Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), Great Lakes Northern Forests | G17AS00068

Opportunity Information: Apply for G17AS00068

The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), Great Lakes Northern Forests funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G17AS00068) is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) discretionary research grant offered through the Department of the Interior. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning the project is expected to involve collaboration with USGS rather than functioning as a purely independent research grant. The opportunity was posted on May 30, 2017, with an original closing date of June 16, 2017, and anticipated making a single award with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $140,000. The activity falls under Science and Technology and other Research and Development (CFDA 15.808). Eligibility is limited to CESU partners under the Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU network, with the notice indicating that applicants should refer to the additional eligibility information for specifics.

The central purpose of the award is to support research on carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) stocks and fluxes in Alaskan aquatic ecosystems, with a focus on how these greenhouse gases are stored and released across freshwater environments. In practical terms, the project is meant to improve scientific understanding of greenhouse gas emissions and cycling in Alaska at a time when rapid environmental change is altering landscapes and water systems. The funding is explicitly intended to cover the support of a graduate student along with other necessary resources, materials, and research activities that enable model verification and regional analysis.

A major component of the project is biogeochemistry model verification and improvement. The opportunity emphasizes using data and targeted methods development to test, validate, and refine biogeochemical models that represent CO2 and CH4 processes. Beyond model checking, the work is also expected to simulate changes in both land and aquatic ecosystems, recognizing that shifts on land (for example, thawing permafrost, changing vegetation, or altered drainage) can strongly affect the chemistry, biology, and hydrology of nearby waters. The intended outcome is not only better models, but also the ability to run regional simulations that estimate greenhouse gas emissions across broader Alaskan landscapes, rather than at only a single field site.

The research objectives focus on anticipating how greenhouse gas budgets in Alaskan freshwaters may change as the state experiences dynamic transitions in ecosystem area, structure, and function. The first objective asks how CO2 and CH4 budgets of Alaskan freshwater ecosystems could shift under ongoing or emerging changes, and it specifically seeks identification of the primary drivers behind those shifts. This frames the work around budget thinking: not just measuring emissions in isolation, but understanding the balance of sources, sinks, storage, and transport processes that determine whether waters become stronger emitters or potentially change in other directions under new conditions.

The second objective connects greenhouse gas changes directly to surface hydrology. It asks how potential shifts in CO2 and CH4 budgets relate to increasing wetness and to the distribution and type of wetlands and water bodies. This includes attention to systems such as thermokarst lakes, which form and evolve when ice-rich permafrost thaws and the ground subsides, often creating water-filled depressions. Because thermokarst and expanding wet areas can substantially alter oxygen availability, organic matter breakdown, and microbial activity, they are especially relevant for methane production and release. By tying budgets to hydrologic change, the opportunity signals a need to link greenhouse gas dynamics to physical landscape processes such as inundation, drainage reorganization, and wetland/lake expansion or contraction.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted research award to a CESU partner organization to build capacity (including graduate training) and produce actionable scientific outputs: validated or improved biogeochemical models, new or refined research methods, and regional-scale simulations that clarify how Alaska’s changing freshwater systems may influence CO2 and CH4 emissions. The scope is applied and forward-looking, aiming to anticipate greenhouse gas responses to climate-driven ecosystem and hydrologic transformation, with results that can support broader USGS science priorities related to carbon cycling and environmental change.

• The Department of the Interior, Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), Great Lakes Northern Forests" 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 30, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 16, 2017. (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 $140,000.00 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 G17AS00068

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: