Earning Criteria: To earn the Professional Certificate in Global Conservation Leadership, learners must complete three courses totaling 45 hours. This includes one required 15-hour core course delivered in a cohorted format, along with two 15-hour fully asynchronous courses of their choice from the Conservation Futures Academy’s approved elective course list.

Can I have a syllabus for the courses?

ASU presents an overview of course modules and intended outcomes on the enrollment page. As a nondegree program, this course does not utilize a traditional syllabus. If you have additional questions about the course material after reviewing the course modules and outcomes on the course enrollment page, please contact our Conservation Futures Academy team at ConservationFuturesAcademy@asu.edu

What are the live session dates and times?

Please note that the only live course in this certificate is the required Future of Conservation Leadership core course. Please refer to the program overview on the enrollment page for the live session dates and times. Live sessions are offered on Zoom. The other two courses are self-paced and do not include live sessions.

Most live sessions will not be recorded due to the interactive nature. Some of the guest speaker sessions may be recorded, however.

How will this program help me get a job?

Our courses and programs are great for your resume! They can help you change careers, move into new roles and even get a promotion in your current job. With an ever-changing environment it’s always good to upgrade your skills, and we can help with that. You will also have the opportunity to network and connect with expert faculty in the field through your program. 

While our programs do not provide direct job placement, participants can access numerous career and employment resources available through ASU. Please check out the following resources related to job searches: 

Rob Walton College of Global Futures Careers Connect Job Boards Portal

Get Job Market Insights: ASU Career Services Job Market Insights Tool

ASU Career Services Career & Internship Fairs

ASU Career Services AI Tools for the ASU Community

Discover resources tailored to your needs: ASU For You

How do I pick my two electives?

Please review the elective options provided on the enrollment page and select two of your choice to bundle with the required core Future of Conservation Leadership (Live) course. We recommend customizing your picks based on your interests and career goals. If you need additional information to decide, then please contact our Conservation Futures Academy team at ConservationFuturesAcademy@asu.edu

Do you offer any scholarships or discounts?

Learners may request a discount on course fees. Discount codes are limited and awarded at the discretion of the program team. The total program fee is $997 and includes all three courses. This reflects $200 in savings compared to taking courses individually. Please contact our Conservation Futures Academy team at ConservationFuturesAcademy@asu.edu

How long will the certificate take me? 

Each course part of the certificate is 15 hours. You can expect to spend about 3 hours per week (1 hour per course) on program material, including reflections, cohort discussions, and your personal project related to each course. This combined with the 1 hour live sessions for the Future of Conservation Leadership course is around 45 hours total. Please note that the total time commitment is learner dependent. 

What if I’ve already enrolled in the core course and want to enroll in the certificate program?

You can still enroll in the certificate program even if you’ve already enrolled in or completed the core course. Please contact us so we can help with next steps: ConservationFuturesAcademy@asu.edu

Across conservation and land-use planning, GIS outputs increasingly shape real decisions: where to protect land, where to invest, and how to justify trade-offs. But habitat maps are not neutral truths; they are models shaped by scale, data quality, assumptions, and context.

This course strengthens both technical GIS capability and professional judgment. Learners practice an end-to-end habitat suitability workflow – from framing the question to communicating results – while learning to handle uncertainty, justify modeling choices, and translate spatial outputs into clear recommendations.

Key Benefits

• Strengthen technical GIS analysis for conservation decisions
• Produce defensible habitat suitability assessments
• Improve judgment around scale, uncertainty, and bias
• Communicate spatial findings to non-technical audiences
• Build credibility in conservation planning contexts

What’s Included

• A structured, end-to-end habitat mapping project
• Guided data preparation and suitability modeling workflow
• Decision-context framing and audience identification exercises
• Practice interpreting uncertainty and mismatched data layers
• A final decision-ready habitat mapping brief

By the end, you’ll produce a habitat suitability analysis that stands up to scrutiny from project leads and stakeholders and translates clearly to action.