PrintContact Information - Jim Detwiler
2217 EES Building
The Pennsylvania State University,
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 865-2932 (The country code for the United States is 1)
FAX: (814) 863-1564 (The country code for the United States is 1)
AVAILABILITY: Students are welcome to contact me by email any time; I am usually able to respond within 24 hours. If you are a student registered for the course, please use the Canvas e-mail system for course-related correspondence, as I prefer to keep those messages separated from my other e-mail. I am also happy to speak to students over the phone, though it is best to set up an appointment for a phone call.
Welcome to the course!
Hi, I'm Jim Detwiler, your instructor for the next ten weeks. I've been an instructor in the Geography Department's online GIS program since 2000. Back then, we had just a one-year, non-credit certificate program with few electives. Today, we offer a Master of GIS degree with numerous electives that enable students to focus on application areas of interest to them. I'm very proud to be associated with this program, both in terms of the faculty involved and the adult professionals who enroll in it.
Since joining the online geospatial program, I have authored and taught GEOG 485: GIS Programming and Customization (a VBA/ArcObjects course that's now retired), GEOG 489: GIS Application Development, GEOG 863: GIS Mashups and GEOG 897D: Spatial Database Management, first offered in 2002, 2005, 2008, and 2012, respectively. I've also taught sections of Programming and Customization and Mashups to undergraduates in residence since fall 2003.
My experience with GIS includes working on population-related research projects at Penn State's Population Research Institute, on E911 and cadastral projects at the Chester County (PA) Bureau of Land Records, and on climate- related projects at the University of Delaware. I think this broad experience helps me to relate to my students who use the technology in a wide array of contexts.
Rather than further rehash information that I've made available on other pages, I'll just point you to my work portfolio if you'd like to read more about me. I look forward to getting to know you over the next ten weeks and helping you to learn the course material.
Best of luck in the course!