Addressing the Impacts of Multiple Stressors on Shellfish Aquaculture through Research/Industry Partnerships

Image
alt
Funding Category
Grants and Funding
Application Deadline

Subject to availability of funding, $2,000,000 may be available to support approximately 2-6 projects, with each project funded at the approximate level of $100,000 - $300,000 per year for 1-3 years.

Federal Funding Opportunity: NOAA-OAR-SG-2021-2006704

Potential applicants are encouraged to check Sea Grant's national website for information about a webinar and FAQs related to this announcement.

The National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) and the Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) are seeking applications that establish, continue, and/or expand collaborations between researchers and the shellfish aquaculture industry. Specifically, applications to this competition should utilize new or existing research/industry partnerships to study how ocean and coastal acidification in combination with other stressors impacts shellfish aquaculture. Projects should utilize multiple parameter physical, chemical, or biological observing systems and/or conduct multiple stressor experimental research. The priorities of this funding opportunity are:

  1. Build or strengthen relationships between the shellfish aquaculture industry and the aquaculture research community (including university, industry, private sector, tribal, state, and/or federal scientists representing diverse perspectives);
  2. Develop scientific knowledge on the impact of ocean and coastal acidification in combination with other stressors to shellfish aquaculture, and;
  3. Create data products, tools, technologies, management practices, or other deliverables that are broadly applicable to building resilience within the shellfish aquaculture sector.

Applications must include at least one researcher and one shellfish grower acting as co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs), and the proposed work must utilize a co-production of knowledge framework. Applicants are strongly encouraged to collaborate with existing communities of practice such as NSGO-supported Aquaculture Collaboratives (HUBs), members of the OAP-supported Coastal Acidification Networks (CANs), or other NOAA-supported groups.

In addition to ocean and coastal acidification, potential stressors subject to investigation include (but are not limited to) temperature stress, salinity stress, hypoxia, pathogens and parasites, harmful algal blooms, and environmental contaminants.

For more information on this opportunity, and all application components, please consult the full announcement here.

Eligibility
Application
Application Review
Deadlines
Contacts

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are United States institutions of higher education; other nonprofits; commercial organizations; state, local, and tribal governments.

* Federal employees may act as co-PIs but may NOT act as the PI that submits the application package to grants.gov.

Application

Application packages are available online and can be downloaded here. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the agency contacts listed below for submission instructions.

Letter of Intent

  1. Cover page
  2. Research Plan
  3. Statement describing plan for co-production of knowledge

Program managers from NOAA will review each LOI to determine whether it is responsive to the goals and priorities of this funding opportunity, as advertised in this notice.

Full Proposal

*Only applicants who submitted a letter of intent may submit a full proposal. 

  1. Project Narrative including the following documents:
    • Project description
    • Abbreviated environmental compliance questionnaire
    • Data management plan
  2. Budget narrative
    • Sea Grant 90-4 form
    • Budget justification

If none of the co-PIs listed on an application are affiliated with a Sea Grant program, then it is recommended, but not required, that the co-PIs receive a letter of support for their application from their local Sea Grant director. Letters of support should be submitted with the full proposal application. Those seeking a letter of support should contact the California Sea Grant Director Shauna Oh at sgdirector@ucsd.edu.

Guidance and tips on how to prepare an application are provided here in the Sea Grant General Application Guide.

Full Proposal Application Review

Evaluation Criteria

  1. Importance/relevance and applicability of proposed projects to the program goals (35%)
  2. Technical/scientific merit (30%)
  3. Overall qualifications of applicants (5%)
  4. Project costs (5%)
  5. Outreach and education (15%)
  6. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (10%)

Review and Selection Process

  • Once a full proposal application has been received by NOAA, an initial administrative review is conducted to determine compliance with requirements and completeness of the application.
  • Applications that pass the administrative review will be reviewed by a technical panel drawn from experts in a range of disciplines that are relevant to the applications. Each proposal will receive at least three written reviews from the panelists assessing its merits with regard to the evaluation criteria.
  • The proposals, supplemented with information from the Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire, will also be reviewed by the program manager to assess the environmental compliance of the proposed actions.

Deadlines

Contacts

Agency Contacts

National Sea Grant Office
Rebecca Certner, Competitions Manager
oar.hq.sg.aquaculture@noaa.gov

Ocean Acidification Program
Erica Ombres, Federal Program Officer
erica.h.ombres@noaa.gov

California Sea Grant Contact

Shauna Oh, Director
sgdirector@ucsd.edu

Application Resources