LOI submission deadline: April 25, 2023.
Background
The National Park Service is receiving $190M through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to support ecosystem resilience and restoration and climate change vulnerability assessments. The northeast region expects to receive a portion of this funding to initiate one to five projects this year. Potential projects include:
- Forest resilience, including restoration of degraded sites, removal of invasive species, and/or deer management
- Assessing climate change impacts to military and battlefield cultural landscapes
- Developing pathways for indigenous knowledge/science methodologies and community-engaged approaches for climate change response
- Climate change planning for floodplains
- Incorporating operational resilience into National Park Service facility management projects
- Restoration of salt marsh, seagrass, and grassland habitat
Because of the high profile and impact of Inflation Reduction Act projects, the region needs periodic science communication products for each funded project that are clear and informative.
Objectives and Products
The specific objectives to be addressed with this project are:
- Maintain an accurate briefing statement for each project (updated at least quarterly).
- Develop web articles that include project objective and status (new or updated articles at least every 6 months).
- Draft timely press releases as needed.
- Additional outreach products (such as social media posts and videos) are encouraged.
Project Timeline
Funding decisions for projects starting in FY 2023 will be announced by mid-April. If the region receives funding for at least one Inflation Reduction Act project, funds for this project will be obligated by September 30, 2023. If no projects are approved for FY 2023, the region will be requesting multiple projects to start in FY 2024, and funds for this project would be obligated in spring 2024. Once initiated, this project is expected to last for at least five years.
Funds Available
The northeast region has requested $3,000 per year for each project; this includes the CESU overhead rate of 17.5%. Non-federal partners within the North Atlantic Coast CESU, Chesapeake Watershed CESU, and Great Lakes-Northern Forest CESU networks with a current NPS master cooperative agreement are eligible to apply.
Materials Requested for Letters of Interest
Letters of interest (limit 3 pages) must include:
- Name, Organization and Contact Information.
- Pre-Proposal: Description of the proposed approach for conducting the project, including any additional science communication or outreach approaches that would be included in the project.
- Brief Statement of Qualifications (including):
- Biographical Sketch(s) for key personnel (faculty, staff), including a description of discipline(s) of expertise. Curriculum vitas can be submitted as an attachment.
- Relevant past science communication projects.
Evaluation Letters of Interest
Based on a review of the Letters of Interest received, and contingent on funding, a partner will be invited to prepare a full scope of work and detailed budget. Letters will be evaluated based on the following criteria and scoring:
- Soundness and validity of the proposed approach for meeting project objectives (15 points maximum)
- Demonstrated experience with science communication (10 points maximum)
- Demonstrated ability to produce products within schedule and budget (5 points maximum)
Contact
Direct questions and letters of interest to Brian Mitchell, [email protected], 401-625-9406. The deadline for responding to this request for LOI is April 25, 2022.