In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Asia, the demand for professionals in the field of geospatial intelligence has grown tremendously.
This fall, Penn State will answer it by offering the first online geospatial intelligence program in the country.
The post-baccalaureate certificate in geospatial intelligence, open to anyone who has graduated with a baccalaureate degree, is a 14-credit program that will consist of five online courses and take less than two years to complete. The program will give students the knowledge necessary to provide geospatial analysis to key decision-makers in government, defense and business.
"Geospatial intelligence is a combination of remote sensing, imagery capture, geographic surveying and decision-making," said Karen Schuckman, a geography instructor at Penn State.
"The knowledge can be applied to military planning, environmental resource preservation and even retail store placement."
Todd Bacastow, a geospatial intelligence instructor in Penn State's Dutton e-Education Institute who will be teaching some of the online courses, said decision-makers rely on geospatial intelligence in order to complete analysis, plan for emergencies and humanitarian relief, help with homeland security and look at cultural situations from a geographical perspective.
"The program is being offered online because right now many people are trying to utilize these tools but are already in the workforce," Schuckman said. "Offering the course online allows those who have jobs and families to learn more about this technology to advance and accelerate their skills."
Bacastow said the number of people hired in this field is growing, but many lack specialized education in this area. He said the program would reach out to a broad spectrum of people, from government workers to those in the Red Cross and even businesses.
Instructors in the university's geographic information science department and college of Information and Science Technology will teach the courses.
The program will conform to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation's (USGIF) certification criteria, so those who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion from USGIF in addition to a degree of completion from Penn State.
"Our goal is to give students experience so they can work closely with companies and organizations in this growing area," said Aimee Correnti, USGIF's vice president of operations. "Our criteria cover a broad scope of courses that Penn State can tailor to their own needs."
Bacastow said classes will include "geographic foundations of geospatial intelligence," "geographic information systems for the geospatial intelligence professional" and a virtual field exercise that allows student to apply what they've learned to help solve problems in simulated crisis situations.
"The idea of the program is basically using technology as a tool to better understand the world around us," Schuckman said.
