Call for Statements of Interest: Fiscal Year 2020 Research Awards

The Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NE CASC) is pleased to announce a call for statements of interest regarding Fiscal Year 2020 Research Awards. Please note that the eligibility criteria and submission deadline for statements of interest relevant to the Midwest have recently been revised. Read below for details. 

Available funding for the Northeastern region is $800,000-$1,000,000. Funding for individual projects will not exceed $390,000.

Available funding for the Midwestern region is $3,000,000. Funding for individual projects will not exceed $600,000.

A federal-university partnership created to deliver science that helps fish, wildlife, water and land adapt to the impacts of climate change, the NE CASC seeks to do the following:

• Respond to high priority management challenges  
• Foster substantive, sustained engagement between scientists and managers 
• Advance the understanding of the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, water, and land 
• Provide science to support sound resource management and adaptation 

Fiscal Year 2020 awards will support projects that target one or more issues faced by natural and/or cultural resource managers from federal, state, and/or Tribal government, generate knowledge to address that challenge, and engage resource managers in meaningful ways.

Projects may focus on any of the following:

• Expansion, engagement, synthesis, or implementation related to recent or current research initiatives to deliver the best available science to resource managers
• Climate impact science in response to natural or cultural resource management challenge
• Novel research in the design and evaluation of climate adaptation, including anticipatory, autonomous, and planned adaptation.

Northeast Region Submission Eligibility and Process
Principal investigators from either a CASC University Consortium member institution or the U.S. Geological Survey may submit a Statement of Interest for consideration for fiscal year 2020 awards. Parties from other organizations (federal, state, tribal, or other) can participate (and receive funds via sub-award from the principal investigator). Principal Investigators, working in the region and from other CASC University Consortium member institutions, are also eligible.

Statements of interest must be responsive to the NE CASC FY20 Priorities identified by the NE CASC advisory committee and adhere to the proper format and guidelines for statements of interest. Please consult the attachments at the bottom of this page for complete information about the above.  A timeline for the award application process and other details are also provided in the NE CASC FY20 Priorities document.

Please email Statements of Interest to Olivia LeDee, NE CASC deputy federal director, and Michelle Staudinger, NE CASC science coordinator, by 5:00 pm CST on Friday, January 31, 2020. All Statements of Interest must indicate in the subject line that they are responding to the Northeast call. Interested parties should contact Olivia LeDee or Michelle Staudinger with questions. 

Midwest Region Submission Eligibility and Process
As stated in the original call, Principal Investigators from any CASC University Consortium member institution or the U.S. Geological Survey may submit a Statement of Interest for consideration. Parties from other organizations (federal, state, tribal, or other) can participate (and receive funds via sub-award from the principal investigator).  In addition to the above processes (i.e., sub-award via: 1) USGS partner or 2) CASC consortium member), we will consider alternative mechanisms to directly award projects to federal agency partners or non-consortium universities. Please contact Olivia LeDee (oledee@usgs.gov) if you have any additional questions.

Given the number of inquiries related to the Fiscal Year 2020 call for statements of interest for the Midwest CASC region, we are extending the deadline an additional two weeks. Please email Statements of Interest to Olivia LeDee, NE CASC deputy federal director, and Michelle Staudinger , NE CASC science coordinator, by 5:00 pm CST on Friday, February 14, 2020. This extended deadline only applies to projects for the Midwestern region call. The deadline for projects for the Northeastern region remains 5:00 pm CST on Friday, January 31, 2020. If you have already submitted a statement of interest specific to the Midwest and wish to revise or update it, please notify us of your intent to resubmit. 

Please note: An informational webinar was recently held to address the development and submission of statements of interest for these awards. View it by clicking here. The slide presentation for the webinar is attached as a pdf at the bottom of this page.