The University of Hawai'i announced yesterday that it has been selected by the Department of Defense to negotiate a new contract as the managing partner for the Pacific Disaster Center on Maui. The center provides applied information research and analysis support in disaster management and humanitarian assistance.

UH has been managing the center since December 2006 under a three-year agreement.

The new contract is expected to have a total value of more than $30 million.

The Pacific Disaster Center employs approximately 40 professional staffers. It is headquartered in the Maui Economic Development Board building in the Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei. The center supplements its base operating budget of over $6 million per year with millions of dollars in additional competitively earned contracts and grants from governmental and private sources in Hawai'i, the U.S. and other countries.