SLU Becomes First U.S. Institution to Offer Geospatial Workforce Training to NGA’s Australian Government Partner

The course is part of a $5 million, five-year GEOINT Learning through Academic Program

ST. LOUIS – As part of an agreement between Saint Louis University and the Department of Defense (DoD) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), SLU is the first U.S. university to provide geospatial workforce training to NGA’s Australian government partner.

In 2021, SLU was awarded $5 million to train the Department of Defense and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in geoinformatics and geospatial data sciences. As part of the GEOINT Learning through Academic Program (GLAP), the NGA requests training courses each year, led by SLU instructors. This year, the NGA asked SLU to be the first institution to offer a course to their partner, the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO).

Three courses were offered this spring, with the first course delivered in March. Digital Cartography was offered in April, followed by a second iteration of Introduction to Remote Sensing this month.

Zachary Phillips, Ph.D., an assistant professor in Earth and Atmospheric Science at SLU, taught two sessions of Intro to Remote Sensing and a week of Digital Cartography and Geo-visualization this semester. 

Phillips said he approaches his GLAP courses with curiosity, knowing those in the geospatial industry come from various educational backgrounds. 

“On Day 1 of class, I am the student,” he said. “I try to learn about them, and where they come from to better teach them. These are professionals; I want them to enjoy it while benefiting from the education.” 

Under the GLAP agreement, SLU offers classes in GIS mapping, remote sensing, photogrammetry, geomatics, geoinformatics, data science, geospatial analytics, coding, computer vision, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), human geography, and cybersecurity for the NGA. It allows the existing workforce to stay current with new technologies and methodologies. 

“I’m excited to collaborate with geospatial practitioners overseas,” Phillips said. “The world is getting more and more complex politically and it’s really cool that we can contribute in some small way to the overall geo-intelligence and national security.”

AGO’s Director of Training and Tradecraft said the GLAP courses represent a fantastic opportunity for their workforce to gain knowledge and experience that is not usually available, or accessible to them outside of a university environment.

“Being able to access academic programs as part of their daily work is enormously beneficial. The courses allow our people to be exposed to current academic insights in remote sensing and digital cartography, and allows them to develop skills in the use of new software applications.”

The Introduction to Remote Sensing course was well received by the students who attended, who said “…the instructor was knowledgeable about the topic, the software we were using, AND how to work the remote learning software, which was very much appreciated. Overall a great course!” 

SLU’s Workforce Center provides the infrastructure for GLAP. 

Vasit Sagan, Ph.D., professor of geospatial science and computer science, associate vice president for geospatial science at Saint Louis University and chief scientist for food security and digital agriculture for Taylor Geospatial Institute, is the principal investigator on the project.

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,200 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.