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GEOINT Courses: UNCW Earth & Ocean Sciences

Earth & Ocean Sciences

The GEOINT Certificate at UNCW, at both undergraduate and graduate levels, is aimed at providing our students with skills, abilities, and experiences that prepare them for entry-level positions or graduate degrees in geospatial intelligence (for undergraduates) and advanced geospatial and management positions or continued education (PhDs) for our graduate students.

The hallmarks of our geospatial programs are our applied and experiential learning opportunities, our strong integration into the local and regional geospatial business and government landscapes (through our active internship programs), and our strong foundational geospatial curriculum that attracts and keeps some of the best students at our university.


Our geospatial curriculum is guided by a series of five main goals that we further sub-divide into objectives (see below). These goals and objectives guide our curriculum and classroom experience design. The goals and objectives of our program align with the GEOINT core competencies as required by the USGIF accreditation.

Geospatial Science Program Goals and Objectives at UNCW

  • Design a map that clearly demonstrates a geographic pattern or process.
  • Read and explain information displayed on maps
  • Acquire knowledge related to theory and background for cartography, GIS, and remote sensing  disciplines
  • Create a well-constructed project idea with supported peer-reviewed literature.
  • Critically assess the format, value, and limitations of various data and information sources
  • Collect data and information related to geographic problems
  • Manipulate geographic information in digital formats (such as spreadsheet, statistical, graphical, image processing, GIS, or presentation software).
  • Explain how a general geographic model or concept applies to a specific place, culture, or environmental system
  • Develop ability to use cognitive spatial skills to understand events on different spatial-temporal scales
  • Describe in written or oral form the methods he/she used to address a geographical problem or issue
  • Write a research paper or report that synthesizes information from various sources to explain geographical methods and concepts.
  • Deliver an oral presentation that clearly explains a geographical concept.
  • Develop and design visualization deliverables based on a targeted format or audience
  • Design and conduct an individual or group project with the application of geospatial science and techniques
  • Apply knowledge of environmental and global issues to a defined research question so that process can be transferred to real-world problems and applications after graduation from our program 
  • Learn workflows of field data collection methods (equipment prep. and settings, permits, safety, ethical and legal considerations, community contact)
  • Gain knowledge of hardware and software compatibility and conversion processes
  • Convert field data to  suitable and correct formats for desired geospatial analysis
  • Connect students to individuals in the community through applied learning projects

Curriculum Overview

The curriculum is designed to be software-agnostic by emphasizing geospatial concepts, analytical reasoning, and transferable technical skills rather than reliance on any single software platform. Students gain experience with a range of tools commonly used in the GEOINT field, including ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, ENVI, and open-source programming environments such as Python and R.

Coursework and labs focus on problem-solving workflows that can be applied across platforms, including spatial modeling, remote sensing analysis, and automation through scripting. This approach ensures that graduates are prepared to adapt to evolving technologies and operational environments in government, defense, and industry settings.

Undergraduate Courses

Undergraduate students are required to complete 9 credit hours of core courses (Table 1) and 12 credit hours of elective courses, including a minimum of 3 capstone credit hours (Table 2). If a student completes both GGY 215 and GGY 220, GGY 215 will count toward the core requirements, while GGY 220 will be applied as an elective.

Table 1. GEOINT Core Courses for Undergraduates

*indicates capstone courses
Course Number Course Name
GGY 215 The Digital Globe
GGY 220 Cartography and Data Visualization
GGY 321 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GGY 322 Introduction to Remote Sensing

Table 2. GEOINT Elective Courses for Undergraduates

*indicates capstone courses
Course Number Course Name
CSC 322/DSC 301 Intro to Machine Learning
CSC 432 Deep Machine Learning
EVS 455 Geospatial Analysis for Coastal Management
EVS 457 Introduction to Drone Operations in Environmental Science
GGY 222 Quantitative Methods in Earth Sciences
GGY 333 Applied Climatology
GGY 421 Spatial Programming*
GGY 423 GIS modeling
GGY 424 Advanced GIS
GGY 425 GIS for Equity and Social Justice*
GGY 426 Environmental GIS
GGY 428 Advanced Remote Sensing
GGY 429 Aerial Drone Applications in Geosciences*
GGY 433 Weather Analysis and Forecasting
GGY 480 Advanced Topics in Geography: Weather Remote Sensing
GGY 480 Advanced Topics in Geography: GIS and Flood Risk
GGY 480 Advanced Topics in Geography: Geospatial Open Source Data
GGY 491 Directed Independent Study (DIS) in Geospatial Topics*゜
GGY 498 Geospatial Internship*
GLY 470 Field Course in Geology
GLY 471 Techniques in Applied Geology
OCN 453 Seafloor Mapping*
OCN 479 Smart Coasts
STT 401 Applied Statistical Methods
STT 412 Applied Regression and Correlation
STT 450 Statistical Machine Learning
STT 460 Statistical Deep Learning

Graduate Courses

Graduate students must complete 9 credit hours of core courses (Table 3) and 9 credit hours of electives, including a minimum of 3 capstone credit hours (Table 4). Each graduate student is required to take one of the following courses: GGY 524, GGY 526, or GGY 528. If more than one of these courses is taken, one will fulfill a core requirement, and the others will be counted as electives.

Table 3. GEOINT Core Courses for Graduates

*indicates capstone courses
Course Number Course Name
GGY 520 Fundamentals of GIS
GGY 522 Remote Sensing in Environmental Analysis*
GGY 524 Advanced GIS
GGY 526 Environmental GIS
GGY 528 Advanced Remote Sensing

Table 4. GEOINT Elective Courses for Graduates

*indicates capstone courses
Course Number Course Name
CSC 592 Deep Machine Learning
EVS 555 Geospatial Analysis for Coastal Management
EVS 557 Introduction to Drone Operations in Environmental Science
GEO 591 Directed Independent Study (DIS) in Geospatial Topics*
GEO 592 Advanced Topics in Geoscience: Weather Remote Sensing
GEO 597 Final Project in Geospatial Topics*
GEO 598 Geospatial Internship*
GEO 599 Thesis Research in Geospatial Topics*
GGY 521 Spatial Programming*
GGY 523 GIS modeling
GGY 525 GIS for Equity and Social Justice*
GGY 529 Aerial Drone Applications in Geosciences*
GGY 593 Advanced Topics in Geospatial Science: GIS and Flood Risk
GGY 593 Advanced Topics in Geospatial Science: Geospatial Open Source Data
GLY 550 Marine Geology
GLY 551 Seafloor Mapping*
GLY 579 Smart Coasts
STT 501 Applied Statistical Methods
STT 512 Applied Regression and Correlation
STT 550 Statistical Machine Learning
STT 560 Statistical Deep Learning

For additional information about the program or to enroll in the GEOINT Certificate at UNCW, please contact Program Director, Dr. Peng Gao.