PUBH6141: GIS & Spatial Analysis for Public Health

This course examines how to incorporate and handle spatial data to address public health questions, such as evaluating environmental exposures or identifying vulnerable and at-risk populations. We will utilize a Geographic Information System (GIS) to incorporate and visualize data for public health research. Classwork will be presented in the form of health-related case studies where GIS helps to formulate and address scientific hypotheses based on research topics in the School of Public Health. Specifically, the ArcGIS software will be used as a tool to integrate, manipulate, and display spatial health data. Topics include understanding spatial data, mapping, topology, spatial manipulations related to data structures, online data, geocoding, remote sensing imagery, and reviewing public health literature. The course will emphasize how to prepare spatial data for a formal statistical analysis. All coursework will be discussed in the context of statistical frameworks for evaluating geostatistical, point pattern, and area-level (or lattice) data examples. The intended audience for this course are masters and doctoral students who seek a more advanced understanding of GIS and spatial data beyond exploratory skills. Their goal should be a working knowledge of spatial analysis that can be readily applied in future research or employment. Students should leave this course prepared to take more advanced spatial analysis courses, map geographic trends, formulate scientific hypothesis for epidemiological applications, with the knowledge to acquire online spatial data, and the skills to critically evaluate published papers that utilize GIS.

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