The School of Geography and Ocean Science of Nanjing University comprises four departments, namely the Department of Physical Geography, the Department of Land Resources and Tourism, the Department of Geographic Information Science, and the Department of Coastal and Ocean Science. It has a faculty and staff of 133 members, including 1 academician, 8 national-level leading talents, 11 national-level young talents, 39 professors, 27 associate professors, and 11 tenure-track assistant professors. The total number of undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled stands at around 1,000. The school boasts one national key discipline—Physical Geography—and three Jiangsu provincial key disciplines, which are Cartography and Geographic Information System, Land Use and Planning (Human Geography), and Marine Geology. With distinctive strengths in research areas such as global change, environmental evolution, geomorphic processes, environment and ecological remote sensing, carbon cycle and land-atmosphere collaborative remote sensing, coastal zone environment and resources, regional sustainable development and land use, as well as tourism geography, the school has earned extensive recognition in the academic community.

      Over the past five years, faculty and students of the school have published more than 1,200 high-level scientific research papers as first authors or corresponding authors, and secured 16 new projects including National Key R&D Program projects, key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, talent projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and major projects of the National Social Science Foundation of China. It is home to an Innovative Research Group of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, an Innovation Team of the Ministry of Education, and an Excellent Science and Technology Innovation Team of Jiangsu Province. Faculty members of the school have been honored with numerous awards, such as the Second Class Award of the National Natural Science Award (2010), the Second Class Award of the National Science and Technology Progress Award (2009), the First Class Award of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Land and Resources (2012), the First Class Award of National Surveying and Mapping Science and Technology Progress (2009), Honorary Membership of the French Geographical Society and the International Union for Quaternary Research (2010), and the First Class Award of Excellent Achievement Award of the Ministry of Education (2023, 2025).

      The school offers a complete range of undergraduate programs, master's programs, doctoral programs, and a postdoctoral research station covering all sub-disciplines of geography. It serves as a national base for fundamental scientific research and talent cultivation in geography under the science discipline category. It has established field practice bases in Lushan Mountain, Lianyungang, and the Nanjing-Zhenjiang area, and launched innovative talent training initiatives including the "Comprehensive Scientific Expedition to Lake Baikal, Russia" and the "Comprehensive Joint Teaching and Research Expedition in Taiwan Geosciences". In recent years, the school has garnered a host of honors, including the Award for Distinguished Teachers in Higher Education (1 recipient), a National Teaching Achievement Award (1, participatory), 2 national-level excellent courses, 2 provincial-level excellent doctoral dissertations, 5 provincial-level excellent master's dissertations, and 1 Award for Excellent Doctoral Newcomers of the Ministry of Education. It has nurtured a number of renowned scholars, such as academicians Li Jijun, Wang Ying and Chen Yuchuan, as well as recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars including Gao Shu, Gu Chaolin, Zhou Chenghu, Gong Peng, Shi Zhong, Lu Huayu and Li Xin. The school houses a number of scientific research platforms, including the Collaborative Innovation Center for South China Sea Studies (a National 2011 Plan platform), the Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Development and Utilization of the Ministry of Education, the Key Laboratory of Satellite Surveying and Mapping Technology and Application of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, the Jiangsu Operation Department of the National Remote Sensing Center, the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Technology, the Huangshan National Park Ecosystem Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of the Ministry of Education, and the Frontier Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycles of the Ministry of Education. It also features teaching and practice platforms like the National Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching Center for Earth System Science of Nanjing University and the Jiangsu Experimental Teaching Center for Geography and Ocean Science.

      Faculty and students of the school address major national needs by conducting integrated space-air-ground remote sensing research on islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and providing remote sensing emergency monitoring and geographic information services for epidemic prevention and control as well as flood control and disaster reduction along the Yangtze River. They actively serve the major national demands for resource development and environmental protection, having undertaken projects such as the Tibet-aid planning and the overall land use planning of Jiangsu Province. The school took the lead in compiling the Specifications for Mapping of City, County and Township Land Use Overall Plans, which has been implemented nationwide and generated significant social benefits. It has undertaken important engineering tasks in fields such as the national High-resolution Earth Observation Major Special Project and coastal and island development, carried out digital South China Sea research and remote sensing monitoring of resources and environment in the South China Sea and its surrounding areas, and conducted research on China's forest carbon sinks, which has provided decision-making basis for the government's climate change negotiations and carbon emission trading. The school also actively engages in African geographic research, has hosted several seminars themed "Exploring Africa for Development", and published works such as the Atlas of African Agriculture. In addition, the school has carried out extensive work in serving regional planning and tourism resource planning. Professors of the school serve as associate editors-in-chief or editorial board members of dozens of SCI and major domestic academic journals, and more than 20 faculty members hold positions such as vice chairmen or directors of national-level academic societies.