Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU | G19AS00054

Opportunity Information: Apply for G19AS00054

This grant opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G19AS00054), was offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) within the Department of the Interior as a discretionary cooperative agreement focused on science and technology research and development (CFDA 15.808). The core purpose of the award was to support collaborative research with a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) partner examining the hydroclimatic history of south-central Alaska from the late Pleistocene to the present. The work centers on reconstructing how climate and water conditions have changed over thousands of years, using lake sediment records as natural archives of past environmental conditions.

The project sits inside a larger USGS effort led by personnel at the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center (GECSC) in Denver, Colorado, under the broader initiative "Holocene Hydroclimate of Western North America." Within that umbrella, USGS researchers are pursuing multiple lake and wetland sediment studies in Alaska to better understand long-term relationships among climate, environmental change, and water resources. A key emphasis is the use of isotope-based proxies derived from environmental water signals preserved in sediments. These isotope methods can provide detailed clues about past precipitation, evaporation, temperature influences, and broader hydroclimate variability over time, but the program description notes that additional technical support is needed to carry out and interpret these specialized analyses.

The funded partner was expected to work directly with USGS scientists in a hands-on, integrated way rather than operating as an independent contractor. The description highlights participation across the full research workflow, including field work (likely involving lake or wetland coring and sample collection), laboratory-oriented sedimentological, geochemical, and isotopic analyses, and the downstream steps of data processing, interpretation, and publication. The opportunity also emphasizes interdisciplinary problem solving across multiple temporal and spatial scales, reflecting the reality that reconstructing paleohydrology and paleoclimate typically requires combining methods and perspectives from geology, geochemistry, climatology, hydrology, and related fields.

An explicit workforce development component is included as well. The cooperative agreement was framed to support training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, with the expectation that students would gain experience in field techniques, analytical methods, and scientific communication through collaboration with USGS GECSC researchers. In practical terms, this kind of arrangement often results in shared field campaigns, joint datasets, coauthored publications, and mentoring relationships that help students build technical skills in sediment core handling, proxy development, isotope interpretation, and research writing.

In terms of basic award logistics, the opportunity listed an award ceiling of $20,000 with one expected award. It was created on May 6, 2019, with an original closing date of May 20, 2019. Eligibility was limited to CESU partners (the listing identifies eligible applicants as "Others" with clarification in the full eligibility text), meaning it was not broadly open to the general public or all institutions, but targeted to organizations already participating in the CESU network.

• 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, Great Basin 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, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 20, 2019. (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 $20,000.00 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 G19AS00054

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