Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00225

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00225

This opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) cooperative agreement aimed specifically at partners in the Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). The project focuses on research titled "Exploring past and present spawning habitats for native fishes in the Great Lakes to inform restoration and conservation," with coregonines (whitefishes and ciscoes) as the central group of interest. The practical motivation is that many coregonine populations have declined substantially over the last century across the Great Lakes, with some forms now extirpated and others considered extinct, creating an urgent need for defensible, science-based guidance on where and how restoration or protection efforts should be targeted.

The work is positioned within a larger, multi-partner planning effort known as the Coregonine Restoration Framework (CRF), which USGS has been developing alongside Tribal and First Nations partners, state and provincial agencies, and universities. A key component of the CRF is a "gap analysis" that compares historical versus contemporary distributions of coregonine populations and the habitats they use, especially spawning habitat. In other words, the project is trying to identify where these fish used to occur and spawn, where they occur and spawn today, and where mismatches exist that could signal high-priority opportunities for conservation or restoration.

The research described emphasizes integrating historical and present-day information and translating it into useful spatial products. That includes collecting and analyzing historical and contemporary datasets, developing predictive models, and producing maps that depict likely areas of coregonine occurrence and spawning locations over time. A major deliverable conceptually is the comparison between historical and contemporary maps and datasets, so that managers can see where spawning habitat may still exist even if coregonines have disappeared, where populations have persisted over decades, and where species may now be found in places they were not historically documented. The intent is not only to build maps, but to make them decision-relevant by delineating areas that align with management needs and restoration strategies.

A defining feature of the award is collaboration: USGS is explicitly seeking to form a strong partnership with CESU-affiliated researchers to address shared questions and to apply modeling and mapping approaches to these restoration planning challenges. Because it is a cooperative agreement (rather than a more hands-off grant), the structure typically implies substantial involvement by the federal scientists in shaping, coordinating, or jointly executing the work, consistent with CESU’s broader purpose of linking agencies and research institutions for applied science, technical assistance, and education.

The anticipated users of the results are broad and include scientists and natural resource managers working at federal, state, Indigenous, and provincial levels who are responsible for sustaining Great Lakes fishery resources. The products are meant to support on-the-ground decisions about where to focus conservation protection, habitat rehabilitation, and potential restoration actions for culturally, ecologically, and economically important native fishes.

Key administrative details from the notice include: the funding opportunity number is G23AS00225; the agency is the USGS; the instrument type is a cooperative agreement; the activity area is science and technology and other research and development; the CFDA number listed is 15.808; eligibility is limited to partners of the Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU; the opportunity was created on 2023-02-02 with an original closing date of 2023-03-02; and the listed award ceiling is $96,954.

• 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 Forests 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 2023-02-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-03-02. (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 $96,954.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00225

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