Intent to award to a single source

PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE ORDER
SINGLE SOURCE DETERMINATION USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES (SAP)
FOR AN ACTION NOT EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD
(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.106-1(b)(1))

Contracting Office Address

Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Auke Bay Laboratories, Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute, 17109 Pt. Lena Loop Rd, Juneau, AK 99801.

Description of supplies or services required to meet agency needs

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center would like to strengthen its collaborations with Alaska Native communities in the Bering Strait region through education and cultural training. The goal of this outreach effort is to expose scientists, students and educators to different ways of observing, interpreting and understanding the natural world through formal cultural awareness training, through a hands-on educational activity that combines Traditional Ecological Knowledge with western science and by providing a venue for students, teachers and scientists from different backgrounds to interact.

The AFSC is seeking contract services to
• Conduct AFSC scientific staff cultural awareness trainings and provide cross-cultural learning opportunities for students involved in the 2019 NOAA Science Camp in Seattle, WA. The training will be open to scientists involved in the northern Bering Sea bottom and surface trawl and ice seal surveys and other interested staff.
• Enlist a K-12 educator from the Bering Strait region to work with AFSC educators to develop, test and evaluate a new hands-on educational activity for NOAA Science Camp that integrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge and western science with goals of formally integrating this activity into future camps and adapting for use in Alaska educational programs and cultural camps
• Provide an opportunity for two students from Bering Strait community to attend a week-long session of NOAA Science Camp and share their experience with local community members.

NOAA requires a vendor to provide technical support to meet these objectives.

The specific tasks are:
• Coordinate and provide a 1-day cultural awareness training by July 2019.
• Identify two Nome students and supplemental funding to attend the 2019 NOAA Science Camp.
• Work with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center Education Coordinator to develop, test and evaluate a culturally-integrated hands-on educational activity that integrates Traditional Knowledge and western science.
• Provide a forum for a student presentation to the local Bering Strait community for students to share their experiences at NOAA Science camp and what they learned.

It is important that AFSC scientists undertake cultural awareness training to learn more about how to effectively communicate their work to local Alaska Native residents. While various organizations exist throughout Alaska that offer cultural awareness training, none are based in Nome, AK, which is the hub for the 18 Alaska Native communities that border the northern Bering Sea or Bering Strait Region. Given the diversity and localization of Alaska Native cultures, values and traditional beliefs, it is critical that the AFSC enlist the services of an Alaska Native organization based in Nome that is ingrained in and knowledgeable of the local culture. This training will help to better prepare AFSC researchers to successfully convey the AFSC's research mission, foster an understanding of its purpose and build local support in Alaska Native communities.

NOAA Science Camp and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Activity
For 16 years, NOAA has hosted NOAA Science Camp, a two-week program in Seattle for middle and high school students, engaging 150 participants in hands-on activities about NOAA-related science, technology, engineering and math topics. The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project will promote cross-cultural learning through two initiatives associated with NOAA Science Camp:
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge Activity - develop and test new hands-on educational activities, based on AFSC's Pacific cod research, that incorporate Alaska Native Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from the Bering Strait region into NOAA Science Camp activities in 2019
• Support Nome Students to Attend NOAA Science Camp - identify two students to attend NOAA Science Camp in 2019 and local community organizations to sponsor their trip. As part of their learning experience, students will be expected to make a presentation on NOAA Science Camp to the community, helping to build community support for a more formal future cross-cultural exchange and the transfer of applicable curriculum and activities to local communities' summer camps.

The goal of this outreach effort will be to provide an enriching cultural learning experience for teachers and students during the 2019 Science Camp. By taking part in the Traditional Ecological Knowledge activity and by interacting with students from different communities and cultures over the duration of the camp, students and teachers will be exposed to different ways of observing and interpreting the natural world that will lead to a broader understanding of how it functions and how changes are affecting it.

The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project supports NOAA's role in science education as defined in the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69), which provides broad authority for educational activities. In addition, the project supports several goals in the NOAA Education Strategic Plan:
• Goal 1 (Science-Informed Society) - The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project increases knowledge and interest in NOAA-related science both through the development of a Traditional Ecological Knowledge activity associated with the AFSC's Pacific cod research, and through supporting two students to attend NOAA Science Camp.
• Goal 2 (Conservation and Stewardship) - The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project will incorporate conservation and stewardship in the development of Traditional Ecological Knowledge activities on the AFSC's Pacific cod research.
• Goal 4 (Future Workforce) -The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project will engage students from underserved communities in Alaska to attend NOAA Science Camp and expose them to NOAA science and the diversity of careers and student opportunities in NOAA.
• Goal 5 (Organizational Excellence) - The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project strengthens collaboration and coordination of NOAA education products with external partners.

The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project also supports NOAA Fisheries' efforts to strengthen and establish co-management agreements with Alaska Native communities in accordance with provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (Section 119) to improve conservation and management of marine mammals that are harvested by Alaska Natives for subsistence. In addition, it supports Section 305j of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in improving "communication, education, and training on marine resource issues throughout the region and increase scientific education for marine related professions among coastal community residents, including ... Alaskan Natives and other underrepresented groups in the region."

The Cross-Cultural Learning Experience project will directly benefit NOAA by:
• building local partnerships with organizations in the Bering Strait region and providing educational opportunities for Alaska Native community students, NOAA Fisheries scientists, and students and educators involved in NOAA Science Camp
• promoting further appreciation for cultural diversity and help strengthen communication skills for scientists to reach diverse audiences with research messages
• increasing access to NOAA science

Purpose of the buy:

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center would like to strengthen its collaborations with Alaska Native communities in the Bering Strait region through education and cultural training. The goal of this outreach effort is to expose scientists, students and educators to different ways of observing, interpreting and understanding the natural world through formal cultural awareness training, through a hands-on educational activity that combines Traditional Ecological Knowledge with western science and by providing a venue for students, teachers and scientists from different backgrounds to interact.

The AFSC is seeking contract services to
• Conduct AFSC scientific staff cultural awareness trainings and provide cross-cultural learning opportunities for students involved in the 2019 NOAA Science Camp in Seattle, WA. The training will be open to scientists involved in the northern Bering Sea bottom and surface trawl and ice seal surveys and other interested staff.
• Enlist a K-12 educator from the Bering Strait region to work with AFSC educators to develop, test and evaluate a new hands-on educational activity for NOAA Science Camp that integrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge and western science with goals of formally integrating this activity into future camps and adapting for use in Alaska educational programs and cultural camps
• Provide an opportunity for two students from Bering Strait community to attend a week-long session of NOAA Science Camp and share their experience with local community members.

NOAA requires a vendor to provide technical support to meet these objectives.

The specific tasks are:
• Coordinate and provide a 1-day cultural awareness training by July 2019.
• Identify two Nome students and supplemental funding to attend the 2019 NOAA Science Camp.
• Work with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center Education Coordinator to develop, test and evaluate a culturally-integrated hands-on educational activity that integrates Traditional Knowledge and western science.
• Provide a forum for a student presentation to the local Bering Strait community for students to share their experiences at NOAA Science camp and what they learned.

DELIVERABLES:

• By July 30, 2019, design and implement, with the AFSC Education Coordinator, a new hands-on educational activity on Pacific cod that incorporates both western science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge to help students understand concepts about fish life history, abundance, migration and harvesting methods, and the effects of environmental conditions on the availability of fish.
• By July 30, 2019, bring two students from Bering Strait Region to NOAA Science Camp
• By September 30, 2019, provide Cultural Awareness Training to educators, scientists and host families (20-50 people total)
Explain the history of the buy.
This buy has not been done before.
Necessary Skills and Requirements - What criteria are generally required to meet the skills to accomplish the tasks?
Critical skills needed to accomplish the tasks are:
- Ability to conduct cultural awareness training that is site specific/customized for Bering Strait region.
- Ability to recruit highly qualified local educational personnel.
- Connections and ability to recruit 2 camp participants from an underserved community within the Bering Strait region.
- Ability to develop and evaluate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum.
- A venue for students to share their NOAA Science Camp experience and what they learned with Bering Strait communities.
- Program evaluation capabilities.

Only Kawerak is locally-based in the Bering Strait region so they are knowledgeable about local customs, values and traditions with strong community contacts. Several of the programs only provide general education on cultural awareness/sensitivity, not Bering Strait specific cultural training. Only Kawerak is able to offer a comprehensive package which includes all of the services needed to implement this project (i.e., collaboration with a locally-based educator to help develop, test and review a hands-on educational activity and identify two Alaska Native community students and funding support to attend NOAA Science camp and the ability to provide a local venue for students to share their Science Camp experience with the community.

This Notice of Intent is not a Request for Quotes. This notice of intent is for information purposes only, therefore, no solicitation will result from this announcement. All sources eligible to provide this supply must respond in writing, response must be supported by clear and convincing evidence to clearly be able to provide services for products outlined above. A request for documentation will not be considered an affirmative response. Award to University of Washington, as detailed above, is anticipated immediately. Response to this award is to be sent to heather.mahle@noaa.gov.

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