Solicitation Statement of Work .pdf

US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Statement of Work

Contents Project General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

2.0 Background

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

4.0 Period of Performance: One Year, to be Determined at time of award

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

6.0 Travel

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

8.0 Security Requirements

9.0 Data Rights

Project Vegetation field sampling and documentation for Ecological Site Descriptions

General Information

1.0 Scope of Work

The Forest Service requires a Natural Resource Specialist to support the collection of field vegetation inventory data for Ecological Site Descriptions from sites across Puerto Rico, archiving data, and developing research reports and publications to share findings.

2.0 Background

The USDA Forest Service is collaborating with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in conducting Ecological Site inventory and development work across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Ecological Site survey efforts include collecting soil and vegetation data for several common land uses, including forests, range, pasture, wetlands, beaches, orchard, and field crops, and developing ecological site descriptions that will be included in soil survey publications following standards outlined in the National Ecological Site Handbook.

The development of accurate and relevant ecological site descriptions requires technical knowledge of biology, rangeland ecology and plant dynamics, forest ecology and plant dynamics, soil and plant interactions, plant identification and physiology, and technical writing skills.

Contractor Requirements

3.0 Technical Requirements / Tasks

The contractor will have specialized skills in natural resource inventories, familiarity with the local flora, experience working with species inventory data, experience organizing data, data quality assessment, and in reporting on field and electronic natural resource data. Bilingual (Spanish/English) communication skills are required, the ability to manage a small team, and to work in collaboration with others in field sampling. The contractor will have an advanced degree in biology or other natural resource fields and demonstrate evidence of peer reviewed scientific publications.

4.0 Period of Performance: One Year, to be Determined at time of award

5.0 Deliverables / Schedule

The Contractor will work directly with a Research Ecologist at the US Forest Service. The Research Ecologist will provide review and comment on the tasks and deliverables, provide ancillary geospatial and other data as is required and provide regular (weekly) guidance on progress.

The contractor will gather field data and enter electronically to spreadsheets, review species names and all data for accuracy and consistency, and develop a site report containing vegetation data, ancillary data, photographs, and field notes. The contractor will meet regularly with the COR (on average weekly) and communicate and meet regularly with NRCS collaborators. The contractor will coordinate field sampling with agency partners. The contractor will develop a final project report in collaboration with coauthors for submission to NRCS and as a Forest Service General Technical Report or other appropriate research journal. Authorship of reports and manuscripts will depend on totality of contribution and include research planning, data collection, analyses, writing, editing, or other contributions. The contractor will coordinate with all contributing authors and work with the COR to integrate comments and produce a final report. The contractor will be expected to record hourly work and invoice accordingly. Work schedule expectations are flexible with estimates of 20 hours per week over the twelve-month period of performance. The contractor will in all cases communicate work schedule expectations with the COR.

Key Deliverables Item No.

Deliverable Objective Due

1 Ecological Site Inventories (250hrs)

Planning, data collection, and data reporting for new Ecological Site Descriptions. Approximately 5-10 sites.

Periodically over the 12-month period.

2 Ecological Site Descriptions General Technical Report, ancillary reporting (750hrs)

General Technical Report to document all inventories for the full suite of Ecological Site Descriptions (approximately 150 sites). Ancillary reporting with 2-3 short factsheets or brochures sharing key findings for the public, and a peer reviewed research publication to share scientific findings.

Monthly drafts for review throughout the project.

I tem Supplies/ Services Est.

Qty

Unit of

Issue Unit Price Total

Price 0001 Natural Resource Specialist 0001a • Ecological Site Inventories 250 HR $ $ 0001b • Ecological Site Descriptions

General Technical Report, ancillary reporting

750 HR $ $

0002 Travel lot $3,000.00 $ Total $

6.0 Travel

Contractor will be expected to travel to sampling sites within SanJuan, Puerto Rico. Travel expenses are in accordance with the Government Travel Regulations.

7.0 Contractor’s Key Personnel

Key personnel will include an experienced field ecologist with a master’s degree in Natural Resource field and a minimum of 5 years of experience conducting field inventories, preparing reports for publication, and developing peer reviewed science. Key personnel will be bilingual in English and Spanish with at least 10 years’ experience living and working in natural resources in Puerto Rico.

8.0 Security Requirements

No security requirements.

9.0 Data Rights

The Contractor will work directly with a US Forest Service Research Ecologist and all products and information generated will be products of the USDA Forest Service and recognize the support of the USDA NRCS Caribbean Office and all partners that contribute to the tasks.

Products will be developed by the contractor working in collaboration with the COR (USDA Forest Service).