Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) | G25AS00346

Opportunity Information: Apply for G25AS00346

This opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement intended specifically for an affiliated partner within the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). The project focuses on practical, science-driven support for Great Lakes coastal ecosystem restoration, with USGS and the selected CESU partner working side by side to improve understanding of key stressors affecting nearshore and coastal environments. The larger purpose is to generate information that resource managers can use to make better decisions, especially around restoring native fish populations and managing the recurring nuisance alga Cladophora. Central to the work is teasing apart how Cladophora growth is shaped by nutrients, light, invasive dreissenid mussels (such as zebra and quagga mussels), and interactions with native fish communities across the Great Lakes basin.

The award is designed to support work for up to four years and is framed around building both monitoring and modeling capacity. The project has three tightly linked goals. First, it aims to expand capacity for using environmental DNA (eDNA) tools to detect species that are either beneficial (for example, native fish of restoration interest) or potentially harmful (such as newly arriving invasive species). Second, it supports continuing benthic (lake-bottom) data collection while also improving the types and consistency of field data needed to develop stronger predictive models. Third, it advances hydrodynamic model development so that eDNA detections can be interpreted in context: understanding how water movement, mixing, and nearshore transport influence where DNA signals show up and how nuisance or invasive aquatic species may spread.

This cooperative agreement builds directly on earlier work that has been underway since 2018, where Cladophora abundance has been tracked at sentinel sites. That earlier monitoring has already shown meaningful relationships between Cladophora biomass and factors like light availability, nutrient conditions, and the presence of invasive dreissenid mussels. Those datasets are not just academic; they have been used by Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Task Teams and by ecosystem modeling groups, which signals that the information is already feeding into regional coordination and management conversations. The new work proposed here is meant to complement and extend those efforts by pairing traditional surveys with newer molecular tools like eDNA, improving both the ability to assess native fish communities and the early detection of species that could become future ecological or economic threats.

A major scientific theme in the description is connecting biological observations to physical and chemical coastal processes, especially in nearshore zones where conditions can change quickly over short distances. The opportunity highlights current efforts to integrate ecological factors through chemical and biophysical modeling, including approaches that account for differences between nutrients in surface waters and nutrients concentrated near the bottom in a benthic boundary layer. By extending these concepts to additional Great Lakes, including urban coastal regions and other heavily impacted areas with frequent Cladophora overgrowth, the project is expected to improve understanding of how nuisance and harmful algae are transported, where they persist, and how habitat conditions influence these outcomes. In practical terms, the resulting datasets and models are expected to support more reliable forecasts of Cladophora growth, clarify how dreissenid mussels alter nutrient cycling in ways that can encourage algal resurgence, and identify management-relevant opportunities to improve habitat for native fish communities.

The opportunity also makes clear that data quality and usability for decision-making are non-negotiable. Before work begins, the recipient is expected to submit a summary of quality assurance procedures and considerations for each project element to USGS for review and approval. This requirement is intended to ensure that the generated data are suitable for federal and state decision-making contexts, where methods, documentation, and defensibility matter.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning substantial involvement and collaboration with USGS is implied rather than a hands-off grant. The opportunity number is G25AS00346 under CFDA 15.808, categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development. Eligibility is limited to participating partners of the Great Lakes-Northern Forest CESU Program. The posting lists an award ceiling of $493,039 and a closing date of 2025-09-22, with the USGS (Geological Survey) as the issuing agency.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (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 2025-08-22.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-22. (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 $493,039.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G25AS00346

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