Important social, economic, and environmental processes occur over geographic space. Geographic information gives the answer to "where" in the question of "who, what, where, when, why and how" about these important events. Geographic information systems, digital cartography, and associated technologies capture that information, and allow it to be stored, analyzed, processed and displayed.

The University at Buffalo has long been a leader in GIS education at the Doctoral level. UB established the nation's first academic "GIS Laboratory" in 1974, and awarded its first Ph.D. to a student specializing in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Cartography in 1977. Graduates of our nationally-ranked program are in high demand in today's job market, holding academic appointments at a number of leading doctoral-granting universities, as well as positions in private sector firms, government agencies, and research labs.

Geographic Information and Analysis, NCGIA. NCGIA was founded in 1988 with sponsorship from the National Science Foundation. Today, the three universities continue as an independent research consortium, maintaining their position at the forefront of the world's research in Geographic Information Science and Geographic Information Systems applications. At Buffalo, the NCGIA serves as multidisciplinary organized research center, supporting approximately 20 externally funded research grants in GIS and related areas per year. A sample of research programs in GIS and GI Science can be found here. Every year, approximately 40 graduate students have the opportunity to participate in these active, cutting-edge research projects as graduate research assistants and graduate fellows.

Curriculum

Programs of Doctoral study in Geography at UB are highly flexible, and are tailored to each students needs, interests, and preparation through individual advice and mentoring and through diagnostic examinations.

Most Ph.D. students in the specialization in GIS gain expertise in GIS, and use the software as a tool to enhance their research in urban and regional analysis, environmental geography, industrial geography, or other topics. Some students choose to specialize in GIS itself, especially in "Geographic Information Science", the science behind the software, developing and augmenting the theory behind GIS, extending the capability of the software, or studying the relationships between GIS and society.

In 1998, UB's excellence in multidisciplinary GI Science Doctoral Education was affirmed by the award of a prestigious multi-million dollar grant to support
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeships (IGERT) in GI Science.
This program supports Ph.D. students in several academic departments including Geography. Students in the program acquire broad multidisciplinary backgrounds, as well as essential technical and professional skills. A limited number of enhanced funding packages are available to new applicants.

The IGERT academic program has been captured in the Department of Geography's
Advanced Certificate in Geographic Information Science
This certificate concentration is available to students who complete all the requirements for a Doctorate in their home academic department, as well as complete graduate courses in Geographic Information Science, Geographic Ontology, Databases, and Research Ethics, plus two electives in a concentration.

Required Core Courses

Elective Courses

In consultation with their advisor, students develop a program of study that matches their own research interests and satisfies the general requirements of the doctoral program in Geography. Courses are selected from the GIS course offering as well as from other specializations within the Geography Department. Given the strong research-orientation of the program, students also typically take over 12 credit hours in other UB departments.

The following is a list of recommended courses offered within the Geography Department.

 

Course Number	Course Number(credit hours)
GEO 520	Transportation and Spatial Information (4)
GEO 530	Urban Geography (4)
GEO 550	Introduction to Graduate Cartography (4)
GEO 551	Cartography and Geographic Visualization (4)
GEO 552	Special Topics in Cartography (4)
GEO 553	Remote Sensing (4)
GEO 554	Network and Location Analysis (4)
GEO 555	GIS Algorithms and Data Structures (4)
GEO 556	GIS Design (4)
GEO 557	Thematic Cartography (4)
GEO 559	GIS and Environmental Modeling (4)
GEO 564	Mobility and Flows (4)
GEO 574	Urban Transportation and Land Use Modeling (4)
GEO 575	Landscape Modeling with GIS (3)
GEO 591	Introduction to Geographic Information Science (3)
GEO 592	Cognitive Geography and Geographical Cognition (3)
GEO 594	Geographic Information and Society (3)
GEO 595	Database Design for Geographic Information Systems (3)
GEO 597	Geostatistics (4)
GEO 605	Spatial Statistics (3)
GEO 655	Advanced Topics in GIS (3)

Admission Requirements

Core GIS Faculty

Ling Bian, Associate Professor, lbian@geog.buffalo.edu

Irene Casas, Assistant Professor, icasas@buffalo.edu

Douglas Flewelling, Assistant Professor, dougf@geog.buffalo.edu

Scott Mackay, Assistant Professor, dsmackay@buffalo.edu

David Mark, Professor, dmark@geog.buffalo.edu

Chris Renschler, Assistant Professor, rensch@buffalo.edu

Peter Rogerson, Professor, rogerson@buffalo.edu

Narushige Shiode, Assistant Professor, nshiode@buffalo.edu

Jean-Claude Thill, Professor, jcthill@buffalo.edu