Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Chesapeake Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00403

FAQs: USGS CESU Cooperative Agreement (Chesapeake Watershed CESU) - Funding Opportunity G23AS00403

1) What agency is offering this funding opportunity?

This opportunity is administered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

2) What type of funding opportunity is this?

It is a discretionary funding opportunity issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, and it is offered as a cooperative agreement rather than a standard grant.

3) What does it mean that this is a cooperative agreement?

Because it is a cooperative agreement, the project is expected to involve substantial collaboration with USGS during the work itself, not only at the end when reporting is submitted. In other words, USGS engagement is intended to be active throughout the project period.

4) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is restricted to organizations that are already participating partners of the Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.

5) Can a new organization apply if it is not currently a Chesapeake Watershed CESU partner?

Based on the information provided, no. The opportunity is restricted to applicants that are participating partners of the Chesapeake Watershed CESU Program.

6) What is the main purpose of this cooperative agreement?

The stated purpose is to strengthen technical capacity and accelerate the creation of practical, decision-ready information that can be used by stakeholders and shared with the public to support management across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

7) What is meant by "decision-ready information" in this context?

Within this opportunity, "decision-ready information" refers to practical information products that stakeholders can use to support management across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and that can also be shared publicly. The emphasis is on usefulness for real-world decision-making rather than purely academic outputs.

8) What are the major goals of the project?

The opportunity is built around three connected goals that are intended to advance together: (1) developing biodiversity mapping tools, (2) improving land use change forecasts, and (3) providing data and assessments related to protected lands.

9) Are the three goals meant to be done one after another?

No. The goals are described as connected and meant to advance together, not sequentially.

10) What kinds of activities fit under the biodiversity mapping tools goal?

The opportunity points to improving how biodiversity is mapped and visualized across the Chesapeake Bay watershed so partners can identify priority habitats, restoration opportunities, and areas where conservation actions are likely to produce the greatest ecological benefit.

11) What is the intent behind improving land use change forecasts?

The intent is to improve the predictive power and usefulness of land change forecasting. The description emphasizes making modeling more accurate and more relevant to real-world planning, such as producing forecasts that are easier for decision makers to interpret, better capturing drivers of development or conservation, or integrating with scenario planning used by watershed partners.

12) What is included in "protected lands" work under this opportunity?

The protected lands component generally includes improving inventories, spatial data, and analyses that describe what lands are protected, the type and durability of protections, and how protected areas contribute to broader watershed goals such as habitat connectivity, water quality protection, or climate resilience.

13) What geographic area does this project focus on?

The project is focused on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

14) What is the CESU Program and why is it used here?

The CESU framework is described as a national network of partnerships intended to deliver research, technical assistance, and education through collaboration among federal agencies and participating partner institutions. This opportunity is issued through that framework to support collaborative work aligned with CESU goals.

15) What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this announcement?

The Funding Opportunity Number is G23AS00403.

16) What is the CFDA number listed for this opportunity?

The CFDA number listed is 15.808.

17) What is the assistance category for this opportunity?

The assistance is categorized under "Science and Technology and other Research and Development."

18) What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The listed award ceiling is $300,000.

19) When was the original closing date listed?

The original closing date provided is July 21, 2023.

20) What kinds of end users are expected to benefit from the project?

The opportunity highlights stakeholders who manage or support management across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and it also emphasizes that information should be suitable for sharing with the public.

21) Is the project expected to support both stakeholder use and public sharing?

Yes. The purpose explicitly includes producing practical information for stakeholders and sharing that information with the public.

22) How does this opportunity relate conservation and restoration decisions to data products?

The described work links data products to management by emphasizing biodiversity mapping to guide conservation and restoration priorities, improved land use change forecasts for planning, and protected lands datasets and assessments that can inform watershed-scale goals.

23) Does the opportunity specify how outputs should be delivered (for example, maps, models, inventories)?

It does not prescribe a single format, but it describes expected areas of work that typically involve map visualization tools for biodiversity, forecasting outputs from land change modeling, and inventories/spatial datasets and assessments for protected lands.