Cooperative Agreement for affiliated Partner with Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
Geological Survey · U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection (15.808)
Posted 30 Oct 2026 · 31 days left
In plain terms
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.
Summary from the donor's own text; the full wording is below.
Summary
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.
Excerpt from the donor's page. The full text, annexes and forms are on the original call.
Who can apply
- Social enterprise or cooperative
Eligibility and conditions
Show the eligibility text from the source
Applicant types: 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.