Background: Geographic information science and technology, along with geostatistics and analysis of satellite imagery, have emerged as major cross-disciplinary tools used in academic research, industrial applications, and public policy analysis. This is especially true on the Berkeley campus. Students, faculty and staff across campus are using these technologies to understand how plants and animals might respond to climate change, how the built environment might influence public health, and how land use is changing in the tropics. Adding these skills to your undergraduate or graduate program can help you get a job, or can help you delve into new areas of research. A great place for GIS on campus is the Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF) at UC Berkeley's Rausser College of Natural Resources. The GIF provides leadership and training across a broad array of integrated mapping technologies. These technologies include Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and modeling. The GIF offers innovative geospatial approaches to environmental research projects and grant opportunities. You can take short workshops on a range of topics, rent GPS equipment, get GIS consulting, and go to Geolunch events. Minor in Geospatial Information Science and Technology (GIST) Information The Minor in Geospatial Information Science and Technology has been approved in 2 departments at UC Berkeley. Environmental Science, Policy and Management (in the Rausser College of Natural Resources), and the Department of City and Regional Planning in the College of Environmental Design now have Minors in Geospatial Information Science and Technology and includes courses across campus. These programs would serve students in geography and other social sciences, archeology, environmental science, policy and management, city and regional planning, humanities, architecture, landscape architecture and environmental planning, civil and environmental engineering, public policy, and environmental public health. The department of Geography is currently approving the Minor. The Minor is open to all majors at UC Berkeley. For more information, check out the Minor Snapshot.
