Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU | G20AS00135

Opportunity Information: Apply for G20AS00135

This grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G20AS00135) is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) within the Department of the Interior, specifically through the National Wildlife Health Center. It is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) network, Rocky Mountain CESU, and is intended for an eligible CESU partner organization (the eligibility field lists "Others," with the key limitation being that applicants must qualify under the CESU partnership requirements referenced in the full announcement). The program sits in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category and is associated with CFDA number 15.808.

The focus of the project is practical, decision-support science around wildlife fungal diseases. USGS is looking for support in developing models that improve understanding and management of fungal pathogens affecting wildlife, with explicit attention to high-profile and highly consequential diseases such as white-nose syndrome in bats, salamander chytridiomycoses (chytrid-related diseases affecting amphibians), and snake fungal disease. The underlying problem the opportunity addresses is that fungal pathogens can emerge or re-emerge quickly, spread across landscapes, and drive steep population declines, sometimes threatening whether a species can persist at all. Wildlife managers and other decision makers are often forced to choose interventions or management strategies before the full ecology of a disease is understood, so better analytical tools and modeling approaches can make those decisions more defensible and more effective.

A central piece of the work described is the analysis and synthesis of existing data to quantify how fungal pathogens influence wildlife demographic rates and broader community composition. In practice, that means pulling together and evaluating information on survival, reproduction, population growth, and other vital rates in affected species, and then connecting those patterns to bigger ecological outcomes, such as which species or populations may be at highest risk of local extinction and which may show resistance or tolerance. That kind of synthesis is positioned as an essential step for building models that can be used to forecast impacts, compare scenarios, and guide management actions for fungal disease threats in wildlife systems.

The opportunity anticipates a single award with an award ceiling of $47,000. The original posting date was August 5, 2020, with an original closing date of August 19, 2020. Overall, the grant is aimed at producing actionable modeling capacity grounded in synthesized evidence, helping translate fragmented disease data into clearer predictions and management-relevant insights for fungal diseases that are already reshaping wildlife conservation priorities.

• The Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain 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 Aug 05, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 19, 2020. (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 $47,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for G20AS00135

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