Opportunity Information: Apply for P11AT36145
Apply for P11AT36145
- The National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Create Model of Glacier Bay National Park Preserves Late Pleistocene Coastline" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945 Cooperative Research and Training Programs Resources of the National Park System.
- This funding opportunity was created on Sep 12, 2011 and posted on Sep 12, 2011.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 26, 2011. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- The funding agency has allocated a total of $80,000.00 to eligible and selected applicants.
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $80,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
- This is a notice of intent to award to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) this CESU agreement. No applications other than from UAF will be accepted.
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Opportunity Summary:
This notice describes a National Park Service (NPS) intent to make a cooperative agreement award for a research project called "Create Model of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve's Late Pleistocene Coastline" (Funding Opportunity Number P11AT36145). It is not an open solicitation and not a request for applications. The announcement is essentially a public transparency step stating that NPS plans to fund one specific partner, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) program. The anticipated federal funding is $80,000 with no cost share requirement, structured as a new, five-year cooperative agreement with an expected performance window from September 16, 2011 through June 30, 2016. The project is tied to CFDA 15.945 (Cooperative Research and Training Programs - Resources of the National Park System) and is authorized under federal statutes that allow NPS to enter into cooperative research and training agreements related to National Park System resources (including 16 U.S.C. 1a-2(j), along with other cited authorities).
At its core, the project aims to reconstruct and model where Glacier Bay's Gulf Coast shoreline likely sat over roughly the last 20,000 years, during and after the Late Pleistocene, while also mapping related glacial extent, identifying ice-free refugia (non-glaciated areas), and describing the kinds of natural resources that may have been available to humans. This matters because a major line of research on the peopling of the Americas suggests that early migrants may have moved quickly along the Pacific coastline, using nearshore environments such as kelp forest ecosystems for food and travel. The challenge is that much of the archaeological record for those ancient coastlines is missing, partly because shorelines shifted dramatically with sea level changes, glacial retreat, and isostatic rebound. Glacier Bay has a long history of scientific study and a large amount of existing geologic data, so NPS views it as a place where synthesizing scattered information and targeted field validation could meaningfully narrow uncertainties about where ancient coastal landscapes (and potential archaeological sites) may have survived.
The planned work combines a major synthesis effort with on-the-ground testing. The researchers are expected to pull together published and unpublished sources, compile disparate datasets, and then design and carry out field surveys to check key assumptions in the reconstruction. The field component is described as multi-season work, with month-long survey, testing, and sampling campaigns along Glacier Bay's upper and outer coasts. The project explicitly anticipates laboratory analyses such as radiocarbon dating (14C) and other tests needed to anchor the modeled shoreline positions and landscape features in time. A key applied outcome is a predictive model: the study will highlight locations most likely to preserve remnants of ancient landscapes and therefore be promising targets for future archaeological investigation. Just as importantly, it will identify data gaps and lay out recommendations for follow-on geologic and archaeological studies.
The award is single-source to UAF, and the justification is based on unique qualifications and continuity of expertise. The principal investigator is Daniel Mann (UAF Institute of Arctic Biology), and the project also heavily relies on long-term regional expertise associated with researchers who have spent decades working in and around Glacier Bay, including extensive knowledge of glacial history, sea level change, isostasy, refugia, and human-landscape relationships. NPS argues that this depth of place-based knowledge represents an unusually valuable intellectual resource that would take other teams many years to replicate, and that the project is an opportunity to capture and formalize that accumulated understanding into a usable model and publications. The notice also frames the effort as stemming from an unsolicited proposal and as uniquely advantageous to NPS program goals, including cultural resource inventory responsibilities.
The deliverables are straightforward and geared toward both management use and the broader scientific community. First, the team will produce an NPS-facing report that synthesizes the last 20,000 years of coastline evolution, presents a model for where evidence of those former coastlines can be found today, and proposes a roadmap for future geologic and archaeological work to refine the model. Second, the researchers will prepare a professional journal article to share the findings with other scientists. NPS plans to use these products not only for internal planning and cultural resource management, but also to create interpretive materials for park visitors and the general public, tying the research to broader stories about climate change, landscape evolution, and early human history.
Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement (rather than a contract), NPS expects substantial involvement throughout the project. The NPS archaeologist is slated to assist with field efforts during the 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons, and NPS will provide logistical support such as housing for the UAF principal investigator and a graduate student in Gustavus. NPS will also handle government-to-government consultation with tribal organizations as needed, coordinate required compliance steps (including wilderness considerations and NEPA review), and connect the work to NPS cultural resource systems such as the Archeological Sites Management Information System (ASMIS). The notice emphasizes that this kind of involvement is necessary in Glacier Bay because field logistics are complex and expensive, and because NPS has inherently governmental duties before, during, and after fieldwork that help the research proceed efficiently while also supporting NPS obligations under laws like the National Historic Preservation Act (including Section 110 inventory and stewardship responsibilities).
The timeline in the notice lays out staged outputs across the agreement period: early work focuses on compiling existing information, conducting literature review, and developing a sampling strategy; subsequent years include the month-long field campaigns and annual reporting on survey results, methods, dating and lab outcomes, and refinements to the strategy; and the later period culminates in a draft synthesis report, a final report, and submission of the journal manuscript. Budget reasonableness is described in general terms, with personnel costs aligned to federal grade equivalencies based on qualifications, and transportation costs based on quoted rates from air and boat charter providers, reflecting the realities of remote Alaskan field operations.
Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted NPS-UAF research partnership designed to turn decades of Glacier Bay geologic knowledge and existing datasets into a practical, time-based coastal landscape model. That model is intended to support scientific understanding of postglacial environmental change, guide the search for early archaeological sites that may relate to coastal migration theories, help NPS inventory and manage cultural resources, and provide credible, research-based material for public interpretation inside Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is this funding notice about?
This notice describes the National Park Service (NPS) intent to award a cooperative agreement for a research project titled "Create Model of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve's Late Pleistocene Coastline" under Funding Opportunity Number P11AT36145.
Is this an open grant competition or a request for applications?
No. The notice is not an open solicitation and it is not a request for applications. It functions as a public transparency announcement that NPS plans to fund one specific partner.
Who is the intended recipient of the award?
NPS intends to make a single-source cooperative agreement award to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) program.
What is the funding opportunity number?
The Funding Opportunity Number listed in the notice is P11AT36145.
How much federal funding is anticipated?
The anticipated federal funding amount is $80,000.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No cost share requirement is stated in the notice.
What type of award instrument will be used?
The planned instrument is a cooperative agreement (not a contract), and the notice indicates NPS expects substantial involvement in the project.
What is the planned period of performance?
The notice describes a new, five-year cooperative agreement with an expected performance window from September 16, 2011 through June 30, 2016.
What program or CFDA listing is associated with this project?
The project is tied to CFDA 15.945, described as "Cooperative Research and Training Programs - Resources of the National Park System."
What is the project trying to accomplish?
The project aims to reconstruct and model where Glacier Bay's Gulf Coast shoreline likely sat over roughly the last 20,000 years (during and after the Late Pleistocene). It also includes mapping related glacial extent, identifying ice-free refugia (non-glaciated areas), and describing natural resources that may have been available to humans.
Why is modeling an ancient Glacier Bay coastline important?
The notice links the work to research on the peopling of the Americas, including the idea that early migrants may have traveled along the Pacific coastline using nearshore environments. Because coastlines shifted dramatically due to sea level change, glacial retreat, and isostatic rebound, the archaeological record is often difficult to locate; the model is intended to narrow uncertainty about where ancient coastal landscapes (and potential archaeological sites) may have survived.
What geographic area does the research focus on?
The work focuses on Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, with field efforts described for Glacier Bay's upper and outer coasts.
What kinds of activities are included in the planned work?
The notice describes a combination of (1) synthesizing existing published and unpublished sources and datasets and (2) designing and conducting multi-season field surveys to test key assumptions in the reconstruction, including sampling needed to anchor model outputs in time.
Will there be fieldwork, and what does the fieldwork look like?
Yes. The field component is described as multi-season work with month-long survey, testing, and sampling campaigns along Glacier Bay's upper and outer coasts.
What laboratory analyses are anticipated?
The notice explicitly anticipates radiocarbon dating (14C) and other laboratory tests needed to date shoreline positions and landscape features.
What is meant by a "predictive model" in this project?
The intended applied outcome is a predictive model that highlights locations most likely to preserve remnants of ancient landscapes, making them promising targets for future archaeological investigation.
Will the project identify remaining unknowns or next steps?
Yes. The notice states the work will identify data gaps and provide recommendations for follow-on geologic and archaeological studies to refine the model.
Why is the award described as single-source to UAF?
The notice justifies the single-source approach based on unique qualifications and continuity of expertise, including long-term, place-based knowledge of Glacier Bay's glacial history, sea level change, isostatic rebound, refugia, and human-landscape relationships.
Who is the principal investigator named in the notice?
The principal investigator is Daniel Mann of the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology.
How did this project originate?
The notice frames the effort as stemming from an unsolicited proposal and as uniquely advantageous to NPS program goals, including cultural resource inventory responsibilities.
What deliverables are expected from the project?
The notice describes two primary deliverables: (1) an NPS-facing report synthesizing coastline evolution over the last 20,000 years, presenting a model for where evidence of former coastlines can be found today, and proposing a roadmap for future work; and (2) a professional journal article sharing findings with the scientific community.
How does NPS expect to use the project results?
NPS plans to use the products for internal planning and cultural resource management, and also to support public interpretation for park visitors and the general public, connecting the research to stories about climate change, landscape evolution, and early human history.
What does "substantial involvement" by NPS mean in this cooperative agreement?
The notice describes active NPS participation during the project, including an NPS archaeologist assisting with field efforts during the 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons, as well as NPS support for logistics and coordination responsibilities that accompany work in Glacier Bay.
What logistical support is NPS expected to provide?
NPS is expected to provide logistical support such as housing for the UAF principal investigator and a graduate student in Gustavus.
Who handles tribal consultation and compliance requirements?
The notice indicates NPS will handle government-to-government consultation with tribal organizations as needed and will coordinate required compliance steps, including wilderness considerations and NEPA review.
Will the project connect to NPS cultural resource systems?
Yes. The notice states NPS will connect the work to NPS cultural resource systems such as the Archeological Sites Management Information System (ASMIS).
What laws or authorities are mentioned as supporting this kind of agreement?
The notice cites federal statutes that allow NPS to enter into cooperative research and training agreements related to National Park System resources, including 16 U.S.C. 1a-2(j), and it references NPS responsibilities under laws such as the National Historic Preservation Act, including Section 110 inventory and stewardship responsibilities.
What does the timeline look like across the five years?
The notice describes staged outputs: early work emphasizes compiling information, literature review, and developing a sampling strategy; later years include month-long field campaigns and annual reporting on results, methods, dating and lab outcomes, and strategy refinements; the later period culminates in a draft synthesis report, a final report, and submission of a journal manuscript.
How is the budget described in the notice?
Budget reasonableness is described generally. Personnel costs are aligned to federal grade equivalencies based on qualifications, and transportation costs are based on quoted rates from air and boat charter providers, reflecting remote field operations in Alaska.
What is the main takeaway about this opportunity for potential applicants?
Based on the notice, this opportunity is best understood as a targeted NPS-UAF research partnership rather than a funding opportunity open to other applicants.
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