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Student Success

Curious about the achievements of our students and alumni? Learn more about their impact and where they work after graduation.

Master of Geospatial Information Science and Technology (MGIST)

Since 2010, our professional master’s degree program has been training students to tackle geospatial problems and leverage new technologies.

What partnerships have MGIST students formed?

Before graduation, each professional master’s student works directly with a community partner on a capstone project to solve a real-world challenge through experiential learning. Over 120 partners have worked with our students, from local public works departments and small startups to national nonprofits, federal agencies and international companies.

Where do our MGIST alumni work?

Graduates find employment in a range of fields, from environmental services to government administration.

  • Esri
  • Duke Energy
  • City of Charlotte
  • US Army
  • NC Department of Transportation
  • NC Department of Environmental Quality
  • Timmons Group
  • Geo Owl
  • National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
  • National Park Service
  • and many more…

300+

MGIST alumni

120+

MGIST capstone partners

95%

of students report securing a new job or a promotion or salary increase at their current job upon graduation

Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics

Since 2018, our unique doctoral program has supported students pushing the boundaries of geospatial data science and addressing grand challenges through original research. Ph.D. students have won prestigious fellowships and grants to support their work and published their findings in respected peer-reviewed journals, garnering media attention.

  • American Geophysical Union (AGU) Thriving Earth Exchange Fellowship
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pathways Program
  • Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST)
  • Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grant
  • Great Lakes Summer Fellows Program (in partnership with the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory)
  • Joint Fire Science Program Graduate Research Innovation Grant
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences K.C. Donnelly Externship Award
  • Nature Conservancy NatureNet Fellowship
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP)
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Distinguished Graduate Research Program
  • Rachel Carson Council Fellowship
  • Stu Shea USGIF Endowed Scholarship
  • Women in GIS Graduate Scholarship
  • Yale Environmental Fellows Program
  • Association of Flood Plain Mappers
  • Aspen Daily News
  • CBS 9 (Greenville, NC)
  • CBS 17 (Raleigh, NC)
  • CNN
  • Colorado Public Radio
  • CTV News
  • Futurity
  • H2O Radio
  • Law 360
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
  • Mirage News
  • Nature World News
  • NBC 9 (Denver, CO)
  • OBX Today
  • Phys.org
  • PiPa News
  • Science Daily
  • Scientific American
  • Tech Explorist
  • The News & Observer
  • Verve Times
  • WUNC Public Radio (Chapel Hill, NC)

Where do our Ph.D. alumni work?

Our doctoral program prepares students for a range of careers in industry, academia, government agencies, and nonprofit research organizations.

  • Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
  • Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Harvard University
  • Karen Clark & Company
  • National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • NextEra Analytics
  • Planet Labs
  • RTI International
  • SAS
  • Spectrum Enterprise
  • Stockholm University
  • Syngenta
  • UNC Chapel Hill
  • University of Nevada Reno
  • USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
  • Virginia Tech

$143K+

Average annual salary of a Ph.D. holder in data science, according to Glassdoor

100%

Employment rate after graduation

100%

of Ph.D. alumni say they would choose the program again