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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Urbana, Illinois, USA

Unit: Department of Geography and GIS

The Department of Geography and GIS at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois/UIUC) is a powerhouse in spatiotemporal analysis, geographic big data analysis, human geography, and hydrology. This department operates two master’s programs, including a 2-year master’s degree in traditional geography and a professional degree in GIS applications.

Professors:

Northern Illinois University

DeKalb, Illinois, USA

Unit: Department of the Earth, Atmosphere and Environment

The EAE department at NIU offers PhD and MS in Geography with 4 specializations (atmospheric science, physical and environmental geography, human geography, and GIS/spatial analysis). It also operates a training program of Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Analysis.

Ohio University

Athens, Ohio, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The Department of Geography at Ohio University offers MS and MA degree programs. The MS has two options: physical geography and geographical techniques, and the sub-fields of geographical techniques include GIS, remote sensing, and cartography. This program requires 40 credit hours of course works, of which 28 credits are core courses, and the remaining 12 credits are for the research thesis. Students need to attend at least two seminars, including one in physical geography and one in geographical techniques. Generally, students will take two additional courses in other departments to expand their breadth of knowledge.

Professors:

The Ohio State University

Columbus, Ohio, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The Department of Geography at Ohio State has a sizable international student population. Graduate students in this department work on two subjects, namely geography and atmospheric sciences. The master’s program usually takes two years, and the doctoral program usually takes four years. The postgraduate study directions include environment and society, GIS and spatial analysis, physical geography and climate, and urban and regional studies. Many graduates of this department landed their careers in academia. After graduating from the master’s degree, they generally stay in the department or go to other universities for a doctorate degree. Doctorate graduates usually become faculty or postdoctoral researchers in the USA or other countries. Some others work for agencies, and a small number of them go to industry and work mainly in GIS and data analysis, or hold scientific research positions. The overall training program of the department is for developing academic talents (see: record of alumni whereabouts). Many professors work in human geography but there are also faculty members working on GIS and physical geography, too. Not many people here specialize in GIS, but many are applying GIS techniques and methods to other fields, such as public health, transportation, natural resources, and the environment.

相关导师:

  • Ningchuan Xiao: WebGIS, GIS algorithms, visualization;
  • Harvey Miller: transportation, sustainability, time geography;
  • Desheng Liu: remote sensing, land cover, spatial analysis;
  • Huyen Le: ITC, transportation, health;
  • Joel Wainwright: environmental change, social geography;
  • Kendra McSweeney: political ecology, human-environment interactions;
  • Darla Munroe: land use change, economic geography;
  • Max Woodworth: regional geography, urban geography;
  • Mathew Coleman: political geography;
  • Bryan Mark: tropical glaciers, climate changes, spatial modeling of glaciers;
  • David Bromwich: polar climate, weather research and forecast model, sea ice physics;
  • Steven Quiring: soil science, energy, natural hazard, eolian environment, draught;
  • Zhengyu Liu: climate data-model comparison, community earth system model, spatiotemporal atmospheric modeling, ocean-atmosphere interaction;
  • Alvaro Montenegro: climate modeling, large-scaled climate simulation, numerical methods.

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Unit: School of Global Integrative Studies

The three departments of anthropology, geography, and global studies at Nebraska united to form the School of Global Integrative Studies. Research topics in the geography program include many GIS-related themes, including the map design and spatial modeling. The geography program grants MA and PhD degrees. The MA degree has 3 options:

  • at least 30 credits of coursework, including 6-10 thesis credits, and 8 graduate-level credits. A masters thesis is required.
  • 36 credits of coursework in geography, including at least 12 credits in graduate-level courses. Minor in another subject.
  • 36 credits of coursework in geography, including at least 18 credits in graduate-level courses. No thesis or minor is required, but a journal research paper needs to be published.

The PhD program lasts for 4 to 5 years. This department is the first PhD-granting department west of the Mississippi River in the USA.

Professors:

Indiana University, Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The geography department at IUB has master and doctoral programs. The master’s program includes the master of arts (MA) and the master of science (MS) degree options. The master of science is mainly awarded to students in the field of geographic information systems or environmental geography. The PhD degree also has a geographic information system concentration. Research domains in GIS include digital maps and computer graphics, spatial information visualization, and spatial analysis and modeling, etc.

Professors:

  • Yuri Kim: GIS, remote sensing, land cover, land use, climate;
  • Taehee Hwang: remote sensing, ecology, hydrology;
  • Natasha Macbean: environmental remote sensing, modeling, land cover, biogeography;
  • Scott Robeson: spatial analysis, geostatistics, time series, climate.

University of Kansas

Laurence, Kansas, USA

Unit: Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science

In the Department of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Kansas, the Geography program offers both MA and PhD postgraduate degrees, as well as a dual master’s program in geography and urban planning. The department has a long history, and many famous geographers have worked here, such as George Jenks, an early educator in cartography, A.W. Kuchler, a German vegetation surveyor, George McCleary and Terry Slocum, both celebrated map design experts, Stan Morain, a popular science writer in geography, and David Simonett, the founder of the Department of Geography at UC Santa Barbara. At present, the department has about 20 professors and more than 50 graduate students. Research directions include physical geography, biogeography, atmospheric science, human geography, regional geography, urban geography and geographic information technology. There are also cooperative projects in all directions.

Professors:

  • Xingong Li: GIS, spatial data science, computational methods;
  • Ting Lei: GIS, transportation, remote sensing;
  • Peter Herlihy: place-based GIS, participatory mapping, digital cultural landscape, Latin American historical geography;
  • David Rahn: remote sensing, cloud, wind, numerical modeling.

Kansas State University

Manhattan, Kansas, USA

Unit: Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences

The Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences at Kansas State University operates Master of Arts and PhD degree programs. There are three options for the master’s degree, namely thesis, report, and teacher options. The thesis option requires students to complete a scientific research project and defend a thesis. This plan is best for students who are interested in continuing for a doctoral degree in the future; the report option is best for those who want to work in the industry in the future; the teacher option is best for those who want to be a geography teacher in middle schools.

Professors:

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The geography department at UW-Madison has a long history and is a powerhouse in human geography, spatial analysis, and cartography. Famous Chinese-American geographer Yi-Fu Tuan and cartographer Arthur Robinson worked here. There are 2 types of GIS-related programs in this department. The research-based program is for those who want to land a carrer in academia. Those who have completed their undergraduate studies could enter the joint Masters/PhD (2 + 3 years) program while those who have a master’s degree could enter the 4-year PhD program. The course-based program is for those who want to work for the industry. GIS-related courses include cartography, spatial analysis, geospatial big data, etc.

Professors:

  • A-Xing Zhu: soil mapping, ecology, spatial analysis, environment modeling;
  • Song Gao: spatio-temporal data mining, human mobility, urban computing, GeoAI;
  • Qunying Huang: high performance computing, natural hazards, social media data analytics;
  • Robert Roth: cartography, story map, WebGIS;
  • Christian Andresen: arctic ecosystems, remote sensing, surface hydrology, wetlands, environmental change, carbon cycling, geospatial analytics, LiDAR, photogrammetry, unmanned aerial systems;
  • John W. (Jack) Williams: paleoecoinformatics, geo-cyberinfrastructure, paleoecology, paleoclimatology, novel ecosystems, vegetation dynamics, global climate change, quaternary environments;
  • Bill Limpisathian: cognitive cartography, human-centric map design, and geospatial cognition;
  • Jonathan Nelson: cartography, geovisual analytics, data visualization, and human-centered design;
  • Zhou Zhang (Department of Biological System Engineering): multi-source remote sensing, LiDAR, digital agriculture;
  • Anna Pidgeon (Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology): ecological field work, remote sensing, GIS, statistics;
  • Volker C. Radeloff (Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology): biodiversity, spatial analysis;
  • Tristan L’Ecuyer (Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences): remote sensing, arctic climate;
  • Steve Ackerman (Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences): remote sensing, cloud physics, climate change;
  • Angela Rowe (Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences): remote sensing, cloud physics, weather process;
  • Shanan Peters (Department of Geoscience): geoinformatics, geo-database, machine reading and learning, quantitative stratigraphy;
  • Basil Tikoff (Department of Geoscience): tectonics, structural geology, geo-database, geology-related spatial cognition;
  • Min Chen (Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology): earth system science.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The geography department at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee operates MA, MS, and PhD degree programs. Research themes include physical geography, human geography, and GIS/RS.

Professors

  • Woonsup Choi: GIS, climate change, hydrology, urban growth;
  • Rina Ghose: critical GIS, urban geography, political economy;
  • Changshan Wu: remote sensing, GIS, spatial analysis, urban environments;
  • Zengwang Xu: GIS, spatial statistics, social sciences.

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Unit: School of Environment and Sustainability

Historically, Michigan was one of the best American universities for cartographers. It is the alma mater of Waldo Tobler who proposed the first law of geography. Currently, the SEAS at Michigan offers a master’s program in environmental informatics with an application domain in environmental ecology. The purpose of the program is to use GIS and spatial analytical methods in detecting and studying the ecological environment. The doctoral program in this school has the direction of resource ecology management, which can form interdisciplinary projects with the environemtnal informatics. The main courses and research topics include environmental spatial data analysis, GIS and natural resource applications, and GIS in landscape modeling. The master’s program lasts for 2 years, and the doctoral degree generally takes 4 to 5 years to complete. In addition, while being enrolled in the master’s degree, students can also have a dual degree in other fields, such as a 2.5-year master’s degree in energy engineering, a 3-year master’s degree in urban planning, a 3-year MBA, or a 4-year JD.

Professors:

  • Runzi Wang: spatial analysis, remote sensing, environmental big data, machine learning, land use, water quality;
  • Joshua Newell: GIS application on urban development and sustainability, spatial analysis;
  • Meha Jain: geospatial analytics and remote sensing on agriculture and environmental changes, spatio-temporal big data analysis on groundwater crisis and vulnerability to extreme weathers (mostly in India);
  • Bilal Butt: geospatial technology application on climate change and policies, remote sensing on vegetation dynamics;
  • Derek Van Berkel: human dimensions of land-cover/land-use change, spatial analysis and geovisualizations of social and environmental data, spatio-temporal computation and modeling;
  • Neil Carter: GIS, spatial simulation, remote sensing, human-environment interaction;
  • Bill Currie: agent-based modeling, spatial modeling and simulation, human-nature system, environmental GIS modeling, carbon cycle.

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan, USA

Unit: Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences

The geography department at MSU is a large department with a long history. It is famous for its outreaching activities and map collections. The department has many professors in the field of geospatial technologies, and the range of research topics is wide. It is mainly divided into cartography and GIScience modules, and it is especially focusing on the application of GIS in natural sciences, agriculture, and climate modeling. It is a powerhouse in the GIS research related to agriculture, forestry, and ecology. In addition, the department is also a beacon in cartography since the 1980s under the leadership of 2 well-known cartographers Richard Groop and Judy Olson (now both professors emeritus in the department). The department provides graduate programs for master’s and doctoral degrees. The master’s program is usually a 2-year research-based master’s degree, which requires students to do research and write up a thesis; the doctoral degree is usually a 5-year program, but if you entered with a master’s degree it only takes 4 years.

Professors:

  • Jiaguo Qi: human-nature interactions from geospatial data, land-use/land-cover change;
  • Jiquan Chen: GIS and remote sensing on global change and ecosystem, human-nature dynamics;
  • Kyla Dahlin: earth dynamics modeling, GIS/RS on ecosystem and environment;
  • Andrew Finley: GIS on forestry;
  • Ashton Shortridge: geospatial analysis, spatial data uncertainty;
  • Leo Zulu: GIS and remote sensing on environmental studies in Africa;
  • Erin Bunting: geospatial big data, GIS on climatology;
  • Arika Ligmann-Zielinska: GIS on social studies, agent-based modeling;
  • Raechel Portelli: machine learning on image processing, human image interpretation, remote sensing on geology and geomorphology;
  • David Roy: remote sensing on global change.

Michigan Technological University

Houghton, Michigan, USA

Unit: College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

The College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science at Michigan Tech operates a 2-year course-based program of the Master of Geographic Information Science (MGIS), including 20 credits of GIS-related core courses (defined based on the DoL), and 10 credits of elective courses in interdisciplinary fields such as forestry, ecology, environment, business, statistics, transportation, geology, and media, etc. This course system is designed to help students find their application domains for learned GIS skills. If students want to participate in scientific research, they can also transfer into a project-based program and conduct relevant research work. In this case, they need to submit a thesis or report upon graduation.

Eastern Michigan University

Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

Unit: Department of Geography and Geology

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is located in Ypsilanti in southeastern Michigan. It is a satellite city of Detroit and is about 10 kilometers from Ann Arbor. EMU was originally a normal university and later developed into a comprehensive university. Its campus is along the bank of the Huron River. EMU operates a MS degree program in Geographic Information Systems, which is a two-year master’s program. There is an internship requirement in a GIS company, for which students need to submit a portfolio.

Professors:

Central Michigan University

Mt Pleasant, Michigan, USA

Unit: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the Central Michigan University (CMU) operates the CMU MSGIScience Advantage program, which is a master of science degree program dedicated to training high-level professionals in GIS. The school encourages students from this program to carry out interdisciplinary projects with those in other departments (including business schools, public Health, Sociology, etc.) in order to improve their own skill warehouses and their capabilities to apply GIS to real-world problems. Most of their alumni landed their careers in government agencies as GIS analysts, and some became product managers in companies like Esri.

Professors:

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The GIS in Department of Geography at Minnesota covers a wide range of subjects, including cartography and visualization, global data research, health and population, and movement and space-time analytics. Organizations like U-Spatial and Minnesota Population Center (MPC) support GIS-related interdisciplinary research and data sharing. The department has two master’s programs (a research masters program, and a course-based MGIS program), both are of 2-year long. It also operates the geography doctoral program, to which both bachelor and master graduates can apply.

Professors:

  • Kathryn Grace: spatial analysis and statistics, health demography, food insecurity;
  • Steven Manson: spatial modeling, human-environment systems, CyberGIS;
  • Eric Shook: spatio-temporal computing, machine learning, CyberGIS;
  • Ying Song: time geography, spatio-temporal modeling, transportation;
  • Di Zhu: geospatial modeling, GIS;
  • Zhenong Jin: forecasting crop yields, image processing;
  • Hui Kong: urban planning, transportation, spatial analysis;
  • Yao-Yi Chiang (Dept. Computer Science): digital map processing, computer vision, machine learning, data mining, data integration, predictive analytics.

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Mankato, Minnesota, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The Department of Geography at Minnesota State University, Mankato offers the following GIScience credentials:

  • MS:  Geographic Information Science (GISc)
  • Graduate Certificate:  Geographic Information Science (GISc)
  • Undergraduate Certificate: Geographic Information Science (GISc)

GIScience integrates the geospatial technologies of geographic information systems, remote sensing, and global positioning systems (GPS) with the professional skills of technical communications, project management, human resource management, and budgeting and economics in the workplace. Geospatial technologies are in very high demand. The program provides in-depth training allowing students to create solutions to real-world problems involving people and environment. The department also offers the following degrees, and all may be enhanced by adding a Certificate in GISc:

  • MS: Geography
  • BA/BS: Geography
  • BS: Earth Science
  • Minor: Geography

Professors:

The University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa, USA

Unit: Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences

The geography department at the University of Iowa grants undergraduates, masters, doctoral, and GIS graduate diplomas. It cooperates with many interdisciplinary education and scientific research institutions, such as the CGRER, Iowa Informatics Initiative, and the well-known Iowa Water Center. This department is involved in a variety of academic research directions, including physical geography, human geography, cartography, environmental policy, and hydrogeography. It is a powerhouse in spatial analysis, visual analysis, spatial network analysis, environmental science, and hydrology-related fields (water Literature and water resources science, flood disaster risk analysis, environmental management and decision support, ecology). The famous geographer and UCGIS fellow Marc Armstrong was once a professor here.

Professors:

  • Dave Bennett: GIScience, the processes and effects of environmental decision-making, human/environment interactions;
  • Margaret Carrel: geography of infectious disease, landscape genetics & disease ecology;
  • Marc Linderman: remote sensing, human/environment interactions, land cover change, ecosystem dynamics;
  • Eric Tate: flood risk and vulnerability analysis, geospatial uncertainty and sensitive analysis;
  • Heather Sander: urban ecology, ecosystem services, urban wildlife ecology and conservation, urban social-ecological systems;
  • Caglar Koylu: GIScience, spatial data science, information visualization, human-computer interaction, mobility and geo-social networks.

Iowa State University of Science and Technology

Ames, Iowa, USA

Unit: Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

The Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences at Iowa State University operates MS and PhD degree programs. It mainly has three research clusters: earth science, geology, and meteorology. The Environmental Sustainability Lab recruits graduate students in the GIS. This lab focuses uses spatial analysis, geovisualization, and comprehensive assessment modeling techniques to study environmental changes, urban heat island effects, urban vegetation, urban lighting and built-up areas, and sustainable development.

Kent State Universit

Kent State University (Kent State)

Kent (near Cleveland), Ohio, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The geography department at Kent State has two degree programs, namely the MA and PhD. To apply for the PhD entrance, applicants need a master’s degree. Generally speaking, it’s easier for a PhD student to be funded, for there are many opportunities as teaching and research assistants. It’s also possible for a MA student to be funded. GIS is among the research topics of this department, and there are also professors studying climate, human geography, and Asian geography. David Kaplan, the former president of AAG, is the Graduate Coordinator of this department.

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Unit: Department of Geography

The geography department at University of Cincinnati is a big department, with a large group of students and professor. It operates programs in MA and PhD. The strengths of research in this department include GIS, urban geography, economic geography, and physical geography. The former AAG president and celebrated geologist and geographer Nevin Fenneman, who made the first USGS national geological map in history, is one of the founders of this department.

Professors:

  • Richard Allan Beck: GIS, remote sensing, climate, water resource;
  • Diego F. Cuadros: GIS applications in epidemiology, environmental studies, mathematical modeling of infectious diseases, medical geogaphy;
  • Liu Liu: GIS, visualization, crime mapping, quantitative methods, location analysis;
  • Changjoo Kim: GIS, urban transportation, spatial modelings;
  • Tomasz F Stepinski: spatial informatics, remote sensing, geomorphology.

Purdue University

West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Unit: Department of Civil Engineering and Department of Earth and Planetary Science

Purdue University’s main campus is in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is an old and popular university in engineering. Its engineering school is among the world’s top tier of its kind. The GIS program at Purdue are in civil engineering and earth science departments. Purdue is good for both students wishing to work in the industry and students who want to have a career in academia. Bachelor degree holders can enter the 2 + 3 years masters/doctoral joint program. Those who already have a master’s degree can apply for the 4-year doctoral program. In addition, the earth science department operates a one-year class-based Master of Earth Data Science, which is mainly for students who plan to work in the industry.

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, Ohio, USA

Unit: Department of Earth, Environment and Society

Bowling Green State University (BGSU) operates the MS in Applied Geospatial Science degree program, with thesis and non-thesis options. Both options require two core courses in GIS and remote sensing as well as some elective courses related to spatial science. In addition, the thesis option requires a research project, while the non-thesis option requires more elective courses.

Professors:

Calvin university

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Unit: Department of Geology, Geography, and Environment

Calvin University has a Master of Geographic Information Science program, in addition to the undergraduate GIS Certificate. In the GEO Department, students can major in geography or geology or environmental studies or environmental science. All of those four majors require every student to take the Intro GIS class.

Professors:

  • Jason VanHorn: GIS, cartography, remote sensing, geographic thought and philosophy;
  • Mark Bjelland: urban and economic geography, geographic information systems, environmental justice, urban sustainability, faith-based place-making;
  • William Miller: ecology;
  • Patrick Bailey:database technology, architecture-centric project management, software maintenance, ASP.Net, data mining.

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Unit: The Center For Geospatial Data Science

The Center for Spatial Data Science (CSDS) focuses on issues related to spatial data and the application of geographic information in fields such as economics, sociology, criminology, and epidemiology.CSDS also researches spatial econometric modeling, visual analysis, and CyberGIS, and develops a number of open source software tools for GIS, such as GeoDa.

Professors and associated groups：

St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA

Unit: Department of Geography and Planning

The St. Cloud State University is a leading provider of geospatial tech education in upper midwest of the USA. The geography and planning department has a MS in geography with GIS concentration program and a GIS graduate certificate program.