New Geography Courses

Beginning in the spring of 2017, Concord University’s geography department will be proud to offer a new addition to their mapping and Geographic Information Systems The course will focus on drone mapping. 

    This course will be only the third of its kind in the state of West Virginia, hopefully putting Concord’s program on par with those of WVU and Marshall. The course will be introduced as a part of the mapping coursework within the GIS emphasis for geography majors, says Dr. Joe Manzo, chair of the department, and will require a cartography pre-requisite. The class will teach drone maintenance as well as the multiple applications and legal implications of drone technology and usage, including where and where not a drone can fly.

    Drone technology will allow for the geographic mapping of areas that may not be so easily reached by people, including areas that are not only naturally hazardous, but also areas that may have been damaged by catastrophic weather events. This new program has received letters of support from Mercer, Raleigh, and Summers County Commissioners as well as several parks programs, and will be geared towards student benefits in the hopes of helping to make students more competitive, and will potentially open up internship and job opportunities for geography students.