Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), through the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC), has announced a cooperative agreement opportunity to support collaborative research focused on the restoration and long-term sustainability of economically important fisheries in the Great Lakes. The GLSC operates under the Great Lakes Fisheries Research Authorization Act to conduct freshwater fisheries science programs that support the Great Lakes Council of Lake Committees, the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, and other regional and national partners. Its work includes lake-wide fish surveys, ecosystem assessments, habitat mapping, and the development of improved sampling technologies. The agency’s science informs the management of fisheries that contribute approximately $7 billion annually to the U.S. economy. This opportunity seeks a CESU-affiliated partner from the Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit to collaborate on high-resolution habitat mapping to understand how lakebed habitats contribute to fish reproduction and survival. The selected cooperator will use photogrammetric techniques, including Structure from Motion, applied to underwater imagery collected from USGS autonomous underwater vehicles. The project aims to create reproducible methods for habitat mapping that inform fisheries management decisions. Key objectives include developing automated software for habitat and substrate mapping, creating semi-automated workflows for photogrammetry products, refining geospatial information for AUVs, quantifying benthic habitat structure, and contributing to annual fish survey data collection. The cooperative agreement is structured as a multi-year project with one base year and four additional budget years, pending funding availability and satisfactory progress. The total estimated project funding is $480,000, with $99,993 anticipated for the first year. Award funding will support personnel, supplies, travel, equipment, contractual services, and other allowable expenses as outlined in the budget narrative requirements. The CESU negotiated indirect cost rate of 17.5% applies. The project will also require compliance with USGS data management planning standards, ensuring data sharing, archiving, and open access consistent with federal policy. Eligibility for this funding is restricted to CESU partners within the Great Lakes Northern Forests CESU. Proposals must be submitted through Grants.gov using the opportunity number G25AS00353. Applicants must include detailed technical narratives, budget justifications, data management plans, and supporting attachments such as biographical sketches and disclosures of current and pending support. Submissions must address stated objectives, methods, data management, dissemination of results, and adherence to USGS fundamental science practices. Applications will be reviewed by USGS technical staff and evaluated using a 100-point scoring system based on four criteria: purpose and relevance, technical approach, budget justification and clarity, and applicant qualifications and past performance. Applicants must clearly demonstrate capacity to conduct photogrammetry analyses, manage data pipelines, and publish findings in peer-reviewed venues. Dissemination of results to scientific, governmental, and public stakeholders is strongly encouraged. Questions regarding submission should be directed to Grant Specialist Katie Calder at kcalder@usgs.gov. Technical questions regarding the project should be directed to Dr. Peter C. Esselman at pesselman@usgs.gov, USGS Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The cooperative agreement will require annual progress and financial reports, a final technical report, and compliance with publication and federal acknowledgment requirements. Applications are currently being accepted, with proposals due by the posted closing date on Grants.gov:contentReference.