Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G22AS00416

Opportunity Information: Apply for G22AS00416

This funding opportunity is a US Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement intended for a partner organization that is already affiliated with the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). The project focus is on advanced, field-based and laboratory research to understand how sediment-dwelling meiofaunal communities (small benthic invertebrates living between sediment grains) are changing in the deep Gulf of Mexico in areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The core idea is to compare meiofaunal community structure and dynamics between locations designated as impacted zones and locations designated as reference zones, with the goal of building a clearer picture of disturbance effects, ongoing environmental change, and how these deep-sea systems may recover over time.

The work is being led on the USGS side by the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC) in Gainesville, Florida, and is framed as research and technical assistance supporting the broader Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Community Restoration effort, specifically a sediment meiofaunal community assessment tied to a Habitat Assessment and Evaluation Project. In practical terms, the award supports the kind of monitoring and ecological assessment needed to inform restoration planning and adaptive management, where agencies need defensible biological indicators to evaluate conditions before, during, and after restoration actions. USGS notes that this work is coordinated with NOAA and other state and federal partners, reflecting the multi-agency nature of long-term Gulf restoration and the need for shared methods and comparable data.

Applicants are expected to bring specialized capability for deep-sea sediment sampling and for processing samples to quantify and identify meiofaunal communities. That includes collecting sediment cores or comparable samples from deep benthic environments, extracting meiofauna, identifying organisms (often requiring high taxonomic expertise and consistent QA/QC), and generating metrics that can be tracked through time. Beyond documenting what is present, the project emphasizes developing or applying best practices for monitoring change, detecting trends, and improving the ability to forecast recovery trajectories in impacted deep-sea habitats. The overall intent is not just a snapshot study, but a structured assessment that can separate spill-related impacts from background variability and other ongoing stressors.

The anticipated timeline is multi-year and staged: up to three years of field sampling followed by roughly two additional years devoted to analysis and synthesis. That structure signals that USGS expects repeated observations across years, followed by comprehensive interpretation, reporting, and integration into restoration decision-making. Because this is a cooperative agreement, substantial involvement by USGS is implied, meaning the recipient will likely coordinate closely with USGS scientists on study design, field plans, methods, data management, interpretation, and deliverables rather than operating as a fully independent contractor.

Key administrative details from the notice include the opportunity number G22AS00416, the funding instrument type (Cooperative Agreement), and the activity category (Science and Technology and other Research and Development). The CFDA (assistance listing) number is 15.808, and the program is explicitly tied to the CESU framework, which exists to streamline collaborative research, technical assistance, and education partnerships between federal agencies and eligible institutions. Eligibility is limited to organizations that are official partners within the Great Basin CESU, and the original application closing date listed is August 25, 2022. The stated award ceiling is up to $1,000,000, indicating the scale of effort expected for deep-sea fieldwork, specialized taxonomy, and multi-year analysis supporting Gulf restoration priorities.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" 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 2022-07-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-08-25. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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