NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program has announced their first federal funding opportunity (FFO-2015). Funding of $2.5 million is available for approximately three to seven, 1- to 2- year projects that address three short-term priorities. A peer reviewed process will be used to evaluate and identify the strongest applications. Letters of intent are due by January 30, 2015 and full proposals due March 17, 2015.
As stated on the NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program’s website, proposals need to address:
· comprehensive inventory and assessment (i.e., strengths/weaknesses) of ongoing ecosystem modeling efforts (conceptual and quantitative)
· identification of currently available health/condition indicators of Gulf of Mexico ecosystem components, including humans, followed by comparative analysis of strengths and weaknesses and design/testing of additional indicators
· assessment of monitoring and observation needs and development of recommendations to build off existing assets to establish a Gulf wide monitoring and observation network
in three topical areas
· ecosystem and living marine resources management
· climate change and extreme weather impacts on sustainability of restoration
· integration of social, behavioral, and economic science into restoration and management of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
The full announcement is available for viewing here.