Digital Ecology and Natural Resources, MSF

About the Program

This non-thesis Master’s program is designed to provide field ecologists and natural resource professionals the knowledge and skills required to use state-of-the-art technological tools for environmental and population monitoring. Students will use data collected by UAS-based digital platforms, environmental sensor arrays, AI-based camera trapping, and several other emerging technologies within the data science pipeline to create products to answer relevant scientific and management questions. The program is open to both professionals and residential graduate students, using a mix of in-person and online instruction.

Students are not required to be in the certificate programs.

Program Website

Program Requirements

33 Credits Required

Capstone Course (6 credits)

Can be repeated.

• FNR 56600 - Digital Natural Resources Capstone Credit Hours: 1.00 to 6.00 (Credits: 6.00 total)

Program Learning Outcomes

Students will:

Planning:

• Be able to develop a written project plan documenting all aspects of how digital data will be collected, analyzed, stored and shared to answer specific information needs.
• Know how to accomodate ethical concerns and regulatory requirements within your data project plan.

Acquistion:

• Have advanced technological knowledge of UAS operations, including the operability and compatibility of proximal and remote platforms.
• Be able to use new, cutting-edge sensor arrays, data sources, etc., for inventory, habitat estimation and/or population monitoring.

Processing:

• Be able to convert raw data into formats appropriate for long-term storage and/or use on common analytical platforms.
• Be able to assess the quality of aquired data from proximal and remote sensor platforms and/or arrays.
• Be able to properly fuse data from multiple sources for spatial analyses.

Analysis:

• Learn core concepts of geographic information systems (GIS) such as projections, spatial data processing, and metadata creation.
• Build customized analytic tools and macros for open-source and commercial GIS platforms.
• Produce analytic products to answer specific natural resource monitoring and management questions.

Preservation:

• Be able to document data creation and analytical processes properly for archiving.
• Be able to locate and use the proper data archives and repositories for the data type.

Share:

• Create and present finished data analyses in both oral and written formats.
• Understand the ethical and legal implications of data release, including release of proprietary and sensitive data sources.

GPA Requirements

Student will need to achieve a 3.0 GPA by the end of the first term to stay in the program.

Graduate Programs Disclaimer

• The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Students should consult with their advisor/department for more information.
• Not all graduate programs may be actively recruiting students and course modality availability may vary. 
• Please refer to the Explore Graduate Programs website for a list of currently available graduate programs.
• Transfer credit policy: Credits earned for graduate study at other universities (both domestic and international) may be applied toward an advanced degree. Only credit hours associated with graduate courses for which grades of B- or better were obtained will be eligible for transfer. Any additional conditions under which credit transfers may be made are determined by the various departments.
• Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.