Sandra Daniels

Sandra Daniels supports the Agricultural Research Service’s Office of Acquisition and Procurement in securing mission-critical scientific infrastructure and specialized services essential to advancing USDA’s research agenda. She manages complex procurements for high-precision laboratory instrumentation, field equipment, and analytical services that underpin agricultural and biological research. Her work ensures the operational readiness of national research facilities by acquiring ultra-low-temperature freezers, micro-CT scanners, sterilization systems, and other specialized hardware required for cutting-edge experimentation and data collection. Daniels operates within a framework that prioritizes technical accuracy, regulatory compliance, and timely delivery to support scientists across the nation’s research network. She maintains consistent relationships with a select group of contractors, including MCKENZIE CONSTRUCTION & SITE DEVELOPMENT LLC for facility upgrades, LARKOS PACKING AND DISTRIBUTION INC. for logistics and sample handling, ARABIC INTERPRETERS LLC for language services supporting international collaboration, and AMD INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC for advanced technology integration. These partnerships reflect a focus on vendors with proven expertise in niche scientific and operational domains, indicating a preference for specialized, mission-aligned suppliers over broad-market providers. Daniels’ contracting portfolio reflects a strong emphasis on open competition, with 78.1% of awards issued without set-asides. However, she actively supports small business participation, allocating 21.9% of acquisitions to Total Small Business Set-Asides under FAR 19.5, demonstrating a balanced approach that prioritizes technical capability while fostering economic opportunity for qualified small firms. Her procurement focus is heavily concentrated in NAICS 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing), reflecting deep expertise in acquiring precision scientific equipment. Additional activity in NAICS 333111 (Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing) and niche areas like wet corn milling and nitrogenous fertilizer manufacturing underscores her technical fluency across agricultural research domains, ensuring acquisitions align with the ARS’s scientific priorities.