# Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/g26as00123-cooperative-agreement-for-affiliated-partner-with-the-great/  
Official notice: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/362614

> Geological Survey offered grants of up to $299,971 (at least $1) to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make one award worth $299,971 in total. Applications closed on June 29, 2026.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Opportunity number | G26AS00123 |
| Agency | Geological Survey |
| Status | Forecast |
| Deadline | June 29, 2026 |
| Award ceiling | $299,971 |
| Award floor | $1 |
| Expected awards | 1 |
| Total funding | $299,971 |
| Cost sharing | not required |
| Assistance Listings | 15.808 |

## Who can apply

- 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. CESU"s are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit.

## What the grant funds

The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for the research outlined below. Timely characterization of the spatial distribution and severity of water quality degradation in response to episodic events is a challenge for the water quality monitoring community given their episodic nature and dynamic and broad potential distribution that is not necessarily visible. Autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with in-situ sensors have been long used by the oceanographic community for geospatial characterization of hydrodynamic, biological and biogeochemical conditions, but due to their high historical cost, this technology has been underutilized in monitoring at the scale of local water quality threats to inform management and the public. The U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Mission Area is interested in partnering with the CESU to evaluate the operational readiness of a low-cost autonomous underwater vehicle called the JaiaBot BIO. The JaiaBot BIO has been developed with the ability to conduct rapid assessments of the distribution and severity of episodic water quality degradation associated with high flow event riverine plumes and summer/fall cyanobacteria blooms. Lake Champlain is an ideal test bed for this technology given its high watershed to lake area/volume ratio (highly sensitive to episodic disturbance), the co-existence of long-term and high frequency stationary monitoring infrastructure within the lake and its tributaries, and eutrophic bays with well-characterized and highly dynamic (in both time and space) cyanobacteria blooms that are partially driven by transient and spatially heterogeneous bottom water hypoxia. The project's overall objective is to examine the operational readiness of commercially available autonomous underwater vehicle technology coupled with in-situ water quality sensors for quantifying the distribution and severity of events that compromise water quality in near real time. Four (4) JaiaBot BIO autonomous underwater vehicles will be purchased for use during the project and vested to the recipient at the conclusion of the project. The project duration will be 24 months from the receipt of funds.

## Questions people ask

### Is G26AS00123 still open?

No. It closed on June 29, 2026. A newer notice is open: G27AS00083, closes November 30, 2026 (23 days left).

### Who can apply for Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with the Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit?

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 Great Lakes-Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit?

Closed June 29, 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 $299,971 each. About $299,971 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.