MSc/PgDip/PgCert Geographical Information Systems
Full-time, Part-time
Location • City Campus
Subject area • Geography
Related subjects • Planning, housing and regeneration
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Find out about our geography teaching team.
Core modules
Introduction to GIS
The aim of this module is to provide an introduction to fundamental principles of GIS. Students will also have the opportunity to develop their use of GIS. The taught delivery of the module will focus on the fundamental principles using relevant theories. The indicative content will include cartography, entity definition, and spatial data modelling and so on. This will enable the students to appreciate the theories that underpin the application of GIS. Students will have the opportunity to apply the principles using an appropriate GIS package such as MapInfo.
Applying GIS
The aim of this module is to provide an introduction to use and management of GIS as software package and as a tool for decisions making support. The taught delivery of the module will focus on the development of GIS using relevant practices and necessary principles. The indicative content will include entity definition, spatial data modelling, data acquisition as well as providing students with clear themes for exploring GIS as a tool for supporting decision making.
GIS and spatial analysis
The aim of this module is to enable students to explore the concept of spatial analysis and the differences and commonalities of spatial and non-spatial analysis. The module will also enable students to explore a range of spatial analysis techniques and to understand the situations in which they should be used.
GIS and statistics
The description of spatial outcomes in statistical terms, as well as the modelling of the process by which outcomes arise, are important aspects of geographical enquiry and complement standard GIS mapping techniques. To this end, the aim of this module is to provide students with an understanding of key statistical concepts and techniques appropriate for the analysis of spatial and small area data. The module will provide an understanding and application of a range of statistical techniques. The module will also give students proficiency in data manipulation and handling using a suitable statistical package.
Option modules
Network analysis and transport
Networks are the systems made up of interconnecting routes along which entities can flow. These entities are wide ranging and can include people, vehicles, materials, energy or data, amongst many others. Networks play a vital role in the functioning of the modern world, in particular in the transit of people and goods within and between urban areas. The aim of this module is to introduce students to the concept of networks within the context of transport planning, modelling and logistics and to explore the application of GIS techniques and processes in these areas.
GIS and the environment
The aim of this module is give students the skills and knowledge to use of GIS in presentation, analysis and interpretation of environmental data. Unlike socio-economic data which is often available through censuses etc, environmental data is much less readily available and so researchers often have to collect this primary data. Students will learn the main strategies for collecting environmental data. They will also become aware of the nature of key environmental variables and the implications of this for their analysis.
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is a core focus of contemporary GIS application, both in current research and literature as well in professional / business contexts. Remote sensing technology and methods enables the collection and analysis of landcover data at a super-landscape scale and at temporal resolution that until the emergence of these technologies in the 1970's was impossible. The aim of this module is to introduce students to the theory, principles and physics of remote sensing. The module will also enable students to explore the application of these techniques to a range of applied situations, both conceptually, and through practical experience of using image analysis software to process, interpret and analyse a range of remote sensing imagery.
Ecological survey and evaluation
The ability to plan and implement surveys to gather data on the natural environment are key skills required by many employers in the environmental sector. This module will give students an understanding of the main ecological techniques available. Ecological survey data is of little value unless it is appropriately interpreted. This module will provide a knowledge of the frameworks that exist for evaluating and interpreting ecological data.
Global perspectives on regeneration
The aim of this module are to explore the impact of globalisation on a range of urban localities across the world including the approach to urban policy engendered by neo-liberalism. Students will gain an insight into how urban problems are managed in countries other than the United Kingdom with particular focus on how a range of urban regeneration policies and practices tackle problems such as crime, housing and homelessness, economic development, education, social exclusion, and community cohesion. The module provides students with the opportunity to experience urban issues in a different cultural setting by offering the option of a fieldtrip to Shanghai.
Consultancy project or professional learning in the workplace
Full-time – one year minimum, two to three days a week
Part-time – two years minimum, one day a week
Starts September and January
Complete the application form available at www.shu.ac.uk/study/form
2013/14 academic year
Full-time – typically £5,355
Part-time – typically £1,785 a stage for PgCert, PgDip and MSc stages
Plus an optional field trip fee of approximately £650
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/funding
2013/14 academic year
Typically £10,980 for the course
2014/15 academic year
Typically £11,250
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees, scholarships and bursaries see www.shu.ac.uk/international/fees
• reports • individual and group presentations • electronic conferences • work-based portfolios • reflective diaries.
There are no formal examinations.
Alexandra Savage
Physical Geography Lecturer
Alexandra achieved a BSc in Geography before undertaking a MSc in Soils and Environmental Pollution. Alexandra has 8 years' experience as a contaminated land consultant, working to identify the nature and extent of pollution on past industrial sites, and engaging with stakeholders to formulate and execute plans for remediation. In addition, she was involved in a number of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for new developments. She has also undertaken policy research on the effectiveness of compliance assessment within the Environment Agency.
In 2007, Alexandra did a PhD at the University of Leeds looking at the effect of land management on carbon loses from upland blanket peats in northern England. The impact of land management on the carbon cycle and its drivers was determined through examination of the physical and chemical properties of the peats, and field measurements of gaseous and aqueous losses of carbon.
Alexandra has experience in the secondary education sector both as a teaching assistant and as a cover teacher. In addition, Alexandra participated in the Royal Geographical Society's "Geography Ambassadors" scheme to encourage the uptake of geography as a subject at GCSE, A-level and university level.
Research interests
• soils science - in particular highly organic soils and contaminated soils
• regeneration of urban areas from an environmental perspective
• carbon cycling
• composting of wastes
• land management
Teaching interests
• understanding landscapes
• introduction to physical geography
• environmental science
• geomorphology
• research methods
• contemporary debates in Geography
• landscape rehabilitation
• landscape planning and restoration
Presentations
Oral Presentations
• Understanding the Impact of Land Management on Carbon Losses from Peatlands EGU Vienna May 2010
• The Role of Land Management on Carbon Cycling in Peatlands at the 2nd International BioHydrology Conference - A Changing Climate for Biology and Soil Hydrology Interactions, Bratislava, 2009
• Methods of Investigating the Effects of Peatland Management on Carbon Cycling at the British Soil Science Society's "Young Scientists" conference, March 2009, Reading
Poster Presentations
• Assessing the Impact of Land Management on Organic Matter Composition in Peats EGU, Vienna, May 2010
Dr Richard White
Course leader for BA (Hons) Human Geography
Richard joined Sheffield Hallam University from Warwick University in November 2006. To date, his principal areas of research have collectively focused on understanding the geographies of the informal economy in the minority world/advanced economies generally and in particular through exploring community self-help, mutual aid and reciprocity.
Richard has formally participated in many conferences and seminars both in the UK and overseas. In 2008, he was part of an official EU delegation team sent to Mexico City to contribute to the opening EU-Mexico dialogue on employment and social policy.
Teaching interests
• economic geography
• political economy
• radical philosophy
• dissident and critical geographies
• moral geographies and the political economy of animal rights
• research methods in the social sciences
• theorizing urban change
• conflict and protest movements
Author of
Williams CC and White RJ 2008 'Variations in the nature of the hidden economy and its public policy implications' in: Henckel D, Spars G & Wukovitsch F (eds) Arbeiten in der Grauzone, (Peter Lang: Frankfurt).
Green AE and White RJ 2008 'Shaped by place: young people’s decisions about education, training and work' Benefits: The Journal of Poverty and SocialJustice, Vol 16. No 3, pp 213-224.
Dr Alan Patterson
Geography and environment academic group leader
Alan has worked as a mining surveyor before studying environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia. After graduating he worked on the Future of Welfare project in the Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy at the University of Bath. Then he moved to the University of Sussex to read for an MA in urban and regional studies before joining the doctoral research programme at the University of Reading.
His first permanent academic post was as a lecturer in human geography at the West London Institute, then at Brunel University where he became deputy head of the department of geography and earth sciences, before coming to Sheffield Hallam University as course leader for geography in October 2004. He is currently the academic group leader for geography and environment.
Research interests
• local economic
• environmental and political interventions by the modern capitalist state,
• political economy of the public sector
• policies for sustainable development,
• role of informal currencies in boosting depressed local economies and alleviating individual poverty
Teaching interests
• urban social geography
• geographies of political economy
• philosophy and methodology.
Selected publications
Batchelor AL and Patterson A (2007) ‘Political modernisation and the weakening of sustainable development in Britain’ Chpt 7 in: Krueger JR and Gibbs DC (eds) The Sustainable Development Paradox: urban political economy in the United States and Europe (Guilford, NY).
Aldridge TJ, Patterson A and Tooke J (2003)‘Trading places: geography and the role of LETS in local sustainable development’ in: Buckingham S and Theobald KS (eds) Local Environmental Sustainability (Woodhead, Cambridge) pp169-194.
Aldridge TJ and Patterson A (2002) ‘LETS get real: constraints on the development of Local Exchange Trading Schemes’ Area 34 (4) pp370-381.
Dr Camila Bassi
Course leader for MSc Urban Regeneration
Camila graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1997 with a first-class honours degree in geography, and was awarded a DPhil from the University of Sheffield in 2003. Her Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded PhD was in the field of social geography, more specifically, it explored the interrelationships of 'racial', ethnic and sexual identities as linked to commercial space and political economy.
Research interests
• minority culture to urban political economy
• competing histories of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
Teaching interests
• development in Africa and the Middle East
• globalisation debate
• global perspectives on regeneration
• introduction to human geography
• social inclusion and cohesion
• urban change and conflict
Author of
• Bassi C 2010 ''The anti-imperialism of fools': A cautionary story on the revolutionary left vanguard of England’s post-9/11 anti-war movement' ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 9(2), 113-137. Download the article (pdf)
• Bassi C 2008 'Book Reviews: Risky pleasures? Club cultures and feminine identities by Fiona Hutton' Gender, Place & Culture, 15(4), 445-455.
Andrew Jones
Course leader for MSc Geographical Information Systems
Prior to joining the University in 2008, Andrew worked concurrently for the Peak District National Park Authority as their access officer, and on the research team of the Moors for the Future Project for four years.
His position as access officer involved the management and monitoring of recreational access to the countryside, whilst his work for Moors for the Future focused on developing and running a number of research projects studying the moorland environment of the Peak District, as well as engendering wider interest in moorland environmental research and facilitating knowledge transfer and cross disciplinary research work between other research institutions involved in the field of moorland and peatland systems research.
Andrew also works as a freelance geographical information systems (GIS) consultant for a number of companies and organisations.
Research interests
• modelling and managing recreation in the countryside
• hydrology and the management of peatland systems
• peatland carbon cycles
• GIS as a spatial decision making tool
Teaching interests
• principles and practices of GIS
• GIS and transport
• GIS and the environment
• applied GIS
Publications
• Allott, T.E.H., Evans, M.G., Lindsay, J.B., Agnew, C.T., Freer, J.E., Jones, A. & Parnell, M. (2009). Water tables in Peak District blanket peatlands. Moors for the Future Report No 17.
• Flitcroft, C. (2007). Peak District Moorland Visitor Attitude and Recreational Use Survey. Moors for the Future Report No 12.
Josie Wilson
Principal Lecturer
Josie graduated in urban studies and MA Geographical Information Systems from the University of Leeds. She specialises in geographical information systems (GIS) which she teaches at postgraduate level. She belongs to the British Cartographic Society and is also a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.
Josie joined the University in 1998 and has taught on various undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Josie has a passion for teaching and lectures in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in many areas including social and regional issues, the principles and practices of GIS; GIS for business, dissertation and applied research methods.
Recent publications
RTPI conference on GIS and Strategic Environmental Agencies. October 2006.
Wilson J and Cheesebrough J (2006) Beyond the looking table, Association of American Geographers 7.3.2006 Chicago.
Dr Andrew Jobling
Course leader for BSc (Hons) Geography
Andrew joined Sheffield Hallam in September 2007. His work is focused on agrarian change, economic restructuring and rural politics in Latin America where he has several years of fieldwork experience. He has contributed to projects exploring relations between trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
His key research interests are relations between small farms and agribusiness in Latin America, the restructuring of the Peruvian sugar industry and community management of irrigation in the Andean region.
Teaching interests
• issues in the developing world
• development in Latin America
• development in Africa and the Middle East
• introduction to human geography
• geographies of the city
• research development
Research and consultancy projects
Jobling, A (2006) Labour, Community, Region: Knowledge Transfer Centre Development Project Report, University of Liverpool/Amicus the Union.
Jobling, A (2004) ‘Outreach Male Parenting Support: an Evaluation’ in Northwood and Southdene East Sure Start Evaluation, The Centre for the Child the Family and the Law, University of Liverpool.
Profiles
Alexandra Savage
Physical Geography Lecturer
Dr Richard White
Course leader for BA (Hons) Human Geography
Dr Alan Patterson
Geography and environment academic group leader
Dr Camila Bassi
Course leader for MSc Urban Regeneration
Andrew Jones
Course leader for MSc Geographical Information Systems
Josie Wilson
Principal Lecturer
Dr Andrew Jobling
Course leader for BSc (Hons) Geography
