National Park Service Grant: Strategic Sciences Group Development and Deployment

The National Park Service (NPS) and the University of Idaho will collaborate to develop and deploy the public interagency Strategic Sciences Group, Crisis Science Team to assist with assessments of DOI resources following environmental disruptions.

STATEMENT OF JOINT OBJECTIVES PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN

The objective of this project is to develop the Crisis Science Team, which is part of the Strategic Sciences Group, to assist with assessments of DOI resources following environmental disruptions. The Crisis Science Team which will be comprised of scientists from government agencies, academic institutions, non-government organizations, and the private sector; will work together to develop scenarios and plans that can be used for decision-making during future environmental crises.

The purpose of these assessments and planning exercises is to protect the resources of the DOI and the economic interest of communities and private sector that rely on these resources.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

The University of Idaho agrees to:
Work with National Park Service and other agencies and partners to select and train an interdisciplinary teams of scientists;
Conduct multiday scenario building sessions related to environmental crises for which the Crisis Science Team is deployed, including but not limited to the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force;
Provide briefings to DOI leadership and others as requested;
Prepare quarterly progress reports and a peerreviewed technical report within 3 months after each scenario building session, as well as scientific articles as appropriate;
Additional tasks as requested by the Secretary or his designee related to the work of the DOI Strategic Sciences Group as described in its operational plan; and
Prepare a final completion report for posting on the Rocky Mountain (RM) CESU web site. NPS did not solicit full and open competition for this award based on the following criteria:

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.

The University of Idaho has unique qualifications to perform the development and deployment of the public interagency Crisis Science Team for environmental disasters. The University of Idaho Principal Investigator and students have unique technical expertise as a result of developing and deploying a similar strategic science working group for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In this situation the rapid timeline for deployment requires the unique technical expertise of University of Idaho staff to develop and deploy the Crisis Science Team.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT

The NPS agrees to:
1. Work with the University of Idaho and agencies to select and train scientists;
2. Substantially participate in multi-day scenario building sessions related to environmental crises for which the Crisis Science Team is deployed, including but not limited to the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, and provide input on agendas and resulting reports;
3. Review and attend briefings to DOI leadership and others;
4. Review quarterly progress reports and peer-reviewed technical report within 3 months after each scenario session, as well as scientific articles as appropriate; and
5. Additional tasks as requested by the Secretary or his designee related to the work of the DOI Strategic Sciences Group.