Announcements, Vol. 3, no. 2 (August 2002), UPUB R2-005.

In 2000, UMBC received its largest research contract in the university’s history when it was selected to lead a group of universities and private sector companies in a $70 million, five-year cooperative agreement with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to develop the Goddard Earth Science and Technology (GEST) Center. The team included Howard University, Hampton University, Northrop Grumman, and Caelum Research Corporation. The agreement developed collaborative research programs in Earth science and a working relationship between government, university, and private industry. A renewal of the GEST agreement in 2005 brought the total contract amount to $140 million, but the agreement ended in 2011 when the contract was awarded to the University Space Research Association. The resulting Goddard Earth Science Technology and Research (GESTAR) Center is located in Greenbelt, MD. University Publications, newsletters; articles, 8.5 x 11.