National Park Service Grant for Ocean Acidification Research in Glacier Bay

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities.

ABSTRACT

Funding Announcement: P11AT90326

Project Title: Ocean Acidification in Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Recipient: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Principle
Investigator: Brendan Moynahan
Total Anticipated
Award Amount: $350,000

Cost Share: N/A

New Award
Or Continuation: New

Anticipated
Length of
Agreement: 5 Year

Anticipated
Period of
Performance: July 1, 2011 � June 30, 2016

Award
Instrument: CESU

Statutory
Authority: Agreements Concerning Cooperative Research and Training on NPS Resources (16 U.S.C. � 1a-2(j)): The Secretary may enter into agreements with public or private educational institutions, States and their political subdivisions, for the purpose of developing adequate, coordinated, cooperative research and training programs concerning the resources of the National Park System, and pursuant to such agreements, to accept from and make available to the cooperator such technical and support staff, financial assistance for mutually agreed upon research projects, supplies and equipment, facilities, and administrative services relating to cooperative research units as the Secretary deems appropriate.

CFDA Number: 15.945

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN
COMPETITION (or SINGLE SOURCE) FOR DISCRETIONARY COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS

Ocean Acidification in Glacier Bay, Alaska

BACKGROUND:

This new project would initiate a study of ocean acidification in Glacier Bay, to be conducted in conjunction with the NPS oceanographic sampling. The project term will be 5 years. Year 1 of funding is made available with this modification; funding for years 2 and 3. Each year, the PI will deliver a detailed report and data to NPS, both of which will be made broadly available via web‐based distribution. This annual report will outline the major findings of all field work in the previous year and compare new results to historical datasets to better understand the local and regional trends in ocean acidification. Data collected from Glacier Bay will be evaluated in the contexts of both the local dynamics of this unique glacial fjord system, and its connection to larger waters and processes observed in other areas of the North Pacific. In addition to the technical annual project reports and final report, 2 key NPS‐centric deliverables would be produced. The first would be a brief (~2 page) issue and project summary suitable for distribution to nonscientists and the general public. The second would be a more detailed project summary article submitted to Alaska Park Science upon project completion.

Though this scope of work is new, it is closely related to and cooperatively conducted with the on-going oceanographic sampling conducted by NPS in Glacier Bay. UAF, under another PI but within the same department, has been the technical lead on the establishment of that parent program.

1) 505 DM 2 Single Source – Only one responsible source will satisfy agency requirements.

� Source: Ocean Acidification Research Center (OARC), School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska � Fairbanks.
� NPS requires expertise on the assessment of ocean acidification and related processes and sampling methods in general, and in particular, with an emphasis on the high-latitude systems of the north Pacific and Alaska. The OARC is the only such organization with the staff, equipment, and infrastructure to conduct this work. The expertise required is highly specialized, exceptionally technical, and is in no way suitable to go out to bid to any lab that has the lab equipment required to process samples. Results must be analyzed in the context of not only Glacier Bay, but also of the broader Gulf of Alaska system. Dr. Mathis, the PI on this study, is the Director of the OARC, has on-going related work across Alaska marine systems, and will personally oversee the execution of the project.

2) Nature and description of the deliverable required to meet the agency�s needs:

� Deliverables include data files, annual reports (3), a final project report, a manuscript for publication in Alaska Park Science, and a �Resource Brief� per NPS specifications.
� No durable equipment purchases are required; NPS presently owns required sampling equipment; UAF presently has lab equipment and analytical capability.

3) Criteria for justifying award without competition. In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria. Please explain which criterion specifically addresses the proposed agreement.

� Unique Qualifications – The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability, if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications
o The OARC is the only such research center prepared to engage on this 5-year project with extensive practical experience in collecting, analyzing, and reporting on required data.
o The Glacier Bay project will be uniquely enhanced by the PIs publication record, research credentials, Alaska experience, and first-hand involvement in leading similar studies in the Gulf of Alaska.
o UAF, under another PI (who also will be involved in this project as technical support), has been the lead PI and source of technical expertise for the parent project to the current proposal, that being the more general physical oceanography monitoring program operated by NPS. Experience on developing this parent project is invaluable and irreplaceable in establishing and executing the ocean acidification study.

4) A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted:

� None. No equipment is involved and, based on the technical requirements, additional suppliers are not available.

5) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

� This is a multi-year, stand-alone project that will deliver invaluable baseline data. It is the first iteration of this project in NPS waters nationally.

6) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers for competition before any potential future agreement award:

� There are presently no plans to conduct this study repeatedly. If it were desirable to do so, NPS could evaluate at that point whether additional qualified individuals or institutions can be identified at that time. Still, due to the complexity and technical nature of the study, first-hand experience of the GLBA/SEAN oceanography monitoring program is highly desirable.

DOCUMENTATION FOR USE OF A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

Substantial Cooperation and Involvement by NPS
Substantial cooperation by NPS includes boat and captain support for field sampling (including fuel and NPS staff salaries); provision of sampling equipment (including a Sea-Bird 19Plus CTD and a SBE-55 water sampler), field crew support for sampling; formal review of each annual report and final products; and permanent archiving and web-based delivery of all data and written products on the NPS-SEAN website. Too, the NPS/SEAN primary contact was substantially involved in the drafting of the scope of work, timeline, and budget constraints.