Overview
Interactive GIS Course in Costa Rica - PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PROGRAM IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

GVI and JuniperGIS have teamed up to bring you this exciting and interactive GIS course that will be an asset to anyone studying or working in the Earth and Life Sciences field. This course will be divided into 2 one-week blocks; Core Skills will be provided in week one and Advanced Skills in week two. Upon completion, students will be competent working with GIS and be able to tackle advanced GIS projects for their agencies or themselves. The course will be taught using ESRI’s ArcGIS 9.3 software, which will be provided. Students will also earn 40 or 80 hours towards the GISP (Geographic Information System Professional) certificate. All students must bring a laptop computer with them.

View Film Footage, images, blogs, stories from the field, video diaries and more at the programs media centre

All the exercises are based on real projects with real data from a variety of sources, so you won't just be learning about GIS, you will be learning to apply it in practical situations that will be immediately useful in your work

John Schaeffer, JuniperGIS Instructor

Highlights

Learning a huge array of valuable and career developing GIS and GPS skills in a relaxed and beautiful setting; collating and analysing the data you’ve collected; sharing your experience and interacting with other researchers and professionals, as well as the local community experiencing Costa Rica; travelling by boat along stunning canal networks; chancing upon the immense diversity of wildlife in the area, including hundreds of species of birds such as parrots and toucans, three species of monkeys and countless other mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects; contribute to GVI's ongoing conservation program.

Skills And Qualifications Received

Week 1 of the course will teach core GIS skills – working with the software to compile and organize data, use symbols and labels to understand the data, work with table tools to maximize the database functionality of GIS, work with edit tools to create and clean the data, perform basic analysis, and create finished maps.

Week 2 of this course will focus on advanced skills, including the use of the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension that works with Raster GIS and provides advanced analysis functionality. Students will also learn how to use ModelBuilder to create models and tools for analysis and to improve productivity, and custom tools that will provide new and useful ways to make GIS work better for each student’s needs. The course will work with several analysis projects to demonstrate how these skills can be applied.

Students will receive a certification from GVI and JuniperGIS (ESRI Authorized Class) and also earn 40 (one week participation) or 80 (two week participation) hours towards the GISP (Geographic Information System Professional) certificate.

See Requirements And Training page for more information

Location

The course will be held in the Tortuguero area, situated very close to Tortuguero National Park and the Barra del Colorado Wildlife Reserve. This region is widely known for its biodiversity and richness in ecosystems. Participants will be able to put their knowledge into use by collecting data whilst surveying Caribbean beaches, beautiful forest canal systems or lowland rainforest.

See Life on the course page for more information

Field Conditions

Course participants are accommodated in shared rooms. There is a main socialising area, and showers and modern flush toilets are available. Three meals daily will be provided. In addition, the accommodation location is fantastic for observing wildlife.

See Life on the course page for more information

What's Included

Round transfers from San Jose, all food and accommodation, training materials and expert supervision. We will provide evaluation copies of the software to use during the course and after you have completed it. Pre-departure support and discounted services, 24 hour emergency phone, 24 hour in-country support.

See Book Now page for more information