Howard University News January 18, 2018 HOWARD UNIVERSITY JOINS CRESST II SPACE SCIENCE CONSORTIUM; SIGNS $87.5M COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH NASA University to Serve as Research Partner in Cooperative Agreement with NASA Over Next Five Years The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center recently announced the $87.5 million cooperative agreement to support research performed by the Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology (CRESST) under the CRESST II agreement. Led by University of Maryland, College Park (UMD), Howard University will serve as a research partner along with University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Catholic University of America and the Southeastern Universities Research Association, a consortium of 60 research universities. Part of the CRESST II mission will work to increase the involvement of minority and women scientists in space science research and to facilitate undergraduate and graduate student participation in active research projects. Currently, there are only about 10 African American astronomers working as tenured professors in the U.S. "As a research partner in CRESST II we have a fantastic opportunity to increase the numbers of African American undergraduate and graduate students studying astrophysics, planetary science, and cosmology," says Howard University's Lead Investigator Marcus Alfred, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy. "In general, many more Howard STEM faculty, post docs, and students will work on missions and do research at NASA Goddard than in the past." Scientists from the research partner institutions will collaborate on short-term projects at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD and study high energy astrophysics, gravitational waves, space exploration and planets in the solar system. CRESST was first launched in 2006 under a 10-year cooperative agreement. The CRESST II agreement is valued at $87.5 million over the next five years, and provides for a renewal option for another five years. Howard University will manage approximately $875,000 per year (five percent of the total budget). The close association between NASA Goddard and the CRESST II partner institutions will enhance STEM education and diversity, creating opportunities to train a new generation of leaders in space science. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/