Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G21AS00526

Opportunity Information: Apply for G21AS00526

This funding opportunity (G21AS00526) is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, specifically through the Californian CESU. It supports science and technology research and development (CFDA 15.808) focused on coral reef science, with an emphasis on understanding how coral growth has changed over long time periods and what those changes can tell us about environmental stress and reef health today. The opportunity was created on May 17, 2021, with an original application closing date of July 26, 2021, and it carried an award ceiling of up to $300,000.

The core purpose of the project is to test hypotheses about long-term shifts in coral calcification (the process by which corals build their calcium carbonate skeletons) as environmental conditions vary over time. A key feature of the work is the use of computed tomography (CT) scanning, described as an emerging technology for this application, to analyze coral cores. Coral cores are essentially cylindrical samples drilled from coral skeletons that preserve growth layers over many years, much like tree rings. By combining CT imaging with these core samples, the project aims to measure changes in calcification and related skeletal characteristics with high resolution and over long historical windows.

The research will draw on coral cores collected from two main regions: Ofu Island in American Samoa and inshore locations across south Florida. Using these materials, the project has two main scientific aims. First, it seeks to reconstruct changes in coral calcification over decadal to millennial time scales during the Holocene. This is intended to clarify how longer-term environmental shifts, including ocean warming and broader ecosystem degradation, have influenced coral growth across centuries to thousands of years. Second, it aims to develop growth and bioerosion records that span decades to centuries within individual cores. Bioerosion refers to the breakdown of reef framework by organisms and processes that erode calcium carbonate; capturing that history alongside growth patterns can help explain how reefs have built up or weakened through time.

A central deliverable implied by the description is improved historical context for interpreting modern observations of coral calcification and reef condition. By anchoring present-day measurements to longer baselines, the project is designed to help researchers and managers better distinguish recent changes from natural variability, and to understand how calcification and erosion together affect overall reef stability and health. In practical terms, the resulting records can inform how scientists think about reef accretion versus reef loss, and how these processes relate to stressors such as warming waters and declining ecosystem quality.

Eligibility is limited: applicants must be participating partners of the Californian CESU Program. The CESU framework is highlighted as a partnership model that supports research, technical assistance, and education, and the award is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial involvement or collaboration with the federal agency during the project rather than a more hands-off grant structure.

• 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 Californian 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 2021-05-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-26. (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 G21AS00526

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