North Star Awards for the 2009 NRC

North Star Science and Technology, LLC,

Second Neotropical Raptor Conference Satellite Tracking Award

Preamble:  North Star Science and Technology, LLC was founded in 1998 and began operating in 1999.  Its founders are researchers who, in fact, helped to develop the very technology that we now provide to clients, i.e., satellite PTT technology.  Most of North Star’s clients today are researchers themselves from all over the world.  We at North Star recognize that satellite PTTs are very expensive and that the data they can provide is usually unattainable via any other method.  After being in business for 10 years, we feel good about continuing to give something back to the community we serve, the research community.  In 2003, we launched our first annual grant program and provided 3 PTTs to each of two projects in the Americas.  In subsequent years, additional PTTs have been provided to researchers worldwide.  To date, we have donated a total of39PTTs to grant recipients, and we plan to continue to expand the program. 

In 2009, as a Senior Sponsor of the Third Neotropical Raptor Conference in Bogotá, Colombia, North Star Science and Technology, LLC will provide an opportunity for a single research project on Neotropical raptors to acquire 3 battery powered PTTs for free.  Please visit www.northstarst.com for additional information on the company and the PTT units.  North Star has teamed in this effort with the Neotropical Raptor Network to provide expert advice and to convene a review committee to assess applications for this award and to select the awardee.

The Award:

Application materials should include contact information, and a not-more-than-three-page narrative that includes a full budget for the project including the awarded PTTs.    Proposals are due by 15 July 2008.  The award will be announced no later than 15 October 2008, and the PTTs will be presented to the awardee at a special ceremony during the Third Neotropical Raptor Conference in Bogotá, Colombia in January/February, 2009. 

Please send proposals no later than 15 July 2008 to:

Dr. Keith L. Bildstein

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Acopian Center

410 Summer Valley Road

Orwigsburg, PA  17961

Bildstein@hawkmtn.org

North Star will provide three (3) battery PTTs – a retail value of approximately $9,000 – to one applicant. The PTTs are to be used to track and monitor the movements of Neotropical raptors.  We hope the resulting data will improve the scientific understanding of the target species.   

The PTTs offered include North Star’s 20, 30, and 80 gram battery units.  No solar units will be provided.  Please see www.northstarst.com for specifications on each of the offered PTT models. 

The Neotropical Raptor Network will handle the proposal submission process and will determine the awardee.  They will do so by appointing a committee and scoring the proposals based on merit.  One awardee will be selected from the proposals received.   

Financial and education status of applicants are not considerations.  Selection will be made by the committee based on the feasibility and scientific merit of the work, and on the applicant’s likelihood of publishing timely and substantial contributions to the scientific and conservation literature, including abstracts to scientific meetings and, subsequently, publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Stipulations:  Publication of the data will be the sole right of the awardee.  However, if the data are not published within three years of the award, North Star reserves the right to write and publish a peer-reviewed paper based on the data. 

The awardee is responsible for paying all Argos costs associated with the tracking of the three PTTs.  All applicants must certify that they either have an existing Argos account or will acquire one for this effort.  Furthermore, all applicants must certify that they have the financial means to pay the Argos tracking charges for the awarded PTTs for the entire life of the batteries. 

Proposal length: three pages of narrative and budget, plus one page of certifications (12 point font throughout), including:

1.     Project Title:

2.     Name of Performing Organization:

3.     Principal Investigator: 

4.     Species to be tracked and its average mass (male, female):

5.     Objectives of study, including:

     Problem statement: why you are doing the work; what do you hope to learn, and how your results will increase scientific knowledge and aid in conservation.

     Study site location and why it was chosen.

     Methods and materials to be used. 

     Type PTT needed (i.e., 20, 30, or 80 gram battery PTTs).

     Background of researchers and or organization:

     Certifications:

• Certify and explain that you have the field expertise and resources to execute the project.

• Certify and explain that you have the financial resources to pay for the Argos tracking charges for the life of the 3 PTTs.

• Certify that you will use these PTTs in a matter consistent with the goals and rules of this program or return them to North Star.