National Park Service Grant to Administer George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship Program

Competition is limited to participating universities in the Rocky Mountain, Colorado Plateau, and Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Study Units (CESU)
The National Park Service (NPS) George Melendez Wright Climate Change Student Fellowship Program will annually fund 5 – 7 innovative climate change research projects for superior upper-level undergraduate and graduate level students attending accredited colleges and universities. Each grant will range from $5,000 – $20,000. The goal of the fellowship program is to increase climate change awareness in parks and assist parks in making better climate change related management decisions. Climate change research must be conducted in NPS park units.

The CESU cooperator responsibilities under the proposed task agreement are identified below.

Summary of Duties

The NPS will:
1. Prepare George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship announcements and other fellowship materials.
2. Distribute fellowship announcement in collaboration with CESU partners, George Wright Society, and others.
3. Receive fellowship proposals from applicants.
4. Participate in review panel to select fellowship recipients.
5. Manage NPS George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship Program.
6. Prepare NPS program accomplishments reports.

The Cooperator will:
1. Work with the NPS to develop the fellowship program, procedures, and evaluation criteria (constitutes substantial involvement).
2. Receive fellowship proposals from NPS.
3. Work with NPS to develop ranking criteria and convene/facilitate the review panel to rate 2010 research projects (this will occur in early to mid April 2010). CESU partner will have one or more persons on review panel.
4. Distribute funding to fellowship recipients.
5. Obtain final reports and products from fellowship recipients and distribute to CESU and NPS Fellowship Coordinators.
6. Complete program budget and accomplishments reporting and submit to the NPS Fellowship Coordinator.

Proposals to administer the NPS George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship Program in collaboration with the NPS Climate Change Response Program staff must be submitted to Sybil Winfield, NPS contracting Officer at sybil_winfield@nps.gov by COB 2/22/10. Each submittal must include the following information:
-Summary of experience in administering student natural resource fellowship programs.
-Demonstrated ability to pay research awards to university students throughout the U.S. and it territories, including an ability to make partial payments.
-Names, titles, and expertise of key CESU staff who would administer the fellowship program.
-Estimated Costs to Administer the Program (including CESU overhead).
Selection will be made to the University submitting a proposal that is the most advantageous to the Government.

Also see attached draft Funding Opportunity Flyer which will be used to solicit student applications