Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
Funds research by an eligible Great Rivers CESU partner to develop and test passive hydrodynamic ichthyoplankton samplers for detecting invasive carp eggs and larvae in rivers.
⚑ Applicant must be a participating partner of the Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). · Cooperative Agreement under USGS CESU; award ceiling is $300,000.
This is a fisheries/engineering applied biology project on invasive carp sampling technology, with no social-science, risk-perception, policy, or public-opinion component. It is outside IPPRA’s core research lines and would not plausibly be pursued by this team as PI-level work.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-11-06
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 65 good | technical depth: central; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 45 partial | portfolio topic: environment (primary); social/behavioral work is none; funds applied research; university can only partner, not lead; capped at 45 (limited social-science role) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 45 partial | funds applied research; prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a Great Rivers CESU partner for research to develop and test hydrodynamically based, passive ichthyoplankton samplers for capture of downstream-drifting invasive carp eggs and larvae in rivers.
Invasive carp–bighead ( Hypophthalmichthys nobilis ) silver ( H. molitrix ), grass ( Ctenopharyngodon idella ), and black ( Mylopharyngodon piceus ) carp–are native to Southeast Asia and have spread throughout much of the Mississippi River Basin since their escape from private, wastewater, and aquaculture ponds in the 1980's. Technologies allowing for early detection of these species, especially evidence of natural reproduction, are needed by state and federal agencies throughout the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins to control the spread of invasive carp and assess risk to uninvaded waters. Invasive carp can make long-distance spawning migrations upriver from adult population fronts to uninvaded waters to spawn. As such, ichthyoplankton may be the first evidence of invasive carp in uninvaded waters
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 Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: Geological Survey <katherine_calder@ios.doi.gov>
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