Kigigak Island spectacled eider study protocol

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Region Seven (7), Alaska, intends to award a sole source, firm-fixed price purchase for eight (8) months to Dr. Diana Solovyeva. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Region Seven (7), Alaska, requires a the services of Dr. Solovyeva for the Kigigak Island spectacled eider study protocol. Back Ground:The threatened spectacled eider population is composed of three disjunct breeding populations that breed in Russia, on the Alaska's North Slope, and on the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The majority of the world's population breeds in Russia, and data collected from Russian breeding grounds may help determine the cause behind the significant population declines observed in this species in Alaska. Results could lead to implementation of recovery efforts for the US breeding populations. Because of the difficulty of collecting data in Russia by DOI scientists, the only feasible means of collection such data is by working directly with Russian eider experts. Dr. Diana Solovyeva is a prominent Russian waterfowl biologist. She is widely regarded as an eider expert and has conducted research on spectacled eiders in Arctic Russia. Dr. Solovyeva conducted a pilot study in 2002 on Ayopechan Island in the Chuan Delta and conducted the first 7 years of the project (2005-2005, 2007-2010). Due to Dr. Solovyeva's expertise and involvement in the study since 2003, there are no other comparable researchers who could conduct this research in 2011. The consistency of this research project depends on Dr. Solovyeva's continued involvement for its successful completion. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals and the Government does not intend to accepts proposals received.