Contact Information
Dr. Laurie Anderson
Department of Geology and Geological Engineering
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
MI-303
605-394-2461
E-mail: Laurie.Anderson@sdsmt.edu
Geospatial Technology
Geospatial technology is a career field that measures, visualizes, and analyzes features on the earth’s surface. It includes diverse applications such as mapping and cartography, aerial photography and satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positional systems (GPS), geostatistics, LIDAR, photogrammetry, and geolocation. It forms an integral part of government services and industries, including natural resources management, environmental protection, architecture, urban planning, insurance, retail, marketing, agriculture, forestry, mining, petroleum, water resources, transportation, utilities, and more. It is an actively growing field with high demand for trained workers. It requires good computer skills.
Background Requirements
This certificate program is designed to enhance an individual’s existing work or academic training by building specific geospatial competencies required in the workplace. The ideal career preparation is to combine this certificate with a degree or work experience in one of the fields listed above. It is strongly recommended that persons wishing to pursue this certificate already have or will soon have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Before enrolling in any classes for this certificate, the candidate must have good computer skills including the Windows operating system, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, Internet, e-mail, and file management. Training in statistics is also recommended.
