Geographic Information Systems

Program Description

This Master of Science in Geographic Information Systems is a two-year professional degree specifically designed to prepare students of GIS for post-secondary appointments in government or the private sector. Graduates of the program acquire all the essential skills to assume management positions in business, government, and industry, or seek employment as specialists in other areas where geospatial expertise is needed.

Graduate students in GIS at AUM  learn how to operate high-tech scientific equipment and computers to collect information and analyze data using programs designed by the world’s leading geospatial software providers. They also work with internationally recognized faculty members on research at home and abroad, and fill internships with federal, state, and local government as well as private industry.

Dr. Gabe Costa, Dr. Nick Cuba, and Dr. Hoehun Ha advise graduate students in GIS.

Dr. Gabe Costa is an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences, and Coordinator of Environmental Sciences and GIS at AUM. His research is mainly focused on understanding the ecological and evolutionary drivers of variation in biodiversity across the globe. Dr. Costa teaches Biostatistics, Species Distribution Modeling, Landscape Ecology, and Biogeography and Macroecology. His classes usually have a strong focus on analytical skills including learning to work in the R environment, GIS and spatial analysis. Dr. Costa can be contacted at gcosta@aum.edu.

Dr. Nicholas Cuba is a geographer whose work analyzes ecological properties and processes over space and time to draw inferences about the functioning and governance of socio-environmental systems. Primarily drawing on remote sensing, GIS, and data science as methods, he investigates disruption to communities driven by climate change and localized impacts of extractive and infrastructure development. Much of his past and current research has purposefully engaged with international civil society and legal groups such as Oxfam America, Oxfam Honduras and the Center for Climate Crimes Analysis. Prior to joining AUM, he worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Center for the Study of Natural Resource Extraction and Society at Clark University and was a Voss Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society at Brown University.  Dr. Cuba can be contacted at ncuba@aum.edu.

Dr. Hoehun Ha is an Associate Professor of Geography specializing in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). His primary research interests focus on the linkages between socio-physical environment and human interactions, using GIS, and statistical methodologies. His teaching interests cover a wide range of geography courses including: Introduction to GIS, Advanced GIS, GIS in Environmental Modeling & Management, GIS in Public Health, Cartography, Geography of World Region, Human Geography, Spatial Statistics, and Earth Systems Science. Dr. Ha’s publications have appeared in numerous internationally reputable scholarly journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Transportation, Applied Geography, Ecological Informatics, High Altitude Medicine & Biology and others. Dr. Ha can be contacted at hha@aum.edu.

In addition to its undergraduate degree, AUM also offers a GIS certificate for those who already have a bachelor’s degree in some other discipline.