Dr. Narcisa Pricope is the Associate Vice President for Research in the Office of Research and Economic Development at Mississippi State University and a Professor in the Department of Geosciences. Prior to joining Mississippi State, Dr. Pricope served as the Founder and Director of the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Geospatial Intelligence program, FAA Collegiate Training Initiative and Coastal UAS Observatory funded by the National Science Foundation, initiatives aimed at training the next generation of geospatial scientists by conducting cutting-edge research. Dr. Pricope was also the UNCW leader and program manager for the first National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) GEOINT Learning through Academic Programs (GLAP) $5 million contract awarded to academic institutions. During her 10-year tenure at UNCW, Dr. Pricope received numerous awards for research and student mentorship, including the 2021 UNCW College of Arts and Sciences Research Award and the 2022 UNCW Graduate Faculty Mentor Award and Discere Aude mentorship award, in addition to research funding from sources including NSF, NASA, NCDOT, NOAA Sea Grant, USAID, World Bank and the Global Environment Facility. Dr. Pricope is a land systems scientist who uses geospatial modeling, remote sensing and unoccupied aerial systems to work at the food-water-energy nexus at multiple spatio-temporal scales. Her research focuses on complex socio-ecological systems dynamics, especially centered on understanding and quantifying environmental variability and the vulnerability of populations to environmental changes, especially land degradation. Much of her work is co-produced with communities and diverse stakeholders and concentrated in the drylands of eastern and southern Africa, Peru and Nepal, in addition to coastal and inland North America. To date, Dr. Pricope has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles on the various aspects of integrating earth observation, remote sensing and drone photogrammetry with spatio-temporal modeling to advance human well-being. Her Mississippi State focus will be on developing and leading strategic initiatives to build and enhance climate resilience, develop geospatial intelligence and GeoAI programming and supporting faculty, students and staff in achieving their research goals and potential.

Education

• PhD in Geography (minor in Environmental Engineering) in 2011 from the University of Florida
• MSc in Geosciences in 2006 from Western Kentucky University
• BA in Geography and English in 2004 from Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca Romania.

Experience

• Associate Vice President for Research, Office of Research and Economic Development, Mississippi State University, Sept. 2023 – Present
• Professor, Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, Sept. 2023 – Present
• Professor, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, July 2021 – Sept. 2023
• Director, National Science Foundation-funded UNCW Coastal UAS Observatory, August 2022 – Sept. 2023
• Program Director, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), August 2022 – Sept. 2023
• Program Director, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) accredited undergraduate and graduate Certificate in Geospatial Intelligence at UNCW,  August 2018 – Sept. 2023
• Graduate GIS, Remote Sensing and UAS Certificate Coordinator UNCW July 2020 – Sept. 2023
• Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, July 2017 – July 2021
• Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, July 2013 – July 2017