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New Zealand

University of Canterbury

Christchurch, New Zealand

Unit: School of Earth and Environment

The University of Canterbury is located in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand. The whole city was developed as a result of this university. The founders of UC are alumni from the Christ Church College of the Oxford University in England, and that was how this city got its name. This university was the first university in the Commonwealth countries to award degrees to women. The School of Earth and Environment at UC operates the Master of Geospatial Science and Technology degree program. This program is 1-year long and mainly class-based. Its core courses include GIS programming, spatial analysis, and GIS research methods. The degree is designed to lay the foundation of future PhD studies for students. Some alumni also went to the industry and working in fields like GIS analysis, GIS development, and urban planning. At the same time, the school also grants PhD in Geography, which usually takes 3 to 4 years to complete.

Professors:

  • Malcolm Campbell: GIS, spatial analysis, spatial data science, health geography, urban analytics;
  • Ann Brower: land use, biodiversity, environments;
  • Simon Kingham: geospatial science, health geography, transportation.

University of Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand

Unit: School of Environment

The School of Environment at the University of Auckland hosts GIS-related professors. This school operates an undergraduate GIS major, and its masters and doctoral programs in geography has GIS options. There are a 1-year and a 2-year master’s programs. The research content of the PhD in GIS includes GIS and spatial data handling, spatial analysis and geocomputation, advanced raster data analysis, visualisation and cartography, GIS programming, and GIS customization and web-mapping. There are many interdisciplinary opportunities in computer science, statistics, and urban planning.

Professors:

  • Katarzyna Sila-Nowicka: human mobility, spatial statistics, movement analysis, geocomputation, machine learning;
  • Jay Gao: quantitative remote sensing, geocomputation;
  • Murray Ford: remote sensing, geomorphology, coastal science, climate;
  • Michael Evans Martin: GIScience, qualitative GIS, GeoAI, health GIS.

Auckland University of Technology

Auckland, New Zealand

Unit: Institute for Applied Ecology New Zealand

AUT is one of the eight national universities in New Zealand, and its research impacts ranks first in New Zealand. AUT offers a one-year master’s degree (MS) in Geospatial Science. This is a lecture-based degree. The core courses include applied GIS, GIS programming, geospatial science for conservation, advanced remote sensing, advanced spatial analysis, geographic visualization, and statistical modeling, etc. Students also need to complete an internship. Instructors are from the Institute for Applied Ecology New Zealand. which is an affiliated institute to AUT. The entry requirements for international students include a bachelor’s degree and an IELTS score of 6.5 or higher, with no less than 6.0 in each sub-fields. AUT also grants a PhD degree, whose duration ranges from 3 to 6 years. The admission requirements include a master’s degree, an IELTS score of 6.5 for the lowest, and a writing score of 7.0 or higher. Students also need to contact an instructor as the academic supervisor in advance.

Professors:

  • Barb Bollard: GIS, remote sensing, ecology, forest, Antarctica, drones for animal behaviour and object recognition;
  • Massimo Morellato: computer science, artificial vision systems, tourism, mobile VR/AR, network social responsibility, coastal development;
  • Juliet Nanai: community-based and participatory geography, VGI, Pacific epistemologies, sustainability.

University of Otago

Dunedin, New Zealand

Unit: School of Surveying

The School of Surveying at Otago has 3 master’s degree programs (MS, MSur, and MAppSc-GIS) and a doctoral program (PhD). Among them, MS (Master of Science) and MSur (Master of Surveying and Mapping) are thesis-based two-year degrees, while MAppSc-GIS (Master of Applied Science in Geographic Information Systems) could be either the 2-year thesis+paper track or the 1-year thesis-only track. The admission for MSur requires an undergraduate degree in surveying and mapping, while the admission for MS and MAppSc-GIS requires a bachelor’s degree in GIS, surveying, information sciences, geography, or in other disciplines with sufficient GIS or remote sensing experience. The doctoral degree is a 3-year program and mainly focuses on surveying and mapping, and a master’s degree in related majors is required at the time of admission. The language requirement for international students is an IELTS score at or above 6.5 with sub-fields no less than 6.

Professors:

Victoria University of Wellington

Wellington, New Zealand

Unit: School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

VUW is one of the eight national universities in New Zealand. This university offers GIS-related master’s degree programs, including MGIS and MS. The MGIS is a class-based program, and its core courses include programming, database management, cartography, remote sensing, and spatial analysis, etc. The MS is a thesis-based program, in which students need to complete some research work and write a graduation thesis while taking classes The school also has research opportunities as a doctoral student. Prospective doctoral students need to contact potential supervisors in advance to discuss research interests and study plans. Senior lecturers at VUW are also qualified to be advisors of master’s or doctoral students.

Professors:

  • Mairead de Roiste: GIS incorporating usability, geovisualization, public participation GIS，GIS pedagogy and capability building;
  • David O’Sullivan: computational methods, geospatial technologies, complexity sciences, modeling, visualization, urban informatics;
  • Sara Kindon: participatory geography, gender analysis, communities;
  • Mirjam Schindler: human-environment interactions, modelling of urban forms, residential location choice and their impacts on transport, the environment and urban wellbeing;
  • Oliver Wigmore: spatiotemporal variability, alpine ecohydrology, remote sensing, geospatial analysis.

Massey University

Palmerston North, New Zealand

Unit: School of People, Environment and Planning

Massey University is the largest university in New Zealand. Its School of People, Environment and Planning grants doctorate degrees in GIS-related fields. Its research content includes development studies, environmental studies, geography, geospatial science, resource and environmental planning, etc. The language requirement for international students is IELTS 6.5 or above, or TOEFL 90 or above.

Professors:

  • Sharon McLennan: social media analysis, health geography, development;
  • Gerard Prinsen: participatory geography, quantitative methods, human geography;
  • John Lowry Jr: GIS, geospatial science, urban planning, environmental management, public health, landscape ecology;
  • Rachel Summers: GIS applications, spatial analysis;
  • Bruce Glavovic: hazards, land use, coastal development, climate change;
  • Jeff McNeill: land use, environment, urban planning;
  • Imran Muhammad: sustainability, transportation, urban design, regional planning, land use, land cover.