Cooperative Ecoystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G15AS00039) was a US Geological Survey (USGS) Western Geographic Science Center (WGSC) funding call designed to support applied research that strengthens tsunami evacuation planning in high-population coastal hazard zones. The core goal was to improve methods for modeling and mapping primary evacuation route corridors, identify evacuation "hotspots" where demand and movement concentrate, and pinpoint landscape constraints that could slow, block, or complicate evacuations. The geographic focus was the US Pacific coast from northern California through Oregon and up to Washington, building directly on existing USGS evacuation modeling efforts already underway in that region. The idea was to move beyond general hazard awareness and produce practical, spatially explicit outputs that emergency managers can use to plan, prioritize, and coordinate evacuation strategies.

The work envisioned under this opportunity centered on identifying where people are most likely to travel during a tsunami evacuation, which routes or corridors function as the main pathways to safety, and what real-world features might limit those routes. "Landscape constraints" in this context includes elements such as limited bridge crossings, bottlenecks on roads or trails, steep terrain, vegetation that slows movement, or other physical barriers that affect how quickly large numbers of people can reach higher ground or safe zones. Importantly, the opportunity also encouraged factoring potential landscape improvements into the modeling, such as adding or upgrading bridges, improving connectivity, or vegetation management that could meaningfully increase evacuation capacity or reduce travel times. This makes the research both diagnostic (what the constraints are) and forward-looking (how conditions could be improved).

A key feature of the project was integrating evacuation modeling outputs with demographic and economic data to estimate and describe population demand across different evacuation corridors. In practical terms, that means combining modeled movement patterns with information about who lives, works, or visits the hazard zones, how many people may need to evacuate, where they start from, and which routes they are likely to use. This integration supports a clearer understanding of which corridors are most critical, which areas might experience the most congestion, and where planning or infrastructure investments could deliver the biggest gains in life safety. The final products were intended to be spatially explicit (map-based and geographically detailed) so they could plug into planning workflows and decision-making at local and state levels.

From an administrative standpoint, this was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement, meaning the award structure typically implies substantial involvement or collaboration with the federal agency during the project rather than a hands-off grant. The funding activity category was listed as science and technology and other research and development, consistent with a modeling and applied research effort. USGS anticipated making one award, with an estimated total funding amount of $26,750. No cost sharing or matching requirement was indicated. The award ceiling and floor were both listed as $0, which usually reflects that a specific cap was not formally stated in that field even though an estimated total amount was provided.

Eligibility was limited to partners in the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. CESUs are established partnerships that connect federal agencies with universities, research institutions, and other partner organizations to deliver research, technical assistance, and education. In this case, applicants needed to be participating partners of the Great Basin CESU to be eligible, rather than the opportunity being open to all institutions generally.

In terms of timing, the opportunity was posted on March 16, 2015, with an original closing date of March 30, 2015, later extended to a current closing date of April 17, 2015. It was archived on June 16, 2015. The CFDA number associated with the program was 15.808 (US Geological Survey Research and Data Collection). The funding announcement directed applicants to Grants.gov for additional details and provided a USGS contact for access issues: Faith Graves (703-648-7356, fgraves@usgs.gov). Overall, the opportunity was aimed at producing actionable evacuation corridor intelligence that strengthens ongoing collaboration between USGS and state emergency management agencies and supports local, state, and federal tsunami preparedness and response planning.

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