The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), through Bureau of Indian Affair’s Office of Trust Services (BIA), hereby solicits proposals from tribal non-profit, non-governmental organizations, and tribally controlled colleges or universities, to enter into a cooperative agreement for the support

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of tribal climate science needs through the hiring of a tribal climate resilience liaison in the U. S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs).

The agreement provides a mechanism for the BIA to provide the selected Tribal organizations with non-recurring funding for mutually agreed upon tasks in keeping with the climate science needs of the BIA and all tribal communities in the North Central, Midwest, and Northeast/ Southeast CASC regions (learn more and see map of DOI Climate Adaptation Science Centers here:
https://www.usgs.gov/ecosystems/climate-adaptation-science-centers).

The BIA’s Office of Trust Services, Tribal Climate Resilience Program, will evaluate all proposals and select three tribal organization (one per region) to hire:
North Central:
up to two* tribal climate resilience liaisons to be hosted at the North Central CASC, Boulder, Colorado**.

Midwest:
up to two* tribal climate resilience liaison to be hosted at the Midwest CASC, Minneapolis, Minnesota**.

Northeast/Southeast (combined):
up to two* tribal climate resilience liaison to be hosted at the Northeast CASC, Amherst, Massachusetts** and/or Southeast CASC, Raleigh, North Carolina**.

*Final number of liaisons contingent on funding availability.

**Final hosting location may be determined between the regional CASC and the selected tribal organizations, but will allow for proximity and communication between the liaison(s) and the CASC.

Each tribal organization may also coordinate with the BIA TCRP, the respective regional CASC, and other potential partners to coordinate training activities and support the development and implementation of up to two tribal climate resilience trainings for tribes in the respective region per year, contingent on available funding.

Hiring a current employee from within the organization is allowable as long as they meet the minimum qualifications.

The successful tribal organization will have 1) various regional and/or national knowledge and familiarity to support all tribes in the service area, 2) functional expertise in areas that are or may be affected by climate change, 3) broad tribal membership regionally or nationally and, 4) the capacity to provide administrative supervision and mentorship for the liaisons, and engage in regular coordination with the CASC.

BIA expects to assign one tribal organization to one of three DOI CASC regions in this wave of solicitations, however, this ratio may be modified per circumstances and funding availability.

This solicitation contains guidelines and instructions for writing and submitting a proposal to select and hire a tribal climate resilience liaison.

BIA will use a competitive evaluation process based on criteria stated in Section F.

Categories of Funding, Review Criteria and Evaluation of this notice to select an applicant for funding.

If there are questions or further information is required, please refer to the paragraph below on how to contact the BIA Tribal Climate Resilience staff for assistance.

Note:
A cooperative agreement between the BIA and the selected tribal organization will be completed after this selection process.

Once the cooperative agreement is finalized, the successful tribal organization may begin the selection and hiring process for a tribal climate resilience liaison, following the minimum qualifications below and the language of the cooperative agreement- but has the option to hire from within the organization if current employee(s) meet the minimum qualifications.