Geographic Information Science

The Bachelor of Geographic Information Science (B.GISc) is an innovative program offered by the Department of Geography & Environmental Studies at the University of Regina. The Bachelor of Geographic Information Science is a unique designation that is not offered in this format anywhere else in North America.

Geographic Information Science (GIScience) is the intellectual understanding behind the development and application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS are used by resource exploration companies to locate areas of new reserves, power utilities to plan new power line routes, municipalities to manage their infrastructure, school boards to optimize school bus routing, health districts to examine the spread of infectious diseases, police departments to identify crime hot spots, and businesses to document the geographic distribution and demographics of their customers.

Some of the questions asked in GIScience are:

• What are the implications of using latitude and longitude, a postal code, or a street address to locate a crime scene?
• How do you encode the flight pattern of a butterfly in a computer?
• Is there a spatial correlation between diabetes and socio-economic status?

GIScience is an emerging academic discipline and is being used throughout the world to solve problems in multiple disciplines:

• Biologists use GIS to map the nesting and foraging habitats of endangered wildlife. Environmental engineers have built hydraulic models into GIS to forecast peak river flow conditions.
• Crime mapping with GIS has revolutionized the work done by justice and police professionals.
• Social planners and social workers use GIS to optimize the delivery of social services to segments of the population in most need.
• Business analysts enter data on customer purchasing patterns, demographic trends, and the location of competitors into a GIS to identify ideal locations to establish new business enterprises.
• Health professionals use GIS to track the spread of infectious diseases and to search for the social and environmental conduits along which the viruses travel the fastest.

Sample Courses

• Map and Airphoto Interpretation
• Cartography
• Remote Sensing
• Spatial Statistics
• GIS

Our students are encouraged to integrate these technologies into a broader geographic context, such as:

• environmental issues
• resource management
• meteorology
• geomorphology
• urban geography
• biogeography
• population geography
• political geography

Why take the Bachelor of Geographic Information Science at the University of Regina?

Industry Canada lists geomatics (GIS and its related technologies) as one of the three most important emerging and evolving career areas today. GIS specialists are in high demand in Saskatchewan's resource sector but also other areas where environmental considerations are of concern. The B.GISc degree is unique in North America and graduates from this program will stand above the crowd. The degree will be instantly recognized by industry and government employers and will give our graduates a distinct advantage in the job market.

Transfer Credits

As part of the program students complete a 1-year certificate in GIS in Resource Management from Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Prince Albert Campus, and will be given 30 hours of transfer credits at the University of Regina and may enter directly into the 2nd year of the U of R B.GISc program.