GLKN Monitoring Dragonflies for Mercury | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the "GLKN Monitoring Dragonflies for Mercury" funding opportunity?

GLKN Monitoring Dragonflies for Mercury (Funding Opportunity No. NOIP16AC01050) is a National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior funding opportunity focused on improving mercury contamination monitoring in Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network (GLKN) parks by using larval dragonflies as bioindicators.

Which agency is offering this opportunity?

The opportunity is offered by the National Park Service (NPS) within the U.S. Department of the Interior.

What is the main goal of the project?

The main goal is to strengthen and improve GLKN's mercury monitoring program by using existing mercury-in-dragonfly data to support statistically defensible monitoring decisions, consistent procedures, and long-term trend detection that can be used for park management and network-wide reporting.

What is being monitored, and why use larval dragonflies?

The project focuses on monitoring mercury contamination using larval dragonflies as bioindicators. The opportunity describes larval dragonflies as the biological measure used to assess mercury in GLKN parks and emphasizes established procedures for measuring mercury in these larvae.

What is the funding activity area and CFDA number for this opportunity?

The funding activity area is Natural Resources, and the CFDA number listed is 15.944.

What type of funding instrument is this?

This opportunity is described as an "Other" type funding instrument/opportunity category and is structured as a cooperative agreement with substantial federal involvement, rather than a standard, open-ended research grant.

What does "substantial federal involvement" mean in this context?

It means NPS (through GLKN) will be actively engaged in the work. The description indicates GLKN will collaborate with the recipient to define goals and refine scope, assist with selecting projects and sites, provide orientation to park resources, offer oversight and technical support, facilitate skills and safety training, distribute tools and equipment, and provide a Program Coordinator to coordinate communications, logistics, and certain staffing-related needs.

When was the opportunity posted and when did it close?

The opportunity was posted on August 11, 2016, and the original closing date was August 22, 2016.

How many awards were anticipated?

The notice anticipated a single award.

What is the maximum award amount?

The award ceiling (maximum value) is $210,000.

Who is expected to carry out the work under this cooperative agreement?

The University of Maine (UMaine) is identified as the entity tasked with carrying out the main technical deliverables, and the notice frames UMaine as uniquely qualified and the logical recipient to maintain methodological continuity and consistency.

Is this an open competition for any eligible applicant?

Although eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with clarification in an additional eligibility field, the narrative describes the opportunity as effectively a targeted cooperative agreement intended for UMaine due to its established role, specialized expertise, and existing cooperative mechanisms with NPS.

Why does the notice describe UMaine as uniquely qualified?

The notice emphasizes UMaine's established role in developing national and GLKN-specific procedures for measuring mercury in larval dragonflies, its specialized expertise in identifying larval dragonflies collected in GLKN parks, and its ability to conduct high-quality laboratory mercury analyses. It also notes close alignment with a separate cooperative agreement between UMaine and the NPS Air Resources Division (ARD), supporting continuity and comparability of methods and results.

What are the main deliverables UMaine is expected to produce?

The opportunity describes four main deliverables:

1. Statistical power analyses using previously collected mercury-in-dragonfly datasets under different monitoring design scenarios (for example, changing the number of sampling sites, sampling frequency, and the size of change managers want to detect over time).
2. Recommendations on the overall monitoring design, including guidance on site selection approaches, sampling frequency, field protocols, and balancing cost/effort with the ability to detect meaningful trends.
3. Development of a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) using a pre-existing template to ensure consistent, repeatable, and credible field and laboratory procedures (including documentation standards, chain-of-custody expectations, and data quality objectives).
4. Recommendations on data analysis techniques for long-term trend detection and comparison across parks, including ways to address variability across sites, years, and sampling conditions.

What does the statistical power analysis work involve?

UMaine is expected to use existing mercury-in-dragonfly datasets to evaluate how well different monitoring designs can detect changes over time. The scenarios described include varying the number of sampling sites, how often sampling occurs, and the magnitude of change that managers want the program to be able to detect.

What kinds of monitoring design recommendations are expected?

The notice indicates recommendations will typically cover how sites should be selected, how frequently sampling should occur, what field protocols should be used, and how to balance monitoring costs and field effort with statistical ability to detect meaningful trends.

What is a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) in this project?

In this opportunity, the QAP is a plan developed from a pre-existing template to support consistency, repeatability, and credibility in field and laboratory procedures. The notice highlights elements such as documentation standards, chain-of-custody expectations, and data quality objectives.

What kinds of data analysis recommendations are expected?

UMaine is expected to recommend analytical methods that support long-term trend detection and allow comparisons across parks. The notice specifically mentions addressing variability across sites, years, and sampling conditions.

How will GLKN participate in the project?

GLKN is described as having an active, hands-on role. Responsibilities include collaborating on goals and scope, supporting site/project selection, providing orientation and logistical assistance, offering oversight and technical support, facilitating training (including safety training), distributing tools and equipment, and assigning a Program Coordinator to serve as a liaison and coordinate communications and logistics.

What is the role of the GLKN Program Coordinator?

The Program Coordinator is described as an ongoing liaison who coordinates communications and logistics and works directly with UMaine staff on staffing-related needs such as recruiting, interviewing, and recommending candidates when appropriate.

How does this opportunity relate to the NPS Air Resources Division (ARD)?

The notice states the GLKN agreement is designed to align closely with a separate cooperative agreement between UMaine and the NPS Air Resources Division (ARD). This alignment is intended to support consistent methods, shared laboratory expertise, and continuity of analytical approaches so results remain comparable over time and across locations.

What is the intended outcome for GLKN parks?

The intended outcome is a mercury monitoring program that is statistically defensible, quality-assured, and analytically consistent, producing mercury data that can be compared within GLKN and across other NPS parks where UMaine is conducting similar work.

Why is methodological consistency emphasized?

The notice emphasizes that consistent procedures and continuity of analytical approaches help ensure results are comparable over time and across locations, supporting defensible long-term monitoring and network-wide comparisons.

What cooperative mechanism is cited to support UMaine's participation?

The notice ties the justification to UMaine's membership in the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit and its Master Cooperative Agreement (P14AC00888), which is described as providing a mechanism for UMaine to perform specific, mission-aligned tasks for NPS.

What does the award "ceiling" mean here?

The award ceiling is the maximum value of the award. For this opportunity, the maximum value listed is $210,000.

Is this opportunity focused on generating new field data or improving how monitoring is done?

The core purpose is described as technical assistance to help GLKN make better monitoring decisions by turning existing data into a stronger, defensible monitoring program, including power analyses, monitoring design recommendations, quality assurance planning, and recommended analysis techniques for long-term trends.