Definition of Technical Assistance:

Technical Assistance Projects are Conducted by the Commission’s Internal Research Agents:

1. Hammond Bay Biological Station

2. Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

3. Department of Fisheries and Oceans

4. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

There are Two Types of Technical Assistance Projects:

1. “Projects” that account for costs related to personnel and administration and not the collection of new data. These projects are obviously very different from research projects and really relate to maintain the infrastructure necessary for the chemical control program.

2. Projects which collect specific types of information. These projects seek to meet information needs to improve implementation of the control program, to provide specific information required by government regulation, or to meet information needs during emerging crises. These projects exist within a gradient from projects that are a) regular and recurring, such as quality assurance of lampricides, to b) discreet projects that are completed within a specified time frame, such as toxicity of lampricides to mudpuppies. This second set of projects specifically gathers, analyzes, and interprets data, and is most similar to research projects.

a. Regular and recurring projects once begun under established and accepted analytic protocols would not require annual peer review. Also, one might interpret that the “General Quality Assurance” project at UMESC would seem to provide some level of oversight on methods used to assess lampricide toxicity. It is possible that every five years or so the description of project methods might be sent out for external peer review. The results of these projects also seem unlikely to be published in peer reviewed journals but instead their results would be communicated directly to specific audiences such as government regulatory agencies. Because of their regular and recurring nature, these projects seem again quite different from the typical research projects reviewed by the Sea Lamprey Research Board.

b. At the other end of the gradient are discrete projects having specific time frames for completion. Completion reports may be generated that could have a broader audience than just control agents. These projects are most similar to typical research projects. An objective means by which to define the difference between discreet technical assistance projects from research projects was not found, and therefore the definition becomes subjective (i.e., a judgment call).

Process for the Generation, Review, and Approval of Technical Assistance Projects:

Only discrete technical assistance projects are required to undergo

the review and approval process.

For more information about the process click here.