OpenFieldUNC Wilmington · Wilmington, North Carolina, United States
The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), established in 1947, is North Carolina's premier coastal university, situated between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. Nationally celebrated for its world-class marine biology, oceanography, and coastal ecology research centered at the waterfront Center for Marine Science (CMS), UNCW is also recognized for nursing, computer science, and environmental studies.
UNCW comprises the College of Science and Engineering, College of Health and Human Services, Cameron School of Business, College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts, and Watson College of Education. Its 5-acre waterfront Center for Marine Science operates research vessels, shellfish hatcheries, and oceanographic instrumentation labs.
Undergraduate applicants apply via the Common Application (average GPA 4.0 weighted; test-optional). Graduate and doctoral applicants require a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution with a minimum 3.0 GPA, letters of recommendation, and a statement of academic objectives.
Premier doctoral research program integrating physical oceanography, marine biogeochemistry, coral reef biology, coastal wetland ecology, and marine organism physiology.
Applied interdisciplinary doctorate tackling coastal storm surge resilience, coastal erosion modeling, estuarine hydrodynamics, and sustainable marine resource engineering.
Hands-on master's thesis program utilizing UNCW's research vessels and barrier island fieldwork facilities to investigate marine benthic ecology and marine conservation genetics.
Joint program between the Department of Computer Science and Congdon School of Supply Chain, focusing on cloud security, distributed computing, database systems, and cryptography.
Interdisciplinary environmental master's combining coastal resource management, spatial GIS modeling, environmental impact assessment, and climate adaptation policy.
Comprehensive oceanographic undergraduate degree featuring at-sea research cruises, satellite remote sensing, coastal hydrodynamics, and benthic sedimentology.
Professor of Marine Biology & Director of Center for Marine Science
Center for Marine Science
Dr. Posey directs the UNCW Center for Marine Science and investigates coastal benthic ecology, oyster reef restoration, estuarine food webs, and anthropogenic i...
View researcher profile ↗Professor Emerita of Marine Biology
Department of Biology and Marine Biology
Dr. Szmant is an internationally celebrated coral reef biologist renowned for pioneering research in coral sexual reproduction, larval recruitment, coral reef n...
View researcher profile ↗Associate Professor of Computer Science
Department of Computer Science
Dr. Chen's research focuses on machine learning, big data analytics, bioinformatics algorithms, and high-performance predictive modeling....
View researcher profile ↗OpenField is an independent research platform not officially affiliated with University of North Carolina Wilmington. Information reflects public documentation reviewed on 2026-10-16. Students must verify application deadlines, fee structures, and prerequisite details directly with official university admissions departments before applying.
Updated 2026-10-16 · Editorial policy · Submit corrections