Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) | G25AS00183

Opportunity Information: Apply for G25AS00183

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G25AS00183) in the form of a cooperative agreement to support applied research on climate model downscaling. The work is aimed at making regional climate model information more practical and decision-ready, with a strong emphasis on producing risk-relevant climate change metrics that can be used to understand and plan for impacts on both human health and ecosystems in the US Caribbean and the Southeast United States. This opportunity sits within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category (CFDA 15.808) and is issued under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) framework, which is designed to connect federal agencies with partner organizations to deliver research, technical assistance, and education that supports resource management and policy needs.

At its core, the project focuses on improving the usefulness of regional climate projections through dynamic downscaling, a modeling approach that uses regional climate models to translate coarser global climate information into finer-scale outputs that better capture local terrain, coastal processes, and weather patterns. USGS is specifically looking for a CESU partner that can leverage expertise in downscaling to generate climate datasets and analyses that speak directly to real-world decisions. Rather than producing generic climate summaries, the intent is to tailor climate diagnostics around the kinds of thresholds and indicators that matter for adaptation planning, especially where climate stress intersects with public health concerns and ecosystem vulnerability.

A central expectation is meaningful engagement with decisionmakers and practitioners in the Southeast US and the Caribbean who work at the intersection of ecology and human health. The funded team will work with these stakeholders to elicit and define the climate metrics that are most useful for adaptation and risk management. This may include, for example, variables tied to extreme heat, humidity, heavy rainfall, drought, storm-related conditions, or other climate factors that influence disease risk, heat illness, water quality, habitat stress, wildfire risk, or ecosystem services. The engagement component is not incidental; it is meant to ensure the technical outputs are driven by stakeholder needs and can be directly translated into planning tools, assessments, or operational decisions.

On the technical side, the recipient is expected to produce dynamically downscaled climate data and then use those data to create stakeholder-driven climate diagnostics. In addition, the project will investigate uncertainty by comparing projections across different downscaled climate products. This comparative uncertainty work is important because adaptation decisions often hinge on how consistent projections are across models and methods, and where major disagreements or sensitivities occur. By explicitly examining differences among downscaled products, the project should help users understand confidence levels, plausible ranges of future conditions, and the extent to which results depend on modeling choices.

Eligibility is limited to organizations that are already participating partners of the Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast CESU Program; the opportunity is not open to the general public or to entities outside that CESU partnership. The opportunity was created on December 11, 2024, and the original application closing date is January 13, 2025. The award ceiling is listed as $164,158, and the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project (for example, collaboration on scope, methods, or coordination with USGS priorities), as opposed to a more hands-off grant arrangement.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (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 2024-12-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-13. (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 $164,158.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G25AS00183

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