Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forest | Apply Online

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the title and funding opportunity number for this grant?

The opportunity is titled "Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit, Great Lakes Northern Forest" and the Funding Opportunity Number is G11AS20062.

Which federal agency offered this opportunity?

This opportunity was offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), through the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC).

What type of funding mechanism was used (grant vs. cooperative agreement)?

The funding was structured as a cooperative agreement. That typically indicates USGS expected to have an active, collaborative role in the project during the period of performance, rather than only providing funding with minimal involvement.

What was the main purpose of the project?

The core purpose was to develop and integrate new strategies for estimating inland fisheries production using remote sensing, and to pair those approaches with climate projections to forecast future changes in production under regional climate change.

What research area or activity category did this opportunity fall under?

The activity category was listed as "Science and Technology and other Research and Development."

What problem or gap was the opportunity trying to address?

The project targeted a major challenge in inland fisheries: many regions lack reliable, unbiased harvest or production data. At the same time, many environmental conditions linked to productivity (such as temperature, lake area, watershed characteristics, and related ecological drivers) can increasingly be observed or inferred from satellites and other remotely sensed data products. The opportunity emphasized turning those widely available indicators into better estimates of fish production.

How did remote sensing fit into the expected work?

Remote sensing was intended to provide predictors and environmental indicators of productivity that can be observed broadly and consistently. The goal was to develop methods that translate remotely sensed (or otherwise broadly available) environmental information into improved estimates of inland fish production, especially where direct fishery statistics are limited or biased.

How did climate change or climate projections fit into the project?

The project was expected to pair production-estimation approaches with climate model outputs (climate projections) to anticipate how inland fish production might change under future climate scenarios, with an emphasis on regional climate change impacts.

What were the three specific goals described in the announcement?

The announcement described three goals:

1. Develop tools to reduce key knowledge gaps about the current status of inland fisheries and the major drivers shaping them.
2. Develop models that produce potentially less biased fish production estimates while also identifying important predictive variables (improving both estimation and understanding of controls on production).
3. Develop global models that can be applied in data-poor areas where remotely sensed predictors are available but dependable harvest/production statistics are missing or unreliable.

Was the focus meant to be local case studies or scalable/global approaches?

Based on the stated goals, the emphasis was on scalable, transferable modeling approaches with global applicability, particularly for data-poor regions, rather than narrowly local case studies.

How many awards were expected to be made?

The opportunity anticipated a single award.

What was the estimated total funding amount?

The estimated total funding amount listed for the opportunity was $200,000.

Was cost sharing or matching required?

No cost sharing or matching requirement was listed for this opportunity.

Why were the award ceiling and award floor listed as $0?

The award ceiling and floor were listed as $0, which is often a formatting artifact in grants.gov postings and not necessarily an indication that no funding would be provided. The announcement still stated an estimated total funding amount of $200,000 and anticipated a single award.

What CFDA program was associated with this funding?

The CFDA program associated with the funding was 15.808, described as "U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection."

Who was eligible to apply?

Eligibility was limited to organizations that were already participating partners in the Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. This restriction meant the competition was not open to the general public or to all universities by default.

What is a CESU, as described in the announcement context?

CESUs are formal partnerships designed to streamline collaborative research, technical assistance, and educational activities between federal agencies and partner institutions. In this case, only recognized partners within the Great Lakes Northern Forest CESU network were eligible.

Where were full announcement details expected to be found?

The public listing referenced grants.gov for the full announcement details.

What were the key dates for this opportunity?

• Posting date: June 27, 2011
• Creation date: July 13, 2011
• Original closing date: July 11, 2011
• Current closing date: July 21, 2011
• Archive date: September 27, 2011

Why are there two closing dates listed (original and current)?

The announcement listed an original closing date (July 11, 2011) and a current closing date (July 21, 2011), indicating the submission deadline was updated at some point during the posting period.

Is this opportunity still open?

No. The announcement was archived on September 27, 2011, and the latest closing date shown was July 21, 2011.

Who was the contact person for access issues, and how could they be reached?

The contact listed for access issues was Faith Graves at USGS. Phone: 703-648-7356. Email: fgraves@usgs.gov.