Catherine L. Waters

Catherine L. Waters serves as a Contract Specialist within the USDA Forest Service, where she plays a critical role in executing procurements that support the agency’s mission of sustaining national forest and grassland ecosystems. She manages the full lifecycle of acquisitions for technical and professional services, with a primary focus on information technology and computer-related solutions. Her work ensures operational readiness for wildfire response, ecological monitoring, and remote infrastructure management across federally managed lands. Waters interfaces closely with program managers to translate mission needs into compliant, performance-based contract requirements that align with federal acquisition regulations and agency strategic goals. Her procurement activity is concentrated with a select group of contractors, including ACI FEDERAL INC, ONE STOP RECRUITING LLC, GONDO ROY E MD, THE LOCUMS CO, LLC, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC. These partnerships reflect a consistent reliance on firms providing specialized IT support, workforce staffing, and technical consulting services critical to sustaining field operations and data-driven decision-making. Waters maintains professional, results-oriented relationships with these vendors, emphasizing contract performance, compliance, and timely delivery of mission-critical services in high-demand, often remote environments. Waters’ contracting portfolio exhibits a 100% preference for non-set-aside acquisitions, indicating a focus on open competition rather than socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs. While small business participation is not formally prioritized in her award patterns, her approach ensures full and open competition to achieve optimal value and technical capability across high-complexity service contracts. Her primary procurement activity is classified under NAICS 541519 (Other Computer Related Services), reflecting deep expertise in procuring IT services such as systems integration, data analytics, software development, and technical support for forest management systems. She specializes in acquiring solutions that enable real-time situational awareness, geospatial data processing, and workforce mobilization tools essential to the Forest Service’s operational and emergency response missions.