By Matthew Sotlar / The Jambar
Youngstown State University’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math introduced a Bachelor of Science in Geographic Information Sciences into its degree listings.
Offered both in-person and online, the GIS Program provides a broad and in-depth course listing. GIS Program coordinator, Bradley Shellito, said the program was established to replace the former geography program.
“Last year, as part of the various cuts and things that were happening, the geography program was sunset,” Shellito said. “I was then moved to the [physics, astrology, GIS, geology and environmental science] department in STEM, along with Peter Kimosop, and we were to develop a GIS program there … as of fall 2025, that bachelor’s degree has been approved by YSU, it’s been approved by the state, and it’s available for students to enroll in.”
GIS often encompasses gathering data through digital mapping and applying it in various real-world scenarios. Kimosop, GIS Coordinator, said there are three fields of application for GIS.
“When you talk about GIS, it involves three fields,” Kimosop said. “There is what’s called geographic information systems, there is what is called remote sensing and there is GPS. If you combine the three, you have geographic information sciences.”
While GPS is an easily accessible form of GIS for most individuals, Kimosop said that geographic information systems and remote sensing are done through advanced forms of mapping and analysis.
“Geographic information systems are the ones that are used to map,” Kimosop said. “We do a lot of mapping and do analytics from that mapping. Then there is remote sensing, which is aerial imagery acquiring images from space, maybe through satellites, through drones or cameras.”
Mapping via satellites and drones are among the most common forms of aerial imagery. Shellito said different forms of GIS data are gathered and studied by a wide variety of fields.
“Anytime you’re working with data that has a location … we need to know how to handle that data,” Shellito said. “That could be anything from emergency services, routing transportation, looking at property lines — it could be looking at the impacts of floods and landslides, it could be mapping groundwater areas, you could be mapping pollutants and pollutant spread. There are so many different things because your data has some kind of location to it.”
With the GIS program, students will learn each of the three fields of GIS, how to gather data and how that data is used throughout different occupations. Kimosop said he hopes students will see the value and usage of GIS with the start of a new program.
“I’m really excited with the new program,” Kimosop said. “Once students see the applicability, then they can be able to apply it in their fields. It doesn’t matter what they are in — engineering, business, biology or computer science — GIS is now something that you can always supply to the current field of study.”
Students interested in learning more about the GIS program can contact Bradley Shellito or Peter Kimosop.