Cooperative Ecoystem Studies Unit, Piedmont South Atlantic Coast | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

This funding opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Piedmont South Atlantic Coast" (Funding Opportunity Number G15AS00057), was issued by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) under its Southeast Ecological Science Center in Davie, Florida. It is a discretionary research opportunity offered through a cooperative agreement, meaning the award is intended to support a research project where the federal agency typically expects to have substantial involvement or collaboration during the work. The opportunity falls under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category and is associated with CFDA 15.808 (U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection). The program’s core aim is to advance conservation science by applying genetic tools to better understand threatened and endangered sea turtle populations across a broad geographic range.

The project focus is genetic analysis of a large existing collection of sea turtle biological samples. The dataset consists of skin (tissue) and blood samples collected from sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean. These samples were accumulated through intensive sampling efforts spanning multiple species and populations, and they are linked to prior field studies such as nest monitoring and mark-recapture research. Those earlier studies provide baseline or preliminary information on population abundance, reproductive characteristics, and indications of how groups might be connected, but they do not fully resolve questions about population structure and movement across regions. The genetic work supported by this grant is intended to build on that foundation by extracting more definitive information from the sample archive.

A central scientific goal highlighted in the announcement is to estimate effective population size for the sampled sea turtle assemblages. Effective population size is a genetics-based measure that reflects how many individuals are contributing genes to the next generation, and it can be different from simple headcounts because it is influenced by breeding patterns, unequal reproductive success, and population structure. Understanding effective population size is especially important for threatened and endangered species because it helps managers gauge genetic diversity, vulnerability to inbreeding, and the longer-term resilience of populations. In addition, the opportunity emphasizes determining connectivity among groups, which in this context means clarifying how sea turtle populations or nesting assemblages are related and how individuals or their genes move among regions. Connectivity information can directly inform conservation strategies such as identifying key nesting beaches, understanding the importance of specific foraging areas, and coordinating management across jurisdictions and international boundaries.

The opportunity was designed specifically for institutions that are already part of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network, and eligibility is limited to participating partners of the Piedmont South Atlantic Coast CESU Program. CESUs are structured partnerships that link federal agencies with universities, nonprofits, and other organizations to provide research, technical assistance, and education aligned with natural resource management needs. In practical terms, that means an applicant must be an approved CESU partner within that specific regional CESU to apply, rather than a general open competition for any academic or nonprofit entity.

Financially, the announcement lists an estimated total funding amount of $19,000 and anticipates a single award (Expected Awards: 1). No cost sharing or matching is required, which lowers the barrier for eligible partners to participate because applicants do not need to contribute additional non-federal funds to be competitive. The notice does not specify an award ceiling or floor (both shown as 0), which typically indicates that the agency did not set formal bounds in the public synopsis beyond the estimated total funding level and would define the final amount through the proposal and negotiation process within that overall estimate.

Key dates in the public record show the opportunity was posted and created on March 23, 2015, with an original and current closing date of June 7, 2015, and an archive date of June 23, 2015. While the listing is archived and therefore not currently open, the summary still provides a clear snapshot of USGS priorities at the time: leveraging existing long-term monitoring and sample collections and applying genetic analyses to answer management-relevant questions about population size, structure, and connectivity for protected sea turtle species.

For further details, the announcement directs applicants to Grants.gov as the primary source for the full notice and application requirements. The contact person provided for access issues or questions is Faith Graves (phone 703-648-7356, email fgraves@usgs.gov).

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