Geomatics in nature management

Geomatics in forestry and nature management

Program description

GeoNM, 120 higher education credits

Master Programme “Geomatics in forestry and nature management”

Application deadline

June 22 (for applicants, who need visa)

August 18 (for applicants with the visa)

Applicants graduating and having their diplomas issued later than the application deadline, should submit their most recent official Transcript of Records along with the rest of the required documents.

The 2-year GeoNM master’s programme aims to provide students with the opportunity to acquire advanced knowledge (skills) about the theory and application of modern remote sensing and spatial analyses technologies primarily in environmental, forestry, and community planning. Special emphasis of the programme is put on the development of practical skills of students. The master program is focused on subject areas including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote analysis, spatial analysis for environmental applications, and mathematical modeling.

As a GeoNM candidate, you will spend two years studying full-time on Volga Tech campus.

The curriculum is a mix of theory and hands-on experience, including:

An intensive course on ecosystem modeling and core environmental management themes.
Analytical and quantitative courses in GIS, remote sensing and image processing, spatial statistics, spatial data analysis and programming.
A project that demonstrates how quantitative spatial analysis could be used to solve a nature management problem.
Project management workshops to develop critical skills for working with researchers, educators and geospatial industry professionals.
Two week practical training or summer school at one of partner Universities in EU country.

Career prospects. The GeoNM should prepare students for employment in the state and private sectors as GIS and environmental specialists, as well for post-graduate PhD studies on the international level.

Language of instruction: English.

Learning outcomes

Based on the learning outcomes stated in the Study Program for a degree of Master of in the field of Ecology and Nature management, students shall have acquired knowledge and understanding of:

Collection, primary and secondary processing and consolidation of geographic data (primarily within remote analysis and nature management).
How geographic data can be stored and processed in information systems.
How processing geographic information can be used to analyze problems within environmental science, forestry, community planning and other areas of application.
Mathematical methods and relationships within basic information processing, visualization of geographic data.
The conditions and requirements that must be met in order to introduce GIS in an organization.
Issues of equality and diversity in science and in the global community.
Assessing the stability of terrestrial ecosystems, to apply the concepts and models of sustainable development in natural resource management.

Students shall have acquired the ability to:

Based on Geomatic knowledge, develop solutions to different complex problems in the areas of forestry, nature management and community planning.
Cooperate with specialists within the areas of nature management in order to apply GIS technologies.
Analyze and logically structure problems in geographic information processing and write or adapt PC programs in order to solve problems.
Use the skills and knowledge in teamwork.
Study and work in a self-supervised and independent manner, search for information, both nationally and internationally.

Course information

Courses are primarily given in the following fields of study:

Geographic information systems (GIS)
Remote sensing
Nature management

Additional courses on offer include computer science, research methodology, academic writing, advanced statistics and scientific communication.