Professional Master's Degree in Geodata Science

Employers seek in today’s advanced Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics workforce skills in analytics and data science, including Big Data (Denecke, D. et al. 2017, Council of Graduate Schools). In the United States, geoscience curricula are in general not designed to capitalize on the digital revolution, especially the enormous growth in data science. There has been a disconnect between the jobs of the future and the curricula of the present. Data science is highly technical and requires rigorous preparation in mathematics, statistics and computing skills. Specifically, in the context of geosciences, data science applied with the goal of improving understanding of causal relations in the physical system also promotes better predictions, therefore risk assessments.

The EAPS Professional Master's Degree in Geodata Science (Geodata Science for Professionals, GDSP) integrates rigorous academic coursework, high-performance data-science computing environments such as Hadoop systems, GPU, and Cloud computing for deep analysis and AI/deep learning, with real-life research and work experiences. We prioritize data science education, with applications to climate, weather forecasting, environmental science, natural resource, energy, and planetary data for decision-support or decision-making in the public and private sectors. Launched in the Fall of 2018, GDSP has served and educated U.S. and international students. GDSP graduates have since successfully advanced in industry or continued to Ph.D. programs.

News

EAPS Geodata Science for Professionals MS program joined efforts with partners from Statistics, Library Geospatial Information System Certificate, Center for Instructional Excellence, and Office of the Provost's Data Mine at the US Summit on Transformative Education in Febrary 2023.

GDSP students took a field trip to the Data Center of Purdue Research Computing (RCAC).

Last week Erik Gough and Betsy Hillery gave a tour of the Data Center to students from Associate Professor Wen Wen Tung's Geodata Science Seminar. These students, from EAPS and Statistics, have been using the Bell and Gilbreth resources since the beginning of the semester. pic.twitter.com/m0RnrPM9dM
— RCAC @ Purdue (@PurdueRCAC) February 27, 2023

Application Deadlines

Spring 2023 Application Full Submission Deadline: October 15, 2022
Fall 2023 Application Full Submission Deadline: March 15, 2023
Spring 2024 Application Full Submission Deadline: October 15, 2023

Flyers and Brochures

GDSP Program - Student Brochure (PDF)

GDSP Program - Industry Brochure (PDF)

GDSP program students with Drs. Tung and Nowack.

On-Campus or Hybrid Options

Are you currently a working professional? Even though GDSP is an on-campus program, it is possible to complete a significant part of the required coursework online. Please contact the Program Director for information.

GDSP Advisory Committee

Dr. Wen-wen Tung, Associate Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Program Director, Contact: wwtung@purdue.edu
Dr. Yunyue Elita Li, Mary J. Elmore New Frontiers Associate Professor in Data Science in EAPS and (by courtesy) Mathematics
Dr. Andrea Orton, Visiting Assistant Professor in Atmospheric Sciences
Dr. Doug Schmitt, Professor and Stephen and Karen Brand Endowed Chair of Unconventional Energy
Dr. Qianlai Zhuang, Professor of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences and Professor of Agronomy