Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00368

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00368

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), through its Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK), is offering a discretionary financial assistance opportunity in the form of a cooperative agreement to support research focused on ungulate genetics in national parks. The main purpose of the project is to improve scientific understanding of mountain ungulate populations, specifically by strengthening the ability to characterize population structure, movement patterns, and population trends. The work is framed as applied research that will directly support natural resource management needs in park settings, particularly where managers need better information to make decisions about conservation, recreation, and visitor use in landscapes shared across jurisdictional boundaries.

A central feature of this opportunity is collaboration. Because it is a cooperative agreement rather than a standard grant, the project is intended to be carried out with substantial involvement from USGS scientists. CESU partner geneticists and NOROCK research ecologists are expected to work closely with National Park Service partners (and other park collaborators as relevant) to ensure that the research questions, sampling priorities, and analytical methods are aligned with on-the-ground management decisions. The focus is not just on running genetic analyses, but on designing the work in a way that produces interpretable, management-ready information about how populations are connected, how individuals move across the landscape, and how population characteristics change over time.

The scientific approach emphasized in the notice includes prioritizing the most informative biological samples, developing new genetic loci suited to the project objectives, and applying up-to-date genetic and analytical techniques. In practical terms, that means the project may involve evaluating which existing or newly collected samples best answer questions about connectivity and structure, improving the genetic markers used for mountain ungulates, and applying modern population genetic or genomic methods to estimate relatedness, gene flow, and other indicators of population health and dynamics. The opportunity specifically highlights mountain goats and bighorn sheep, and it notes that the resulting genetic context can strengthen other ongoing or future studies of these species by providing a clearer baseline understanding of population boundaries and movement corridors.

Eligibility is limited to entities that are active partners in the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. CESUs are collaborative partnerships designed to provide research, technical assistance, and education in support of federal land and resource management. This means the funding is not broadly open to all institutions; applicants must already be part of the Pacific Northwest CESU network to be considered eligible under this announcement.

Key administrative details include the funding opportunity title "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and the opportunity number G23AS00368. The agency is the Geological Survey, and the assistance is associated with CFDA number 15.808. The award ceiling listed is $23,246, indicating a relatively small, targeted award intended to support a defined piece of collaborative research. The original closing date for applications was June 8, 2023, and the opportunity was created on May 8, 2023.

• 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 Pacific Northwest 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 2023-05-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-08. (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 $23,246.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00368

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