East Carolina University GIS Program
East Carolina University is located in Greenville, NC and is the third largest college in the North Carolina System. ECU has a strong geography department with several degree opportunities. When it comes to GIS, they have one Undergraduate Certificate Program in Geographic Information Science.
The program is designed to provide students from a variety of disciplines both the theoretical and practical competencies to be able to develop and manage Geographic Information projects. Students should also be able to interpret and implement GIS as a decision support system.
Students from a variety of majors who have enrolled in this program include:
- Geography
- Geology
- Biology
- Planning
- Marketing and management
- Political science
- History
- Coastal studies
This certificate program requires a minimum of 15 s.h. and is composed of the following courses:
Core Courses:
- Fundamentals of GIS
- Fundamentals of GIS
- Geographic Information
- Systems I
- Introduction to GPS
Plus One Additional Course:
- GIS Applications Programming
- Advanced Cartographic Design & Production
- Remote Sensing II
- Geographic Information
- Systems II
- Introduction to GIS in Planning
The Center for Geographic Information Science facility is composed of 25 PC workstations. These workstations provided a variety of mapping software including:
- Applied Imagery’s Quick Terrain Modeler
- ArcGIS Desktop 9.3
- ArcInfo Workstation 9.3
- ERDAS Imagine 9.1
- FRAGSTATS 3.3
- Interactive Visualization Systems’ (IVS 3D) Fledermaus & Dmagic
- Visual Nature Studio 2 w/ Scene Express
Scholarships
The two main scholarships that are advertised are the ASPRS NC Chapter Scholarship and the NCGITA Scholarship. Students can apply for thse scholarships through the individual organization and are awarded at thier discresion.
You can find additional information about the GIS Certificate Program at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cas/geog/GISCertificate.cfm
Note: The information within this article has been thoroughly researched but should be verified with the college. Publication of this article was not initiated by the college but is the sole work of GIS Pathway.
Teaching Kids the World of GIS
Kids are like sponges. They will soak up anything. It is up to us to help provide children with quality material that they will be able to use for a life time. Here are some good websites, books, and games that teach kids about GIS.
Websites
- GIS 4 Kids
- National Geographic Games for Kids
- Maps 4 Kids
- GIS Kids Slideshow
- Kids GIS
- Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map
- KidsGeo
- Geb Geography For Kids
Our World GIS Education Series
A new book series was just released in June 2008 by ESRI Press. This “Our World GIS Education” series helps teachers present GIS to their students.
Putting geography, spatial thinking, and GIS in front of the students early on helps educate each student in an adventurous way that will impact them for a lifetime.
Thinking Spatially Using GIS: Our World GIS Education, Level 1 (Our World GIS Education)
- Basic Tools of GIS / Recognizing Patterns and Analyzing Map Trends
Mapping Our World Using GIS: Our World GIS Education, Level 2 (Our World GIS Education)
- Data Collection, Mapping, and Critical Analysis with GIS
Analyzing Our World Using GIS: Our World GIS Education, Level 3 (Our World GIS Education)
- Inquiry-based learning in geography through GIS
Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS, Level 4 (Our World GIS Education)
- GIS in Problem Solving and Decision Making
