Gain the Essential Skills Needed to Become a GIS Pro
A broad variety of industries—from planning and engineering to agriculture and public health—utilize geographic information systems (GIS) in some capacity, making a practical understanding of GIS technology a valuable asset to any professional. Whether you want to start a new career in GIS or advance your existing GIS skill set, our Geographic Information Systems Professional Concentration program provides a practical understanding of GIS technology and its application, focusing on Esri’s ArcGIS software package.
What You’ll Learn
Students who complete this program will gain a clear understanding of GIS technology and terminology along with the training and expertise to put them to use. You’ll learn:
- GIS terms, available systems (focusing on ArcGIS), data sources and GIS policy decisions
- Spatial analysis, including working with ArcGIS tools such as, Spatial Analyst, ArcToolbox and ModelBuilder
- GIS database design philosophy and maintenance
- GIS techniques for watershed analysis
- Python programming for GIS applications
- How to manage sustainability projects using GIS applications
- GPS and Global Navigation Satellite Systems--knowing where data comes from
- Cartographic design, including choosing appropriate symbology and using scale-dependent rendering
What You’ll Get
Our program offers:
- UC-quality courses that are approved by UC Davis and can be counted as elective credits toward the Land Use and Environmental Planning Certificate Program
- GIS skills that are in high demand across many industries, giving you flexibility in the job market
- One-on-one interaction with veteran GIS practitioners from a variety of industries
- Class projects and case studies, conducted in a UC Davis computer lab, that offer relevant, hands-on learning opportunities that you can put to use immediately
- Unique networking opportunities with instructors and fellow students that can help advance your career
About the Program:
The Geographic Information Systems Professional Concentration can be completed in one year. It consists of four required courses and three elective courses, with curriculum structured to build upon and reinforce your learning from previous classes.
Professionals in fields such as land use and environmental planning, water resources, hazard management, fish and wild life, information technology, public administration or policy analysis can benefit from GIS knowledge.
You’ll complete the program with a clear understanding of GIS technology and terminology and the training and expertise to put them to use, including:
- GIS terms, available systems (focusing on ArcGIS), data sources and GIS policy decisions
- Spatial analysis, including working with ArcGIS tools such as, Spatial Analyst, ArcToolbox and ModelBuilder
- GIS database design philosophy and maintenance
- GIS techniques for watershed analysis
- Python programming for GIS applications
- How to manage sustainability projects using GIS applications
- GPS and Global Navigation Satellite Systems--knowing where data comes from
- Cartographic design, including choosing appropriate symbology and using scale-dependent rendering
Courses Approved By:
The UC Davis Extension Geographic Information Systems Professional Concentration is approved by the UC Davis Department Environmental Science & Policy.
Estimated Cost:
Tuition for the entire Geographic Information Systems Professional Concentration is $4,370-$4,545, depending on when you enroll. Textbooks and parking fees are not included in the cost of tuition.
Program Requirements:
You must complete nine units of required coursework and three elective courses with grades of "C" or better.
Testimonials:
"GIS is foundational to my work and my colleagues' work, as well as to business, research, governance and recreation worldwide. I enjoy working with GIS and sharing my expertise with others."
— Nick Santos, UC Davis Extension instructor and research staff for UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences
Quarterly schedule of courses
| Course | Units | F | W | SP | SU | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | |||||||
| Introduction to Geographic Information Systems | 2.0 | C | C | ||||
| Advanced GIS: Productivity, Geoprocessing and Analysis | 2.0 | C | |||||
| Data Acquisition and Evaluation/GPS | 2.0 | C | |||||
| GIS Database Design | 3.0 | C | C | ||||
| Elective Courses | |||||||
| GIS for Watershed Analysis: Beginning | |||||||
| GIS for Watershed Analysis: Intermediate | C | ||||||
| GIS for Watershed Analysis: Advanced | C | ||||||
| Python Programming for GIS | C | ||||||
| Using GIS to Manage, Analyze and Promote Sustainability | C | ||||||
| GPS for Advanced Applications | C | ||||||
| Introduction to UrbanFootprint | C | ||||||
| F=Fall W=Winter SP=Spring SU=Summer; Schedules subject to change. O = Online C = Classroom OC = Online and Classroom H = Hybrid | |||||||
Required Courses
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an exciting set of technology tools used in almost every field imaginable. Knowledge of GIS and experience with spatial analysis will enhance your resume and allow you to analyze and manage your data more effectively than ever before. Gain an overview of GIS in this hands-on workshop. Learn about terms and concepts, available systems, data sources and design and policy decisions that must be addressed prior to implementation of a GIS project. By combining lectures and hands-on experience working with ArcGIS, this course will provide you with a basic working knowledge of GIS and a concrete sense of the planning and design work involved in using GIS.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
Increase your understanding of available tools in ArcGIS for many types of spatial analyses, and understand how to choose the appropriate set of tools for different situations. Gain experience with a variety of geoprocessing tools in ArcGIS, discover better work routines and learn how to improve your workflow using ModelBuilder. Review important topics such as projections and editing, and explore many overlooked but useful tools that make life easier and save time and effort, including many advanced editing tools and map topology. You will also learn how to create map books using data-driven pages and ModelBuilder effectively for streamlining analyses and creating an easily modifiable interface for spatial analysis steps that are repeated many times.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
Through brief lectures, classroom computing sessions and outdoor and indoor exercises, students will explore alternatives for coupling digital imagery with GPS-derived positions, and will evaluate data quality in imagery and GPS-derived positions. Skills in preparation of metadata will be cultivated throughout the course with emphasis on data quality elements. Students will build upon project work of their choosing, concluding with hands-on building of a geographic database (geodatabase) in industry-standard format.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
Review industry-standard and emerging data design technologies for today's natural resource and land use planning. Learn to identify poor data design characteristics, convert logical data definitions and relationships to physical data design, prepare a plan for efficient data loading and manage quality assurance. Analyze real-world examples, including green site selection, government service delivery and sustainability projects. Discuss tabular, spatial, document, image and other types of data formats, as well as new challenges in integrating data of different sources, qualities, scales and complexities. Examine prevailing application development methodologies, such as:
- Interpreting and documenting business requirements
- Modeling data relationships
- Database language options
- Data population
- Database administration
Participants will propose, design and populate a database of their choice using spatial and other forms of data.
This course is intended for professionals who desire to include GIS as a tool in land use and resource planning efforts, and will also be beneficial to anyone with a strong desire to incorporate GIS database design and maintenance technology in a systematic and comprehensive manner. The course is directed at those who have a working knowledge of ArcGIS; it is highly recommended that students have experience using ArcGIS or take Introduction to Geographic Information Systems prior to undertaking this course.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
Elective Courses
Building upon UC Davis Extension's other foundational courses in GIS, this course provides an overview of how real-world environmental data are used in applied decision making. Lectures and hands-on projects will be based on existing problems in water management and watershed science and will use ArcGIS 10 to explore basic GIS techniques of watershed analysis. Gain practical knowledge to incorporate field data, summarize both vector and raster overlays, and make informative maps that can be used in resource decision-making settings. Enrollment is limited to 24 participants to allow for adequate hands-on training. Early enrollment is encouraged. This course is recommended for students who have limited GIS experience and intend to take GIS for Watershed Analysis: Intermediate.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
In this intermediate-level class, learn the theoretical background of watershed analysis within a Geographic Information System to develop a familiarity with common methods, tools and frameworks for investigation. Through extensive hands-on training, gain practice with diverse components of ArcGIS 10 series software and related tools. Exercises explore basic skills for working with watersheds and raster data types using tools such as Spatial Analyst, ArcToolbox and Model Builder.
Students will gain experience with fundamentals related to performing raster queries and calculations and discover how to use Digital Elevation Models to derive slope and drainage area parameters for watersheds, and create vector hydrography. The course covers basic automation using modelbuilder and also guides students in developing their own algorithms and where to look for future learning.
It is strongly recommended that students have prior training in ESRI (ArcGIS) or similar software. Completion of "GIS for Resource Managers and Professionals" or "Introduction to Geographic Information Systems" is sufficient for success in this course. Advanced students may skip directly to GIS for Watershed Analysis: Advanced, but the courses are complementary and together provide a strong foundation for GIS-based watershed analyses.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
This hands-on GIS workshop will give researchers, planners and land/resource managers the spatial analysis skills they need to integrate field data with watershed-scale variables and gain a better perspective of the upstream processes and circumstances that may be driving observed conditions. As an advanced-level course using ESRI's ArcGIS software, learn how to perform advanced raster queries and calculations and how to conduct advanced manipulation of terrain data through Python programming. Students will generate and assess their own digital elevation models from field collected LiDAR data and will classify and analyze Landsat satellite imagery to assess drought conditions. Implementation of workflows will focus on watershed generating algorithms and the attribution of vector data from raster analysis. By the end of the workshop, students will be able to generate watershed boundaries and stream networks, as well as stream order, in a semi-automated fashion. Additional exercises will focus on the integration of reach-level habitat inventories, fish and macroinvertebrate surveys, and water quality parameters into a watershed GIS. Students will also become familiar with the implementation of various ArcGIS tools and extensions, complementary software packages such as Geospatial Modelling Environment, and advanced concepts in watershed analysis.
Students enrolling in this course should be comfortable in ArcGIS and understand raster and vector concepts, but no prior programming experience or experience with Spatial Analyst is required. GIS for Watershed Analysis: Intermediate is a recommended, but not required, prerequisite for those who are less comfortable with basic ArcGIS operations.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
This hands-on GIS workshop will introduce students to the fundamental programming and GIS principles commonly used in the GIS industry. Students will learn how to automate geoprocessing tasks such as querying data, creating and saving data, connecting data, as well as learning how to automate map production tasks. By the end of the course, students will be able create, modify and troubleshoot Python code.
Sections of this course open for enrollment:
- Python Programming for GIS Starts: 05/01/2019
This course will identify opportunities to promote, implement and manage sustainability projects through the use of GIS. Students will review real-world case studies of GIS application in solving energy reduction mandates, and will learn how to match GIS tools to specific sustainability challenges, including site selection, preservation efficiency evaluation, land use compatibility analysis and green marketing techniques. In addition to structured hands-on exercises, students will be able to complete a small GIS sustainability project of their own choice. Attention will be given to local and global efforts, including the application of GIS in monitoring California Senate Bill SB 375 and Assembly Bill AB32.
Sections of this course open for enrollment:
- Using GIS to Manage, Analyze and Promote Sustainability Starts: 09/09/2019
Global Positioning Systems (GPS), or more currently, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are increasingly used in every aspect of field data acquisition and operations. This course is designed for professionals in science and management who seek condensed exposure to GNSS hardware, software and techniques beyond the basic capabilities of smartphones and recreational-grade GPS. Lecture topics include accuracy/precision theory, cost functions, error sources and their mitigation, real-time and post-differential correction, and virtual reference networks. Field exercises include customizing field data collection platforms, actual field data collection, post-processing and error assessment.
It is strongly recommended that students have prior training in ESRI (ArcGIS) or similar software. Completion of Introduction to Geographic Information Systems is sufficient for success in this course.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
Learn how to use UrbanFootprint the new generation of land use scenario creation and analysis tools. Gain hands-on experience with creating, editing and analyzing scenarios. Learn how the tool treats land use, and how it analyzes the scenarios to better understand how land use and transportation interact and how the land use decisions made now will impact natural resources, energy use, and fiscal health in and around communities.
UrbanFootprint is based on advanced server technologies and enables users with a web browser and internet connection to edit land use scenarios and conduct analysis across a wide range of performance measures. Written entirely using open source software, UrbanFootprint enables Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and other city, county, regional, and state governmental organizations to use a common platform for land use, transportation, and resource scenarios. Because of the open source nature of UrbanFootprint, non-profit and other non-governmental organizations will be able to use the software to develop and compare scenarios either independently or collaboratively.
UrbanFootprint is the formal name for the urban footprint modeling software created by Calthorpe Analytics.
This course is not currently open for enrollment.
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