G26AS00100: Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with the California Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)
Closed
This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Alaska Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (G27AS00066). Status: Closes December 7, 2026 (30 days left). It is in our archive of Geological Survey notices from 2026.
Geological Survey offered grants of up to $270,000 (at least $1) to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make one award worth $270,000 in total. Applications closed on April 30, 2026.
From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed March 30, 2026. Checked November 7, 2026.
- Award ceiling$270,000
- Award floor$1
- Total funding$270,000
- Expected awards1
- Cost sharingNot required
- Funding typeCooperative Agreement
Key dates
| Posted | March 30, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Deadline | April 30, 2026 |
Who can apply
This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.
- Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)
This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Program. CESUs are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the California Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.
Is this a realistic fit?
- Past U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection awards averaged $557,251; this notice allows up to $270,000 per award.
- Most of the program's money (84% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
- No cost sharing or match is required.
What the grant funds
This work will support our ongoing collaborations with numerous partners representing America"s energy generation and recreations and commercial fishing industries. The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to collect data and interpret data to help reduce the concentrations of mercury in recreational and sports fish in hydroelectric reservoirs, managed wetlands, and lakes. In these three freshwater environments, mercury biomagnification in aquatic food webs is prevalent and reducing mercury concentrations in fish remains one of the biggest issues facing management efforts. The goal of this project is to provide data in support management actions to reduce mercury concentrations in recreational and sports fish through understanding how methylmercury is formed in water and sediments. Understanding both synergistic and antagonistic effects of key processes is necessary to have a robust ability to forecast changes in the risk mercury poses to aquatic food webs due to management of reservoirs, wetlands, and lakes. The scientific community recognizes the importance of water quality conditions of dissolved organic matter chemistry and microbial processes on mercury methylation, but key knowledge gaps remain to forecast how mercury methylation will respond to management actions and how this will cascade to mercury levels in recreational and sports fish. This project aims to address these management needs using freshwater systems currently studied by the USGS, selected because they are representative of settings across the nation with urgent needs to decrease mercury levels in fish. This funding opportunity aims to develop a research effort between the USGS and a CESU partner that brings together expertise and capabilities, respectively, to address the overall needs of the management community. The results of the project on water and sediment from a CESU partner will be used with ecological data from the USGS to provide an understanding of the risk posed by mercury to diverse freshwater environments.
Who has won U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection grants before
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection (15.808) awarded $629 million across 1,128 grant awards, an average of $557,251 per award.
| Recipient | State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines | Colorado | 12 | $242 million |
| University of Alaska Fairbanks | Alaska | 18 | $28.7 million |
| California Institute of Technology | California | 5 | $19.0 million |
| University of Washington | Washington | 17 | $17.6 million |
| University Enterprises, Inc. | California | 4 | $15.4 million |
Applying now
This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, G27AS00066, which is open now.
The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.
Questions people ask
Is G26AS00100 still open?
No. It closed on April 30, 2026. A newer notice is open: G27AS00066, closes December 7, 2026 (30 days left).
Who can apply for Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with the California Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)?
Geological Survey accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.
What is the deadline for Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with the California Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)?
Closed April 30, 2026. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.
How much funding is available?
Awards of up to $270,000 each. About $270,000 in total for one award.
Who has won U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection grants before?
The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines, University of Alaska Fairbanks, California Institute of Technology. The program made 1,128 awards worth $629 million in that time.