Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G21AS00528

Opportunity Information: Apply for G21AS00528

This funding opportunity (G21AS00528) is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) through its National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC). It is designed to support research that helps set or refine future research agendas in two social science areas that NCASC considers central to its mission. The overall aim is not simply to produce another standalone study, but to generate well-justified recommendations about what research topics should be prioritized next, so that the Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) and their partners can target work that is most useful for real-world climate adaptation decisions.

The opportunity focuses on two related themes. The first is ecosystem services research, meaning research on the benefits people receive from nature, such as water purification, flood protection, carbon storage, recreational opportunities, and culturally important landscapes and species. USGS highlights that climate change is already altering these services, and that decision makers need clearer information about how those changes affect available adaptation choices. A central idea here is that ecosystem service management can sometimes be an adaptation strategy in itself, but only if agencies understand when it will be effective, what tradeoffs it creates, and how those outcomes might shift under different climate scenarios.

The second theme is research on the social and economic value of information. This area asks a practical question: how valuable is climate-related information to the people and institutions making decisions, and how can that value be measured or demonstrated? In an applied climate adaptation context, this can include evaluating how improved forecasts, risk assessments, decision-support tools, or monitoring data change decisions, reduce costs, avoid damages, or improve ecological and community outcomes. The emphasis is on understanding the benefits of information as an input to decision making, including the social and economic dimensions of why certain information gets used (or ignored), what barriers exist, and what kinds of products or delivery methods actually help stakeholders act.

The stated research objectives are straightforward and agenda-setting in nature: first, identify high-priority research topics related to ecosystem services; second, identify high-priority research topics related to the social and economic value of information. In practice, a strong response would be expected to synthesize existing knowledge, identify gaps, and recommend a structured set of research questions or programmatic priorities that NCASC and the broader CASC network could pursue. Because the solicitation ties these topics to stakeholder agency decision making, the intended output is likely something that translates cleanly into actionable research directions, potentially including a rationale for why each priority matters, who would use the results, and what decisions or management contexts the research would support.

This award is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, which is a partnership framework used by federal agencies to obtain research, technical assistance, and education services from participating institutions. The cooperative agreement format typically implies substantial involvement by the federal partner during the project, such as collaboration on project direction, deliverables, coordination with stakeholders, or iterative review. Eligibility is limited to organizations that are already participating partners in the Great Lakes-Northern Forest CESU. In other words, it is not open to the general public or to institutions outside that CESU partnership network.

Key administrative details include a maximum award amount (award ceiling) of $220,000, with the opportunity published on May 24, 2021, and an original closing date of June 24, 2021. The listed assistance listing number is CFDA 15.808, and the activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development. In summary, this opportunity funds CESU партнер research that helps NCASC and the CASCs decide what social science research to prioritize next, specifically around ecosystem services under climate change and around understanding and quantifying the value of climate information for decisions and outcomes.

• 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 2021-05-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-06-24. (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 $220,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G21AS00528

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