Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 09HQPA0036) is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement aimed at strengthening the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) program's ability to deliver science and transfer technology related to biological and natural resources data. The central idea is to partner with an eligible Chesapeake Watershed CESU member institution, typically a university partner within the CESU network, to provide technical assistance that improves how biological information is developed, organized, discovered, and shared. The work is framed around biological informatics and enterprise portal approaches, with an emphasis on turning scattered datasets and tools into accessible, useful web-based products that support science-based decision making for researchers, resource managers, policymakers, educators, and the public.

NBII is described as a broad collaboration across federal, state, and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and private-sector groups, designed to function as an integrated gateway to biological data, information products, and analytical tools. This grant opportunity builds on NBII's "Node" model that was authorized in 2001, which created regional and thematic nodes to serve specialized geographic areas and subject domains. In practice, this means the cooperative agreement is meant to expand or enhance existing NBII node capabilities, increase collaboration among nodes and partners, and improve the practical usability of data systems through better interfaces, metadata, mapping, visualization, and related web technologies. Rather than funding stand-alone research, the scope is largely applied and infrastructure-oriented: building, integrating, and modernizing data access pathways so that information already held by different groups can be discovered and used more effectively.

The technical assistance areas spelled out in the announcement cover several specific projects. One focus is on "Data Access Wizards," including further development of the FAR and MAIN Data Access Wizards. The intent here is to upgrade these tools to meet expanding needs across the NBII network by improving the user interface and search features, adding new ways to display and return search results, and incorporating bird conservation data as a specific use case. This component also calls for clarifying a basic set of network-wide requirements and strengthening integration with FGDC Metadata Clearinghouse activities, which is meant to make it easier to locate and access distributed fisheries, bird conservation, and Mid-Atlantic data across many institutions.

Another major component is enhancement of existing web mapping applications used by active conservation partnerships. For the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV), the award supports expanding the web mapping application so it better serves partnership needs for identifying and prioritizing conservation actions. That includes gathering requirements directly from partners and researchers, adding content and explanatory information about the project and datasets, and creating a workable process to update brook trout status data over time through the mapping platform. For the Chesapeake Bay Mapper, the goal is similar: further develop the Chesapeake Bay Program's mapping application by working with USGS scientists and other regional experts to coordinate how satellite imagery and aerial photography are identified and accessed for the Bay region. A notable emphasis is placed on land use/land cover and tracking habitat change over time, including establishing a clear baseline of what imagery and related datasets already exist and how users can find and apply them.

The opportunity also includes a data-integration effort for sturgeon research and management. The "Sturgeon Database Development" work is intended to bring together sturgeon information that currently lives in multiple separate locations into a more unified interagency database. The proposal specifically mentions working with NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service to build a user-friendly web database interface that combines sturgeon tagging data, genetic information, tissue storage data, and associated environmental data. A key deliverable expectation is functionality that supports collaboration: the ability to access the integrated data, run queries across sources, and produce customizable reports that researchers and agencies can use for management and scientific analysis.

Two broader thematic and geographic efforts round out the scope. The "Fisheries and Aquatic Resources" work is national in ambition and focuses on improving data sharing and access for fisheries and aquatic resource issues across regions. It anticipates development of web-based applications for existing and new partners, acquisition and maintenance of geospatial datasets, creation of internet map services and visualization tools, and support for a wide range of information types such as species populations and community dynamics, habitats, conservation and restoration activities, hydrography, land use, imagery, climate, genetics, and recreation. In parallel, the "Mid Atlantic Region" effort is regionally focused on Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC, with similar expectations: building and maintaining web applications and geospatial services that help users access information about regional flora and fauna, land use, imagery, climate, and other emerging regional issues. Both of these components explicitly include metadata development, partnership and node collaboration development, and participation in NBII program and partner meetings, reinforcing that this award is as much about coordination and shared infrastructure as it is about technical build-out.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary cooperative agreement under CFDA 15.808 (USGS Research and Data Collection). The opportunity anticipated a single award with an estimated total funding amount of $123,000, and it listed no cost sharing or matching requirement. Eligibility is restricted to participating partners of the Chesapeake Watershed CESU Program, meaning applicants must already be part of that established CESU partnership network. Key dates in the original posting show it was posted May 19, 2009, with a closing date of May 28, 2009, and it was later archived June 27, 2009. The contact listed for access issues was Faith Graves, Contract Specialist, at 703-648-7356.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as support for practical, collaborative science information delivery: improving portals, search and metadata connections, interoperable databases, and web mapping tools so that biological and natural resource information becomes easier to find, easier to analyze, and more useful for real-world management and policy decisions. The stated end goal is a stronger NBII network where USGS and CESU partners jointly deliver data, tools, and web systems that reach agencies and educators and ultimately improve public access to credible biological information.

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