Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
USGS will fund a CESU-partner research project to develop an enhanced gene-expression panel for distinguishing environmental stressors in indicator species to support ecosystem monitoring and management decisions.
⚑ Eligible applicant must be a participating partner of the California Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). · Cooperative agreement instrument. · Award ceiling is $35,000.
This is a biological/ecosystem monitoring and gene-expression methods project with a USGS wildlife/oceans focus, not a social-behavioral risk, policy, survey, warning, or education-evaluation line. The team might understand the public-health framing, but none of the named researchers’ programs center on genomics, marine species monitoring, or biomedical environmental assays.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-10-15
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 55 good | technical depth: substantial; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 45 partial | portfolio topics: environment, public_health (primary); social/behavioral work is none; funds applied research; university can only partner, not lead; biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped); capped at 45 (limited social-science role) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 30 weak | funds applied research; deep-tech content |
Description
The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to develop an enhanced gene expression panel with the ability to differentiate among several unique stressors that can potentially affect population and ecosystem health. This research will contribute to the development of ecosystem monitoring programs. Focal species include Californian sea lions, sea otters, salmon, longfin smelt, mussels, and clams. This project directly supports Department of the Interior and Administration priorities related to ecosystem resilience, restoration, public health preparedness, and scientific integrity. Specifically, the proposed work aligns with Executive Order (EO) 14303 – Restoring Gold Standard Science (May 23, 2025); and Secretarial Order (SO) 3399 Department-Wide Approach to the Climate Crisis and Data-Driven Decision-Making. The project will generate actionable scientific information to support management decisions, early warning systems, and ecosystem recovery efforts.
Eligibility
This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Program. CESU's are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit.
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View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Geological Survey <katherine_calder@ios.doi.gov>
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