graduate School of Geography by October 15 of their senior year. Then by April 1 of the senior year, it is necessary to submit to the Geography B.A./M.A. Program Advisor, evidence (such as a current transcript) that all course requirements will be met, and an approved Master’s Project proposal, signed by a Geography faculty advisor and a reader. The reader can, with the approval of the Geography B.A./M.A. Program Advisor, be a faculty member from outside Geography. Final offers of admission will be made by the Graduate Dean.

Lab Fee

Because of the very heavy costs associated with hardware and software licensing in the GIS and Image Processing area, students will be required to pay a lab fee of $1000 per semester (fall and spring) during the completion of their fifth year program. This lab fee is non-refundable and appears on the student's bill at the beginning of fall and spring

Contact Person

The Geography B.A./M.A. Program Advisor is Professor John Rogan; 508-793-7562; jrogan@clarku.edu.

Recent Graduates

  • John Connors, B.A.'06/M.A.'07--After graduating from the MA-GIS program, John Connors began work as a staff research associate in the department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California Berkeley. As a member of Maggi Kelly's lab, he has been involved in various geospatial projects that span the topics of biofuels, environmental monitoring, epidemiology, and citizen science. One of John's primary projects has been the design and development of OakMapper.org, an online mapping tool to gather and distribute spatial information regarding the spread of Sudden Oak Death, an arboreal pathogen. In addition, this project has also allowed John to utilize his skill in object-based mapping methodologies, which he developed in the MA program, to map tree species in regional park lands. John is currently involved with a collaborative project, Our Space, with Kaiser Permanente to develop a spatial database for assessing the relationship between various environmental exposures and disease, particularly diabetes. This project is seeking to apply spatial analysis methods that are less familiar to health researchers to better understand complex human environments. Much of his recent work, including these two projects, has emphasized the utilization of open source geospatial technologies. John intends to return to school to pursue a Ph D in the near future, where he wishes to explore the relationship between food systems and environmental transformation.

  • Michelle Bozeman, B.A.'08/M.A.'09--Michelle was invited to conference in Greenland which was a precursor to 2009 UN COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen, sponsored by the Technical University of Denmark and was called Nuuk Climate Days 2009, Changes in the Greenland Cryosphere and it was in Nuuk, Greenland on August 25-27, 2009 at the Katuaq cultural center. The presentation highlighted findings detailed in a research paper co-authored by Michelle, Professor Karen Frey, Professor Ron Eastman and Professor John Rogan. The presentation was titled "Greenland ice sheet melt dynamics revealed from Seasonal Trend Analysis of QuikSCAT image time series". It detailed a new technique called Seasonal Trend Analysis applied to a time series of enhanced resolution QuikSCAT imagery from 2000 to 2008. This STA technique is a two-stage time series analysis that extracts trends in the harmonic shape parameters of a seasonal curve. It is specially designed to reject noise and high frequency variability as well as short-term interannual variability, which ultimately allow for the delineation of melt zone transition areas over the nine-year record. Unlike other methodologies employed to examine these transitions, the STA integrates the whole time series of data into composite images so seasonal variations do not have to be tracked from image to image.

    • Find M.A. Programs

    Geographic Information Science (GISci) has grown out of the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a technology.

    A Geographic Information Systems consists of a database of spatial information (such as digital map data and satellite imagery) along with specialized software for the acquisition, management, display and analysis of those data. GIS technology has grown enormously over the past 30 years, to the point where it is ubiquitous in the mapping, analysis and management of spatially distributed resources. GIS software, including specialized Image Processing software for the extraction of data from remotely sensed imagery, is in daily use in areas as diverse as urban systems management, regional planning, emergency response, epidemiology, landscape architecture, environmental planning, forestry, geology, ecology, park management, power utilities, and the like.

    Clark offers a broad program of studies in Geographic Information Science. However, it has special strengths in the analytical development of GIS and Image Processing technology and the application areas of global environmental change, land use change modeling, environmental modeling, risk analysis and vulnerability mapping. Clark continues to be a world leader in the development of the IDRISI and CartaLinx software systems. Opportunities exist for students to become directly involved with the development and support of these systems.

    Clark is a research university that has been on the defining edge of Geographic Information Science since its inception. However, its breadth of expertise in the sphere of Environmental Studies offers special opportunities for students who pursue a dual major in their undergraduate program. In particular, special opportunities exist for students interested in the combination of Geographic Information Science and disciplinary foci in Computer Science, Biology/Ecology, Economics (Spatial Econometrics), Business Administration, Environmental Science and Policy, and International Development.