Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

This grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 08HQPA0050), offered by the U.S. Geological Survey under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, supports a focused science and technology project centered on South Florida land use planning and ecosystem impacts. The award is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning the work is expected to be carried out with close involvement and collaboration with the federal sponsor rather than as a hands-off grant. The funding level is fixed at $25,000 total, with one anticipated award, and there is no cost sharing or matching requirement.

The core purpose of the project is to implement and deploy a web-enabled, GIS-based scenario tool designed to help evaluate how different land use and development choices affect South Florida ecosystem functions. The tool is meant to bring multiple dimensions into a single decision-support environment by integrating ecological information (such as ecosystem functions and environmental outcomes) with socioeconomic measures and quality-of-life values. Rather than focusing only on biophysical impacts, the project explicitly emphasizes incorporating quality-of-life indicators so that community priorities and human well-being considerations are part of how scenarios are compared and discussed. In practical terms, the goal is to make it easier to examine tradeoffs and co-benefits across environmental, social, and related dimensions when considering growth, development patterns, or land management decisions.

A key feature of the effort is usability for a wide range of real-world stakeholders. The scenario tool is envisioned as something that can be used not just by researchers, but by land use planners, emergency managers, developers, environmental organizations, and members of the public. By making the tool web-enabled and GIS-based, the project aims to support broader access to map-driven scenario exploration, helping users visualize and evaluate potential outcomes of different land use choices. The public-facing aspect is important: the description emphasizes enabling public decision-making that can benefit both environmental goals and community needs, suggesting the tool is intended to support transparency, shared understanding, and more informed civic participation around land use change.

This opportunity also represents a continuation phase that builds on existing work and relationships. The announcement notes that the effort will build on current collaborations while developing future partnerships tied to local and related data collections. It also calls out indicator conceptualization and modeling research activities, indicating that part of the work involves refining what indicators should be used (especially quality-of-life measures), how they are defined, and how they are modeled within the scenario tool so that outputs are meaningful and defensible. In other words, it is not only about building a software interface, but also about strengthening the underlying indicator framework and analytical methods that drive scenario evaluations.

Eligibility is limited to organizations that are already participating partners of the Rocky Mountains CESU Program. CESUs are collaborative networks designed to connect federal agencies with universities, nonprofits, and other partners to deliver research, technical assistance, and education. Because this opportunity is issued under the CESU mechanism, applicants must fall within that established partnership framework to be considered eligible. The funding activity category is listed as science and technology and other research and development, and the CFDA number associated with the program is 15.808 (U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection).

The opportunity was originally posted on September 4, 2008, with an application deadline of September 11, 2008, and it was later archived on October 11, 2008. The listed point of contact for access issues is Faith Graves, Contract Specialist, at 703-648-7356.

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Next opportunity: Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI)

Previous opportunity: THE EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT OF THE NATIONAL COOPERATIVE GEOLOGIC MAPPING PROGRAM (EDMAP)

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