When she retraces the path that led to her current role as an environmental analyst for local government, Kaitlin Thurman points to four ways Oregon State Ecampus and its environmental sciences master’s program helped make her dream a reality.
“Here’s my advice to anyone who is considering going back to school: Go for it! There is no better time than now. In five, 10, 15 or 20 years, the only regret you will have will be the opportunities you did not take. Education is an investment in yourself, and you are worth it. OSU Ecampus was user-friendly, with great support.” — Matt Bowling, Oregon State Ecampus graduate
Fiona Wylde needed a rigorous degree program that would allow her to further her education while offering the flexibility to sustain her career as a world champion stand-up paddleboarder and windsurfer. She found everything she needed online with Oregon State.
GIScience integrates geographical features with data to map and analyze real-world problems. This technology is everywhere in the world around us, and it’s driving the high demand for professionals with spatial analysis skills. And that demand is why Oregon State now offers an Undergraduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science online.
“The quality and the rigor of courses that I took at Ecampus were on par with any in-person class and prepared me for a future in science. Even though my classes were taken at a distance, the professors built learning activities that gave me firsthand experience in analyzing and interpreting a range of data from ice core samples to satellite photos.” – OSU Ecampus environmental sciences graduate Heath Blackmon
When Demian Hommel applied for the Oregon State University Ecampus Research Fellows Program, he carried the seed of an idea: Experiential education can transform a student’s understanding of a concept into real-world circumstances, so it should be offered equally to learners in online and traditional classroom settings. What he didn’t know was that sowing the seed of this idea through his research project could help sprout a grassroots community of advocates like him.
To meet the demand for geography and geospatial professionals in the national job market, Oregon State University now offers a bachelor’s degree in geography and geospatial science 100 percent online, giving learners everywhere access to highly transferable skills in order to harness the power of “big data” analysis and geovisualization and build a career in almost any field or economic sector.
“We make it possible for people to pursue their dreams and aspirations through education. Most of these folks are place bound or working full time and they wouldn’t be able to further their education otherwise,” says OSU Ecampus Marketing Manager Dan Miles.
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