Grants / Department of the Interior / Geological Survey

Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

Open Closes November 30, 2026 (30 days left) Opportunity G27AS00044

• Award ceiling$250,000
• Award floor$1
• Expected awards1
• Total funding$250,000
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Add the deadline to your calendar

Who can apply

This opportunity is 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. CESU's are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education. Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the Great Basin Ecosystem Studies Unit.

Is this a realistic fit?

• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research in species barcoding. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is potentially a powerful new tool to monitor and assess the status of aquatic ecosystems and the societal values they support such as recreational fishing and species protection. Assessments based on metabarcoding can detect a wide array of species from microbes to fish, providing more comprehensive and cost-effect assessments than existing techniques. However, one pressing need in developing metabarcoding assessment tools is to enhance existing libraries of aquatic species barcodes. The USGS Water Resources Mission Area is leading a pilot project in the Rocky Mountains to evaluate metagenomics as a means of monitoring and assessing aquatic species. Metagenomics data from field samples will be combined with large geospatial datasets to develop artificial intelligence and machine-learning models that predict community composition. The project is more likely to succeed if current gaps in species barcode libraries are filled.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

How to apply

1. Read the full notice and attachments on Grants.gov. The notice is the official source for deadlines and requirements.
2. Make sure your organization has an active SAM.gov registration and Unique Entity ID; registration can take several weeks.
3. Register on Grants.gov and submit through Workspace before the deadline and time given in the notice. Our application guide walks through each step.

Questions go to Geological Survey, Rachel_miller@ios.doi.gov, 916-278-9331.

Open the official notice