Areas of Concentration The Master of Science in Geographic Information Science program offers five supporting content concentrations: Natural Resource Management Environmental Management, Conservation, Natural Resource Utilization+ More As the world's population continues to grow, natural resource managers need to be cognizant of new technologies that assist in managing resources. GIS provides resource managers with a vast array of tools to enhance their decision-making skills. Whether you are an engineer, biologist, geologist or other resource specialist, GIS facilitates incorporating spatial data for organization, analyses, and/or mapping to produce information that is accurate, coherent, and meaningful for natural resource decision-making. Homeland Security / Emergency Management Emergency Preparedness, Public Safety Management, Community Health and Safety + More Natural disasters, smart population growth, world resource management, epidemic disease management, traffic control, and terrorism control all depend on questions of geography. GIS is ideally suited to assist in decision-making in these areas and many more. Whether you work, or wish to work in government, emergency services, public safety, crime control and management, public health, land use planning and/or resource allocation, this disciplinary concentration area can help you to better understand the landscape of the field of security emergency services. Coupled with GIS expertise, you can see model spatial 'what if' scenarios, create predictive models and learn how to integrate data from varying sources for the public good. Business Administration Customer Analysis, Market Assessment, "Siting" Feasibility Studies+ More Living in the "Technology Age" has altered the way businesses operate in (GIS) are major players in assisting businesses to adapt to these inevitable changes. From international corporations to entrepreneurial start-ups, manufacturing to informational, companies are calling on GIS to assist with their day-to-day operations. Individuals who possess GIS skills will become extremely marketable as businesses seek employees with the expertise they need. Get on the leading edge of an exploding employment market in the GIS field. Policy Administration / Criminal Justice Social Resource Managment, Election Demographics, Traffic Analysis+ More The Policy Administration/Criminal Justice content concentration is designed for those who work or wish to work with varying issues within public policy development/implementation and local government operations. This content area focuses on GIS as a decision support tool. Students can expect to enhance critical thinking skills, analytical techniques and objectivity in decision-making. Students will also learn how to deliver geographic information to the community at-large. Methodologies in using spatial analysis to develop and evaluate public policy are key elements of the program. The Criminal Justice content concentration is designed for those students who want to learn the techniques used to analyze the spatial aspects of crime, giving the specialist the ability to interpret data pertaining to the location, distribution and dispersion of crime. Project Management GIS and Software Project Management, Multi-Agency Project Management, Human Resource Allocation-Management+ More This disciplinary area is designed for individuals seeking assistance and knowledge for leading complex projects in a variety of work settings. Courses provide the knowledge of business practices. The process of managing a project, including definition, implementation, and evaluation, is presented along with varying aspects of project planning and estimation plus issues of fiscal management. This study option provides wonderful background for anyone in any sector of employment, ranging from privately owned business to corporate management, from local government and to natural resource planning and management. Successful project management is core to the success of any project of magnitude including those involving elements of spatial relationships, dependencies and predictions.