Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner Great Lakes – Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) | G22AS00244

Opportunity Information: Apply for G22AS00244

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), through its Great Lakes Science Center, announced a discretionary funding opportunity to support a focused research project in Lake Huron. The project centers on sampling larval and juvenile lake whitefish in nearshore habitats, with the goal of improving scientific understanding of two closely related issues during early life stages: how many larvae are present (larval density) and whether the food resources they rely on are available in sufficient quantity and quality. Because survival and growth during the larval and juvenile periods can strongly influence year-class strength and longer-term population trends, the work is aimed at generating information that can help explain recruitment variability and inform fisheries and ecosystem management in the Great Lakes.

The award is offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning it is a financial assistance mechanism designed for projects where substantial involvement by the federal agency is expected during the performance of the work. In practical terms, this typically implies active collaboration between the USGS scientific team and the recipient partner on elements such as study design, field sampling approaches, data management, interpretation, and dissemination of results, rather than the recipient operating fully independently under a standard grant.

This opportunity is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, specifically the Great Lakes - Northern Forest CESU. CESUs are established partnerships intended to streamline and strengthen collaborative research, technical assistance, and educational activities among federal agencies, universities, and other partner organizations. A key feature of this solicitation is eligibility: applicants must already be participating partners within the Great Lakes - Northern Forest CESU network. The eligible applicant category is listed as "Others," but that designation is constrained by the CESU membership requirement, so the competition is not open to the general public or to organizations outside the relevant CESU partnership.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number G22AS00244 and falls under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category. The associated CFDA (now commonly referenced through Assistance Listings) number is 15.808, indicating it is within the USGS assistance portfolio. The posting was created on February 25, 2022, and the original application closing date was March 25, 2022. The maximum federal funding amount (award ceiling) is $82,000. The expected number of awards is not clearly specified in the provided source text, but the description frames it as a single new research project being offered to a CESU partner.

Overall, the grant opportunity supports applied fisheries and ecosystem research in the Great Lakes, with a specific emphasis on nearshore ecology and the early life history of lake whitefish. By pairing measurements of larval and juvenile abundance with indicators of food availability during these vulnerable stages, the project is designed to produce actionable scientific insight into the conditions that support or limit young fish survival in Lake Huron.

• 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 Great Lakes – Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)" 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 2022-02-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-03-25. (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 $82,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G22AS00244

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