Monitor Environmental Change From Above.
From rugged mountains and dense forests to wetlands and coastal environments, some landscapes are difficult, costly, or dangerous to survey on foot. Remote sensing offers a safer, more efficient way to monitor these areas by collecting information about Earth's surface and atmosphere using satellites, aircraft, drones, and specialized sensors.
Combined with GIS and field observations, remote sensing helps natural resource professionals monitor vegetation, map forest cover, estimate carbon stocks, and assess wildfire damage.
Michigan Tech's Online Remote Sensing for Natural Resources Graduate Certificate builds your skills in analyzing and interpreting remotely sensed data to study forests, vegetation, and changing landscapes. You'll develop analytical and coding skills that help turn imagery into insights for environmental monitoring, natural resource management, and informed decision-making.
Who is This Certificate For?
This certificate is especially relevant to GIS, forestry, conservation, and natural resource professionals who use imagery and spatial data to monitor the environment. It also suits learners interested in applying satellite, aircraft, or drone observations to vegetation, land-use, and ecosystem analysis.
What You Will Study
This 9-credit certificate is flexible enough to fit around the demands of your life, job, and other responsibilities. You will study and apply remote sensing principles and concepts, diving into such topics as camera and digital sensor arrays, types of imagery, digital data structures, spectral reflectance curves, applications, and introductory digital image processing.
You'll also apply remote sensing analysis by using industry standard software for digital image processing while learning the theory behind these processes. In short, you'll be equipped with a remote-sensing toolkit that you can immediately apply on your current job.
To learn these processes and theories, all students will take the same four courses, which include a seminar and a hands-on lab.
Required Courses
Why Michigan Tech?
Choose Your Educational Path.
Earn the certificate to accelerate in and gain valuable skills for your current career. You can also stack this certificate with Foundations of GI Science and Advanced GI Science to build your Online Master of Geographic Information Science (MGIS) Degree.
Learn from Subject Matter Experts.
This certificate and the proposed MGIS Online degree have been developed with the input from both GIS analysts and industry experts. In addition, the online courses have been developed and are taught by Dr. Parth Bhatt, Assistant Teaching / Research Professor. Bhatt has rich experience with using GIS and remote sensing techniques to both analyze and solve problems in natural resource management, invasive species mapping, and forest health. For instance, he has regularly traveled to Suriname to teach drone workshops, which help locals manage, monitor, and maintain the health of their country's rich tropical forests and delicate ecosystem.
Join a Department With a Rich Tradition in Forestry.
This online program has evolved from the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, which has long worked in and conducted GIS research. You'll be part of a college that is known and respected for offering top-tier education for next-generation forestry and natural resource challenges.
Where You'll Apply Your Skills
In general, professionals with remote sensing and GIS experience work in various sectors, including government agencies (US Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada), international organizations, non-profits, consulting firms, and private industry (forestry companies, satellite data providers).
Although jobs and job titles vary according to workplace, below is a list of some of the most common careers in natural resources, forestry, and conservation, as well as occupations that cut across fields.
Natural Resources
- Remote Sensing Specialist (Forestry)
- Forest Inventory Analyst
- Silviculture Forester
- Forest Health Specialist
- Wildfire Analyst
- Forest Resource Planner
- Geospatial Analyst (Forestry)
Remote Sensing and Geospatial Professions
- Remote Sensing Specialist
- GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist
- Geospatial Intelligence Analyst
- Imagery Analyst (Environmental Applications)
Natural Resource Management
- Natural Resource Analyst
- Environmental Remote Sensing Analyst
- Resource Monitoring Specialist
- Ecological Modeler
- Watershed or Land Use Planner
- Rangeland Management Specialist
Conservation and Environmental Monitoring
- Wildlife Habitat Analyst
- Conservation GIS Specialist
- Environmental Monitoring Officer
- Landscape Ecologist
Get Started on Your Online Remote Sensing Certificate.
Take the next steps on your online educational journey at Michigan Tech. Reach out when you're ready. Or begin your free, easy graduate application.