Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00260

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00260

This funding opportunity, issued by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC), supports a cooperative agreement with an eligible partner from the Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). The project is centered on applying and expanding the use of remote sensing methods to better understand how flying animals, especially birds, respond to large-scale human infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border. The study area is the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where border barrier construction and associated development may affect avifauna movement, distribution, and overall biodiversity.

The core scientific need driving the award is to determine avifauna densities, distributions, and diversity in relation to border barrier infrastructure. To do that, the project emphasizes three complementary monitoring technologies: Doppler radar (to detect and quantify aerial biological targets across broad areas and time periods), automated radio telemetry (to track movements and space use of tagged individuals with fine-scale temporal detail), and audio recording units (to document species presence and activity through vocalizations, often useful for nocturnal migration and cryptic species). The intent is not only to collect data, but to strengthen data processing and analytical workflows that convert these streams into defensible ecological inferences that managers can use.

A major theme in the announcement is decision support. USGS-WARC and collaborators have already demonstrated that remote sensing tools can inform management and conservation decisions at multiple spatial and temporal scales, but the agency is looking to push those capabilities further and make them more operational for partner needs. The cooperative agreement is expected to help with processing and analysis and to support the development of spatially explicit decision support tools, meaning products that map and quantify patterns in ways that can guide real-world actions. These tools are intended to address practical questions tied to border wall mitigation and planning, including where impacts may be greatest, where conservation actions could be most effective, and how to prioritize current and future habitat acquisition, restoration, and other conservation efforts focused on flying animals.

The research objectives also highlight an important ecological and management uncertainty: how flying animals respond to human development and artificial lighting at night. The opportunity notes that additional effort is needed to identify not just where and how many animals are moving, but which species or groups are involved, and how responses differ across conditions. Because remote sensing and passive monitoring can be applied before and after construction, or in matched areas with and without infrastructure, the project can use strong comparative study designs to evaluate change over time and across landscapes. The results are framed as directly relevant to long-term management decisions, helping agencies anticipate and respond to impacts associated with border barrier infrastructure.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity under a cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning USGS anticipates substantial involvement in the project as a partner rather than acting only as a pass-through funder. The opportunity is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development (CFDA 15.808). Eligibility is limited to organizations that are official participating partners in the Chesapeake Watershed CESU Program, reflecting the CESU model of linking federal agencies with universities and other research partners to deliver applied science, technical assistance, and education. The opportunity number is G23AS00260, it was created on 2023-02-13, and the original closing date was 2023-02-27. The listed award ceiling is $300,000.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" 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 2023-02-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-02-27. (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 $300,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00260

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