Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Plains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00048

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00048

This funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G23AS00048) is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically through its Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC). The project sits in the Science and Technology/Research and Development category (CFDA 15.808) and is being issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) framework. In practical terms, that means USGS is looking for a partner institution that is already part of the Great Plains CESU network to collaborate closely with the agency on research rather than simply receiving a standalone grant with minimal federal involvement.

The core focus is radar ornithology, with an emphasis on using mobile X-band polarimetric Doppler weather radar to measure bird activity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The research need is very specific: USGS wants to determine avian densities and traffic rates (how many birds are moving through an area and at what rate) as detected by this mobile radar technology, and then relate those radar-based measurements to on-the-ground habitat use by birds. In other words, the work is about connecting what radar sees in the air to what birds are doing across different habitat types on the landscape, so that radar observations can be interpreted in a biologically meaningful way.

The opportunity highlights three major outcomes USGS wants this work to support. First, it is intended to validate predictive models derived from Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR) data. That implies there are existing or developing models that use established weather radar networks to predict bird movement or density, and this project would provide an evidence-based way to check whether those predictions match what is detected by higher-resolution mobile radar and supported by habitat data. Second, the work is meant to help determine whether and how the US-Mexico border wall and associated lighting infrastructure may be affecting birds. This could include changes in flight paths, altered movement corridors, avoidance behaviors, or broader impacts tied to light pollution and physical barriers in a region used heavily by migratory and resident species. Third, the project is expected to contribute to spatially explicit decision support tools. That phrase generally refers to map-based or GIS-driven products that translate research findings into usable guidance for managers, such as identifying priority areas for habitat acquisition, guiding mitigation strategies, and informing restoration and conservation planning for birds now and in the future.

Eligibility is limited to applicants categorized as "Others" in the listing, with the key restriction that the applicant must be an existing participating partner within the Great Plains CESU Program. Because the award is structured as a cooperative agreement, USGS involvement is typically more hands-on than in a standard grant arrangement, often including substantial collaboration on project design, data needs, deliverables, or interpretation to ensure the research directly supports management priorities.

In terms of basic logistics from the source data provided, the opportunity was created on October 13, 2022, with an original closing date of November 28, 2022. The award ceiling listed is $499,999, and the posting does not specify an expected number of awards in the extracted fields. Overall, the funding is designed to support a CESU-affiliated research partner in producing defensible radar-based estimates of bird movement tied to habitat use, while also generating applied tools and findings that directly inform conservation decisions and infrastructure-impact assessments in a sensitive and strategically important borderland ecosystem.

• 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 Plains 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 2022-10-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-11-28. (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 $499,999.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00048

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