MPA Baseline Programs

Select your grant

I. Central Coast Marine Protected Area

Progress/Technical Reports (Quarterly and Completion Reports)

Quarterly Progress Reports: At the end of each quarter, a paragraph outlining the progress/work completed during the quarter is due. (Instructions on filling out fillable pdfs.)

Completion Report/Project Questionnaire: A final report of the scientific/technical results must be submitted, either in hard copy or online. All raw data must be submitted to the CDFG and THE CONSERVANCY by March 15, 2008 regardless of the end date. California Sea Grant will send an email reminder to submit raw data. It is the responsibility of the principal investigator to submit raw data directly to CDFG, as specified in the RFP. Failure to submit a completion report or to submit raw data to the CDFG and THE CONSERVANCY will require the immediate return of funds disbursed to the project. California Sea Grant Communications Office will be contacting principal investigator for final completion report information.

Trainee Reports: All trainees supported by the grant are required to submit an annual, separate report during the grant term. This report can be submitted either in hard copy or online.

II. North Central Coast Marine Protected Area, Grant #09-015

Reporting Requirements and Deliverables

 

Project leaders are responsible for conducting projects in accordance with the approved workplan and budget, and for the production and delivery of the following project products: (1) raw data and metadata; (2) annual progress report(s) for projects exceeding 16 months duration; and (3) final report.

Data and Metadata– All projects must employ a standardized reporting protocol. Sufficient metadata should also be provided to fully describe the raw data, collection methods, and data reporting structure. Ecological Metadata Language (EML) is the minimum metadata reporting standard. Projects not employing this standard must receive prior approval from the Sea Grant Director. Requests for such approval should include justification and description of how their alternative standard meets the minimum requirements. Raw data and associated metadata must be delivered to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the Conservancy, and the MPA Monitoring Enterprise before or as part of the completion of the project. Final project payment will not be made until data and metadata conforming to the approved standard have been received. Raw data products may include, but are not limited to, text reports, databases, spreadsheets, maps, GIS layers, photographs and other images. Additional guidance on data and metadata formats and standards may be provided to project leaders in future.

Annual Progress Reports - For projects exceeding 16 months duration, annual progress reports are required at 12-month intervals following the contract start date. Annual progress reports should briefly describe progress towards specified project goals, and provide timelines (progress in meeting milestones) for work completed and remaining. They should also provide updated financial information including budgeted costs and actual expenditures and justifications for variances. Incurred or anticipated budget (positive or negative) variances in excess of 10% of the budgeted amount should be approved by the Sea Grant Office. Annual progress reports should be submitted electronically to California Sea Grant at: sgreport@ucsd.edu.

Final Reports - Project leaders are required to produce and deliver a satisfactory final report to California Sea Grant. Final reports must include the following sections:

  1. A narrative accounting of the project’s progress towards program purposes and project goals.

  2. A financial report showing budgeted and actual costs and variances, with explanations of any positive or negative variances of greater than 10% of the budgeted amount.

  3. For projects including baseline characterization components, a final baseline characterization report, which should include appropriate methods descriptions, data summaries, analyses and interpretation to describe, assess and understand the ecological and/or socioeconomic implementation conditions. Reports should include explicit reference to the Baseline Characterization objectives as described in the North Central Coast MPA Baseline Program Request for Proposals (Section B, item 1) and the supporting results, analyses and interpretation required to meet each objective. In addition, reports should include MPA or site characterizations as well as a regional assessment.

  4. For projects including identification of initial socioeconomic or ecological changes following MPA implementation, a final report of changes observed (or explored but not observed), the rationale for focusing on those (potential) changes to document potential initial MPA effects, and an interpretation of the causes and contributing factors for the changes or lack of changes observed, as described in the North Central Coast MPA Baseline Program Request for Proposals (Section B, item 2).

  5. An Executive Summary, summarizing methods and key findings and conclusions, in 1-2 pages of text and, if needed, an additional 1-2 pages of figures. The Executive Summary should be written to be appropriate for broad public release (e.g., posting on MPA Monitoring Enterprise website, provision to the California Fish and Game Commission).

Final Reports should be submitted electronically to sgreport@ucsd.edu

III. South Coast Marine Protected Area, Grant #10-049

Reporting Requirements and Deliverables

 

Quarterly Financial Reports
Requests for Disbursement: The Conservancy requires that a report of expense be submitted to Sea Grant no less than quarterly and no more than monthly. Failure to submit a quarterly report and supporting documents will relieve California Sea Grant of its obligation to disburse funds to the grantee unless and until the grantee corrects all deficiencies. The project leader or administrative contact should submit the reports of expense through their institution’s grants management or extramural funds office. These forms are available on our web site (follow the Managing Your Award-Marine Protected Area link).
The periodic financial report must be accompanied by the following supporting documentation:

  1. A ledger detailing all expenditures incurred by the research project for the period during which work was performed and the PI is now seeking reimbursement. This should be compiled in coordination with your campus and/or research organization’s grants administrator.

  2. Travel Expense Claim forms for travel expenses incurred by the research project. The Conservancy will reimburse travel and related expenses in accordance with University of California regulations (published at https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3420365); reimbursement shall not exceed University of California-approved travel rates that are in effect at the time that the expense is incurred. Original receipts for travel expenses will not be required. However, PIs and/or the appropriate campus/research organization grants administrator should provide copies of all UC travel expense vouchers related to the travel and copies of hotel and airfare expenses.

  3. Receipts or any other source documents for direct expenditures for any single purchase of equipment or materials costing in excess of $250 by the research project. Please note that if the total invoice submitted is over $250 total and contains multiple purchases, you DO NOT need to provide documentation for all the individual purchases listed, only those that individually cost more than $250.

  4. A summary of work performed in relation to the expenses listed in the invoice. This should be a brief (i.e. two paragraphs) description of the work that was performed during the quarter. It should explain the activities for which the PI spent research funds and how the activities were consistent with the research project work plan (budget, timeline, tasks, etc.). Please note that this brief summary is different from the annual progress report required for multi-year projects. Requirements for the annual progress report are described below.
    Reimbursement cannot be made until the Sea Grant office has approved the periodic financial report. The report must include the billing period back-up documentation as stated above to support the payment or reimbursement being requested. All financial reports must be directed to the following address:

    University of California, San Diego
    Fiscal Team, CA Sea Grant College Program
    9500 Gilman Drive Dept. 0232
    La Jolla, CA 92093-0232
    Fax (858) 534-2231
    Email: sgfiscal@ucsd.edu

Annual Progress Reports
For projects exceeding 16 months duration, annual progress reports are required at 12-month intervals following the project start date (i.e. the project year). An Annual Progress report form will be provided and should be submitted electronically to California Sea Grant at: sgreport@ucsd.edu. The form should be used to provide the Project Management Team with
information about what the research project accomplished over the project year in relation to the project timeline, progress towards goals and objectives, remaining project work, and
collaboration with other South Coast MPA Baseline Program projects. This information will be used by the Project Management Team to track the progress of individual projects, and will be
provided to all South Coast MPA Baseline Program PIs and co-PIs prior to the Annual PIs workshop convened by the Monitoring Enterprise to facilitate discussion of project integration.

Project Completion--Data and metadata, final report and final invoice
Following completion of a research project under the approved work program and budget for that project, the project leaders are responsible for the production and delivery of (1) data and metadata, (2) a final report, and (3) a final invoice, as evidence of completion of the research project. Final project payments will be made following receipt and acceptance of all deliverables.

Data and Metadata
Data and associated metadata must be delivered to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the Conservancy, and the MPA Monitoring Enterprise before or as part of the completion of the project. Final project payment will not be made until data and metadata conforming to the approved standard have been received. All projects must employ a standardized reporting protocol. Raw data products may include, but are not limited to, text reports, databases, spreadsheets, maps, GIS layers, photographs and other images. Sufficient metadata should also be provided to fully describe the raw data, collection methods, and data reporting structure. Ecological Metadata Language (EML) is the minimum metadata reporting standard. Projects not employing this standard must receive prior approval from the Project Management Team via the Sea Grant Director. Requests for such approval should include justification and description of how their alternative standard meets the minimum requirements. Additional guidance on data and metadata formats and standards is being developed by the Monitoring Enterprise and will be provided to project leaders when available. Where appropriate, project leaders should prepare and submit an on-line computer catalog entry to the California Environmental Information Catalog (“CEIC”) for all geographic information products and reports which characterize site specific conditions with regard to vegetation, wildlife populations, species occurrences and other measures of biological diversity, environmental and ecological condition. The CEIC is available on http://ceres.ca.gov/. Where possible, electronic information should be supplied in Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata format. However, if the Conservancy Executive Officer directs that certain information should not be disclosed, that information shall not be included in the entry. Including geographic information in CEIC is a requirement related to the funding source for the research projects. Guidance on how to migrate metadata from the Federal Geographic Data Committee format to the Ecological Metadata Language format and vice versa is being developed by the Monitoring Enterprise and will be provided to each research group when available.

Final Reports
Project leaders are required to produce and deliver a satisfactory final report to California Sea Grant. Final reports must include the following sections:

  1. A narrative accounting of the project’s progress towards Baseline Program purposes and project goals.

  2. A financial report showing budgeted and actual costs and variances for the complete duration of the research project, with explanations of any positive or negative variances of greater than 10% of the budgeted amount.

  3. For projects including baseline characterization components, a technical report, which should include appropriate methods descriptions, data summaries, analyses and interpretation to describe, assess and understand ecological and/or socioeconomic implementation conditions inside and outside MPAs in the South Coast region. Reports should include explicit reference to the Baseline Characterization purposes and priorities as described in the South Coast MPA Baseline Program Request for Proposals and the supporting results, analyses and interpretation required to meet each program priority. In addition, reports should include MPA- or site-level characterizations as well as a regional assessment.

  4. For projects including assessment of initial socioeconomic or ecological changes following MPA implementation, a technical report, which should include clear descriptions of methods, data summaries, analyses and interpretation to describe initial ecological changes and/or the short-run net benefits or costs to consumptive and nonconsumptive users.

  5. An Executive Summary, summarizing methods and key findings and conclusions, in 1-2 pages of text and, if needed, an additional 1-2 pages of figures. The Executive Summary should be written to be appropriate for broad public release (e.g., provision to the California Fish and Game Commission).

  6. Any outreach materials created in association with the monitoring project.

Final reports should be submitted electronically to sgreport@ucsd.edu. Final reports will be reviewed by the Project Management Team. The sections of final reports consisting of baseline characterization reports and/or reports of initial changes following MPA implementation will also be subject to scientific peer review. Project leaders are responsible for revising final reports in accordance with reviewer comments before final submission and acceptance by the Project Management team. Following completion of all projects and receipt and acceptance of all final project reports, a synthesis of major findings will be prepared and a final public summary report will be produced. Project Leaders will be given the opportunity to review a draft of the summary report.
Final Project Payments – Final project payments will be made only after receipt and acceptance by the Sea Grant Director of the deliverables described above and compliance with all reporting requirements.

Final Invoice
The grantee shall submit a final invoice within forty-five days after the completion date provided in the University of California purchase order section “Funded Projects.” Final payment for costs incurred will be disbursed upon Conservancy determination of satisfactory completion of the final fully executed report of expenses, delivery of data and metadata, and final report as described above.

IV. North Coast Marine Protected Area, Grant #C0100100

Reporting Requirements and Deliverables

For projects exceeding 16 months duration, annual progress reports are required at 12-month intervals following the project start date (i.e. the project year). An Annual Progress report form will be provided and should be submitted electronically to California Sea Grant at: sgreport@ucsd.edu. The form should be used to provide the Program Management Team with information about what the research project accomplished over the project year in relation to the project timeline, progress towards goals and objectives, remaining project work, and collaboration with other North Coast MPA Baseline Program projects. This information will be used by the Project Management Team to track the progress of individual projects, and will be provided to all North Coast MPA Baseline Program project leads and co-project leads prior to Annual Baseline Program workshops convened by the Ocean Science Trust to facilitate discussion of project integration.

Following completion of a research project under the approved work program and budget for that project, the project leaders are responsible for the production and delivery of (1) data and metadata, (2) a final report, and (3) a final invoice, as evidence of completion of the research project. Final project payments will be made following receipt and acceptance of all deliverables.

Data and Metadata

Data and associated metadata must be delivered to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the Resources Agency, and Ocean Science Trust (OST) before or as part of the completion of the project. Final project payment will not be made until data and metadata conforming to the approved standard have been received. Project leaders are responsible for preparing and submitting monitoring project data via OceanSpaces, the formal vehicle for delivery of all monitoring project data.

All projects must employ a standardized reporting protocol, which will be developed with awarded applicants and with guidance from OST. Raw data products may include, but are not limited to, text reports, databases, spreadsheets, maps, GIS layers, still and video images. Sufficient metadata should also be provided to fully describe the raw data, collection methods, and data reporting structure. Ecological Metadata Language (EML) is the minimum metadata reporting standard. Projects not employing this standard must receive prior approval from the Project Management Team via the Sea Grant Director. Requests for such approval should include justification and description of how their alternative standard meets the minimum requirements. Additional guidance on data and metadata formats and standards is being developed by Ocean Science Trust and will be provided to project leaders when available.

Final Report

Project leaders are required to produce and deliver a final, technical report to California Sea Grant. Guidelines for this report are provided below. In preparation for developing this report, project leads should review the description of the purposes of the program in the North Coast MPA Baseline Program Request for Proposals. Final reports will be made publicly available on the Sea Grant website and thus shared with a broad audience. The final technical report must include the following components:

Executive Summary (1-2 pages of text, plus up to 1-2 additional pages of figures)
Because the final report will be made publicly available, the executive summary serves as an important communications document. This report component should include the following: (1) a brief description of the project background and justification, (2) summary of methods and key findings, (3) description of main conclusions, and (4) at least one summary figure. Those projects with citizen science or other community training components are encouraged to include information about the educational opportunities provided by the project and a description of the role that community-based participatory research can play in MPA monitoring. This report component will serve as an important public-facing document for the project, so please consider this broad audience when developing the Executive Summary.

Narrative
The main body of the final report, or narrative, should include the following sections:

Introduction
This should be structured as a typical technical report introduction section, including background information, project justification, and a brief overview of project objectives, components, and activities.

Methods
This section should describe the geographic coverage, methods, protocols, and data analyses that apply to all data collected as part of this project. Please include a full description of protocols, not just a link to an online resource.

Results
This should be structured as a typical technical report results section, including brief statements of analysis results, tables, and figures. This section should also include results related to the purposes of the Baseline Program under separate headings, ‘Baseline characterization’ and ‘Assessment of initial changes,’ depending on whether the project addressed one or both of these purposes. Baseline characterization should include results and analyses of conditions inside and outside of MPAs in the North Coast region, and the region as a whole. Assessment of initial changes should include results and analyses to describe initial ecological changes or short-run net benefits or costs to consumptive and non-consumptive users.

Discussion
This should be structured as a typical technical report discussion section, including interpretation of results presented to provide readers with an explanation of what the results mean. This section should also include discussion related to the purposes of the Baseline Program under separate headings, ‘Baseline characterization’ and ‘Assessment of initial changes’, depending on whether the project addressed one or both of these purposes. Baseline characterization should include interpretation of conditions inside and outside of MPAs in the North Coast region, and the region as a whole. Assessment of initial changes should include interpretation of observed ecological changes or short-run net benefits or costs to consumptive and non-consumptive users.

Long-term monitoring recommendations
This section is similar to a typical technical report conclusion section. However, it should focus on how the project data and results can inform long-term monitoring. Specifically, this section should provide recommendations for indicators and metrics of ecosystem condition, best practices (i.e., methods), and any additional considerations.

Financial Report (1-2 pages)
This component should include budgeted and actual costs and variances for the complete duration of the research project, with explanations of any positive or negative variances of greater than 10% of the budgeted amount.

List of publications and description of outreach efforts (1-2 pages)
Please provide a list of publications (e.g., manuscripts, meeting abstracts) and a description of outreach efforts (e.g., meeting and public presentations, news articles, blog posts, volunteer trainings) conducted in association with the monitoring project. Project leads are encouraged to provide links to any open-access publications and online posts on the project page on OceanSpaces.org and to announce meeting and public presentations on the North Coast Monitoring Community bulletin board.

Final Report Submission and Peer Review

Final reports should be submitted electronically to sgreport@ucsd.edu. Final reports will be reviewed by the Program Management Team and will be subject to scientific peer-review. Project leaders are responsible for revising final reports in accordance with reviewer and management team comments before final submission and acceptance by the Program Management Team. Following completion of all projects and receipt and acceptance of all final project reports, a synthesis of major findings will be prepared, and a final, public summary report will be produced. Project Leaders will be given the opportunity to review a draft of the summary report.

Final Invoice

The grantee shall submit a final invoice within forty-five days after the completion date provided in the University of California Purchase order section “Funded Projects.” Final payment for costs incurred will be disbursed upon Resources Agency determination of satisfactory completion of the final fully executed report of expenses, delivery of data and metadata, and final report as described above.

Final Project Payments

Final project payments will be made only after receipt and acceptance by the Sea Grant Director of the deliverables described above and compliance with all reporting requirements.