New call for proposals from the Alaska CASC

The Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center at IARC invites proposals for projects that support “actionable science” or knowledge that can inform or be applied to high-priority natural and cultural resource management issues, either locally or broadly across Alaska. AK CASC expects to initiate 3-4 new projects with Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 funds. For more details on this opportunity, please refer to the full Request For Proposals document.

The National Climate Adaptation Science Center will host an informational webinar and question and answer session pertaining to this solicitation on Tuesday, February 16th at 10 am AK. View the full Request For Proposals document from the Zoom information.

Eligible Applicants

Only individuals from the following eligible organizations may submit proposals as the lead Principal Research Investigator in response to this Funding Opportunity:

• The Alaska CASC Consortium (University of Alaska System campuses)
• USGS centers, field stations, laboratories, Cooperative Research Units, etc.

Each proposal must have a Principal Investigator (PI) from an eligible organization. Parties from other organizations (Federal, State, Tribal, or other) can serve as Co-PIs and receive funds via subaward from an eligible organization. Please direct any questions about eligibility to Steve Gray.

Funding Guidance

Approximately $600,000 may be available to fund FY22 projects that support either of two AK CASC research priorities (see below). Individual project awards are not expected to exceed $200,000 (inclusive of all indirect and overhead costs as applied by all organizations involved, including any necessary pass-through host costs) for the life of the project. Generally, projects are not to exceed 24 months (longer projects may be considered at the discretion of the AK CASC Director).

Application Process

Deadline for Statements of Interest: Friday, March 19, 2021, 5:00 PM EDT
Full Proposals Invited (Planned): April 22, 2021
Deadline for Invited Full Proposals: Friday, July 23, 2021, 5:00 PM EDT
Notification of Intent to Award (Planned): September 8, 2021

All Statements of Interest should be submitted to the CASC RFPManager Portal. For more details on the application process and evaluation criteria, please refer to the full RFP document.

Priority Areas

In keeping with its mission, the AK CASC identifies research priorities tied closely to the needs of natural and cultural resource managers in the Alaska region. Proposals developed in response to this RFP should focus on developing “actionable science” or knowledge that can inform or be applied to specific management challenges, either locally or broadly across Alaska. Proposals should address one or more of the AK CASC Research Priorities identified below and outline a clear plan to iteratively develop scientific/management questions, collect information, and create science-based knowledge and products. This work must be done in collaboration with stakeholders, and ultimately used to inform climate adaptation, planning, and management. Information on previously funded projects can be found on our Project Overview page.

1. Supporting Climate Adaptation in Alaska Native Communities

The AK CASC seeks proposals that enhance or expand our capacity to support climate adaptation efforts led by our Tribal partners and in Alaska Native communities more broadly. In particular, we welcome proposals that leverage previous or ongoing work related to fish and wildlife habitat dynamics in order to address issues related to subsistence resources and/or aspects of community health, sustainability, and resilience related to subsistence activities. Similarly, we encourage proposals that would apply research aimed at characterizing and/or predicting climate variability and change to natural resource management challenges tied to Alaska Native communities. We anticipate that successful proposals will provide one or more of the following:
• Development of AK CASC products and services focused on the climate adaptation needs of Tribes, communities, and other Alaska Native entities.
• Support for Alaska Native-led research and/or direct participation in research.
• Support for citizen science activities in Alaska Native communities.
• Enhanced two-way communication, outreach, and engagement capacity in Alaska Native communities.
• Technical and/or logistical support for research linked to Alaska Native communities.
• Add additional value to work originally funded under the TESNAR, SISNAR, and BIA Tribal Resilience programs.

Note: Given the large number of requests for funding related to harmful algal blooms and shellfish toxins received in FY 2021, we ask that you please contact AK CASC Director Steve Gray (sgray@usgs.gov) before submitting statements of interest on these specific topics

2. Stream Temperatures in Alaska

In collaboration with the USGS Alaska Science Center and the Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the AK CASC seeks proposals that enhance or expand capacity to model stream temperatures in Alaska. Proposals submitted under this priority will be further divided into two tracks:
IIa. Research focused on applying new or existing modeling approaches to watersheds in Alaska.
IIb. Efforts that improve cooperation and coordination among State and Federal agencies, Alaska Native groups, NGOs, and/or citizen scientists in order to strengthen data collection in support of modeling.

For proposals submitted under IIa., we specifically invite research to improve estimates of stream temperatures over the historical period and/or for areas where observations are insufficient to characterize present conditions, while also strengthening our ability to project the impacts of future climate variability and change on aquatic thermal regimes. For efforts under IIb., successful proposals will provide frameworks for promoting cooperative data collection efforts, and for ensuring that observations are suitable for applications in stream temperature modeling. For both tracks, we especially encourage proposals that leverage previous or ongoing stream monitoring work, though proposals that address areas with sparse observation networks will also be considered.

Submission Portal

All documents must be submitted to the USGS RFP Manger, where the full RFP can also be accessed by the dropdown menu “Download documents/templates.”