Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the Rocky Mountain CESU grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G14AS00082)?

This opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center cooperative agreement offered through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network, specifically the Rocky Mountain CESU. It is focused on advancing species distribution modeling, especially approaches that link climate drivers to biological responses and produce practical decision support tools for Department of the Interior (DOI) land and resource managers.

Which federal agency is offering this funding?

The funding is offered by the US Geological Survey (USGS), associated with the Fort Collins Science Center.

What is the primary scientific focus of the project?

The core focus is species distribution modeling and habitat modeling, with an emphasis on connecting climate drivers to biological responses so that predictions about where species may occur under changing conditions can be used in real management decisions.

What management need is this project trying to address?

The work is framed around real habitat and species distribution modeling challenges faced by DOI bureaus. The intent is to strengthen the technical and scientific foundation for repeatable, scalable modeling and to translate model outputs into decision support tools that managers can use.

What is the "USGS Resource for Advanced Modeling" mentioned in the opportunity?

It is described as a distributed modeling system intended to bring together complementary capabilities from Colorado State University (CSU), USGS, and NASA. The grant calls for improving this shared modeling resource to support more efficient, consistent, and scalable modeling workflows.

Why are CSU, USGS, and NASA referenced in the project description?

The opportunity describes leveraging partner strengths: USGS expertise in applied ecological science and decision support, CSU research and analytical capacity, and NASA climate and earth observation data and modeling assets. The improved system is intended to integrate or capitalize on these complementary capabilities.

What is a central deliverable of this project?

A central deliverable is improvement of the USGS Resource for Advanced Modeling (the distributed modeling system), including enhancements that make habitat and species distribution modeling workflows more efficient, consistent, scalable, and repeatable over time.

What kinds of species or problem areas must the work address?

The opportunity explicitly calls for work spanning two high-priority land management problem areas: invasive species and threatened and endangered species. The expectation is that the improved modeling system can support both contexts.

Why does the opportunity require both invasive species and threatened/endangered species examples?

Including both is intended to demonstrate that the upgraded modeling system and workflows are broadly useful across different decision contexts and data realities, rather than being narrowly designed for a single use case.

How is the proposed work structured (phases or components)?

The announcement characterizes the proposal as a hybrid effort. An initial phase emphasizes improving technical capacity (modeling infrastructure, workflows, and potentially data integration and computational methods). A later phase integrates relevant data examples with a natural resource application focus, demonstrating applied value with real datasets and example analyses.

Is this opportunity focused on academic research only?

No. While it involves research and modeling advancement, it is framed around practical management needs and explicitly aims to produce decision support tools usable by DOI land and resource managers.

What type of award is this (grant, contract, cooperative agreement)?

This is a cooperative agreement, offered as a discretionary funding opportunity.

What does it mean that this award is a cooperative agreement?

The opportunity notes that a cooperative agreement typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project, such as collaboration on methods, data, milestones, and deliverables (as opposed to a more hands-off relationship).

What is the activity category for this opportunity?

The activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The associated CFDA number is 15.808, labeled as U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection.

How many awards were anticipated?

The opportunity anticipated a single award.

What was the estimated total funding amount?

The estimated total funding amount listed is $35,307.

Is cost sharing or matching required?

No cost sharing or matching requirement is listed in the notice.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is limited to partners within the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. Applicants must already be participating Rocky Mountain CESU partners; it is not an open opportunity for the general applicant pool.

What is a CESU partnership in this context?

CESUs are structured partnerships designed to provide research, technical assistance, and education for federal land and resource management agencies. This opportunity is tied specifically to the Rocky Mountain CESU.

When was the opportunity posted and when did it close?

The posting date was June 5, 2014. The original and current closing date was June 17, 2014.

When was the opportunity archived?

The archive date listed is September 5, 2014.

Where was the opportunity information hosted?

The general opportunity information was hosted through Grants.gov.

Who is the contact for access issues or questions about the full announcement?

The contact listed is Faith Graves. Phone: 703-648-7356. Email: fgraves@usgs.gov.

What is the intended outcome for DOI managers?

The intended outcome is improved decision support capability: modeling outputs and workflows that can be repeated, updated, and applied across different species and landscapes to support real land and resource management decisions within the Department of the Interior.