Welcome to ESRA

ESRA is the administrative support team that supports all of our faculty, staff, and students who work as a part of the cooperative agreements between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and UMBC. At the helm of ESRA are Margo Young, Director, and James Hale, Assistant Director.

Faculty members, graduate assistants, students, and staff who work within the cooperative agreements are all paired with a business person and supported by our ESRA HR/Payroll team.

Our Business Team supports faculty with grant writing and submission, grant budgetary management, procurement of supplies, software and research material, travel, conference fees, abstract submission fees, and grant reporting. Our business people include Margo Young, Camilla Hyman-Waters, Paula Tanabe, Dave Lucadamo, Judith Laferriere, and Karlyn Buker. Cathy Manalansan supports the team with processing of payments related to travel, conference fees and relocation, purchases over $5,000, and inventory management. Amy Houghton manages the websites for our centers, provides editing services, handles other communication-related tasks, and assists with purchasing.

Our HR & Payroll Team supports faculty by troubleshooting pay and timesheet issues, hiring new staff, assisting with NRA documents, supporting procurement, and helping to answer any benefits-related questions. Our HR/Payroll team is Camilla Hyman-Waters and Pam Deal. Pam also supports with purchasing.