Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Lakes – Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G24AS00242

Opportunity Information: Apply for G24AS00242

This opportunity is a discretionary federal funding announcement from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically the Great Lakes Science Center, issued as a Cooperative Agreement under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) program. The project focus is applied research in science and technology aimed at understanding whether invasive dreissenid mussels (such as zebra and quagga mussels) are harming lake whitefish reproduction by reducing the survival of whitefish eggs. The work is centered on Thunder Bay in Lake Huron and is framed as part of a larger, multi-agency effort that is also looking at whether small-scale mussel control can improve egg survival outcomes.

The core scientific purpose is to estimate lake whitefish egg survival in the field and use those estimates to test a specific hypothesis: that invasive dreissenid mussels reduce egg survival and may therefore be a key driver behind a major decline in lake whitefish yield in Lakes Huron and Michigan. The notice highlights that yields have dropped by more than 50 percent over the last two decades, and the project is positioned as a way to evaluate whether mussel impacts on early life stages could help explain that long-running decline. In practical terms, the funded partner would be contributing research and technical capacity to quantify egg survival and help determine whether the presence and/or management of mussels is linked to better or worse survival rates.

Because this is issued through the CESU mechanism, eligibility is restricted. Applicants must already be participating partners in the Great Lakes - Northern Forests CESU. CESUs are structured partnerships used by federal agencies to obtain research, technical assistance, and education support from affiliated institutions, and this award is explicitly limited to that network rather than open to the general public or all universities.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number G24AS00242 and the CFDA number 15.808, with USGS as the awarding agency. The funding instrument is a Cooperative Agreement, which typically means substantial involvement by USGS scientists or staff in the project (for example, collaboration on study design, field work coordination, data management, analysis, or reporting), rather than a more hands-off relationship common to standard grants. The posted award ceiling is $80,143. The opportunity was created on January 18, 2024, and the original closing date for submissions was February 19, 2024.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Lakes – Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-19. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $80,143.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G24AS00242

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