The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering Research and Development Center-Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) awarded a $25,531.50 firm fixed-price purchase order to the University of Illinois to provide lichen sample analysis services. The University of Illinois was selected as the sole source provider due to its unique capabilities, including proximity to the CERL site, ownership of high-quality laboratory equipment for genomic sequencing, and expertise in lichen sample analysis. This purchase order is not associated with a larger contract vehicle and does not have a set-aside designation. The University of Illinois, as a public land-grant research institution, has a long history of supporting U.S. government agencies through a variety of federal contract and grant awards.