Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU | G20AS00061

Opportunity Information: Apply for G20AS00061

This grant opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Rocky Mountain CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G20AS00061), is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) funding call administered through the Department of the Interior. It is offered by the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NoROCK) and is focused on science and technology research and development under CFDA 15.808. The award is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning the USGS expects to be actively involved with the recipient during the project rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back.

The purpose of the project is to strengthen how researchers and land managers estimate and interpret the prevalence of blister rust in whitebark pine across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Whitebark pine is a high-elevation, ecologically important species, and blister rust is a serious disease affecting its survival and regeneration. The project is centered on improving both model-based and design-based inference, essentially refining the statistical methods used to turn long-term monitoring observations into reliable conclusions that managers can act on. A key feature is that the work builds on an established dataset: long-term monitoring data collected since 2004 in the GYE, providing a rare opportunity to develop and test methods on an extended time series rather than a short study window.

The technical emphasis is on developing or evaluating statistical approaches that can better support management decisions. In the first year, the selected cooperator is expected to explore methods such as Bayesian decision analysis, the possible application of Bayesian multi-state models to estimate transition probabilities, and/or other advanced statistical frameworks that can more effectively represent changes in tree condition and disease status over time. Multi-state approaches are particularly relevant to long-term ecological monitoring because they can represent transitions among states such as healthy, infected, declining, dead, or other condition classes, and then estimate how likely those transitions are under observed conditions. Bayesian decision analysis, in turn, is aimed at connecting uncertainty in the data and models to practical decision-making, helping managers weigh tradeoffs and choose actions even when outcomes are probabilistic.

Collaboration is built into the project design. Statisticians from NoROCK and project cooperators will work closely with the Greater Yellowstone Monitoring Network and the Bureau of Land Management to ensure the resulting analyses align with real resource management needs. The intent is not only methodological improvement for its own sake, but producing clearer, more decision-relevant information for agencies tasked with preserving and managing whitebark pine in the GYE.

In administrative terms, the opportunity was created on May 6, 2020, with an original application closing date of May 22, 2020. The anticipated funding ceiling for the single expected award is $76,788, and the eligibility category is listed as "Others" with additional eligibility details referenced in the full notice. Overall, the opportunity is a targeted, single-award research effort aimed at modernizing and improving inference from long-running monitoring data so that blister rust status and trends in whitebark pine can be estimated more accurately and used more directly in management decisions.

• 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 May 06, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 22, 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 $76,788.00 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 G20AS00061

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