Group items tagged

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research on understanding particulate matter and related atmospheric pollutants in a changing world. Specifically, research is sought on the changing spatiotemporal patterns or environmental impacts of particulate matter in the United States, the challenges that various aspects of global change pose for the management of particulate matter and related pollutants, the rates and timescales at which global change can impact United States air quality, and stronger linkages between the modeling of atmospheric processes and other environmental processes. In order to understand and adapt to future changes, environmental planners and decision makers need information on the challenge global change presents for protecting the environment and human health; this solicitation seeks research on these challenges.

Healthy and productive fisheries are an essential component of the U.S. economy. There is increasing concern about the impacts of climate variability and change on fish stocks, fisheries, and marine ecosystems in the U.S. Climate variability and change influences many parameters (e.g. extreme events, winds, ocean temperatures, stratification, currents, coastal precipitation, inundation, etc.) that directly and indirectly affect marine ecosystem conditions including the abundance, distribution, and productivity of fish stocks that support economically important fisheries. Sustainable fisheries management in a changing climate requires an improved understanding of how climate, fishing, and other stressors interact to affect fish stocks (including their habitats and prey), fisheries and fishing-dependent communities. To address these issues of growing concern, in 2014 the Office of Atmospheric Research (OAR) Climate Program Office and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Science and Technology launched a new partnership to advance understanding of climate-related impacts on fish or other species that support economically important fisheries and fishing communities. The goal is to inform sustainable fisheries management and promote resilience of the nation's fish stocks and fisheries in a changing climate. For FY17, this OAR/NMFS partnership, through the Coastal and Ocean Climate Applications (COCA) Program, will continue to take a regional approach to improving the resilience and adaptation of fisheries in a changing climate by soliciting proposals under two competitions. The first competition solicits proposals for projects in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) and the second competition solicits proposals for projects in the Northeast US Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NESLME).

Rare, Conservation International, National Geographic, The Nature Conservancy, The United Nations Development Programme, and the World Wildlife Fund have teamed up to launch The Solution Search Contest: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change. This contest is designed to reward successful strategies for helping consumers reduce their carbon footprint through behavior change. The contest is open to all organizations worldwide who have a proven solution in working with people to adopt climate-friendly behaviors. The focus is on sustainable solutions that could be replicated by other communities and can continue into the future. Two grand prizes of $25,000 will be awarded, in addition to a prize of $5,000 given to the best entry received by June 1, 2018. Finalists will also receive support to attend a capacity building workshop and the awards ceremony in Washington, DC. Visit the Solution Search contest page to submit an entry by August 7, 2018, or email info@solutionsearch.org with any questions.

The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research in Alaskan carbon dioxide and methane stock and flux rates within aquatic ecosystems. This funding will support a graduate student and other resources and materials needed to verify biogeochemistry models, simulate land and aquatic ecosystem changes, and develop research methods, and conduct regional simulations of greenhouse gas emissions. Research Objectives: 1) In the context of the onset of dynamic changes in land and freshwater aquatic ecosystems areas, structures, and functions, how the CO2 and CH4 budgets of Alaskan freshwater ecosystems could change and what may be the primary drivers of the changes? 2) How would the potential change in CO2 and CH4 budgets relate to surface hydrology such as increased wetness and types of the wetlands and water bodies (such as thermokarst lakes).

The Kresge Foundation works to expand opportunities for those living in America's cities, including efforts to reduce the negative health consequences affiliated with climate change, which the foundation believes to be the greatest public health threat of the twenty-first century. To that end, the foundation is accepting applications for its Climate Change, Health and Equity initiative. Through the initiative, grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded to as many as fifteen community-based nonprofits working to implement solutions that address the links between climate change, health, and equity. To be eligible for a grant, programs must be rooted in racial equality and social justice. The initiative supports programs at the local, regional, and/or state level that have the potential to advance the adoption and implementation of climate mitigation, climate adaption, and climate resilience policies. Following a fourteen-month planning phase, up to twelve organizations will be invited to apply for multiyear implementation grants.

he objectives of this Agreement are to further development of change detection research using an existing methodology developed at Oregon State University by Robert Kennedy termed LandTrendr. The two networks both utilize this approach as part of their respective long-term monitoring programs and rely on its development as technology changes. In addition to LandTrendr, OSU has also developed a companion stand-alone program called TimeSync which is crucial during the validation of the LandTrendr-delineated disturbances. This tool also needs to be upgraded to be compatible with current Windows operating systems. This agreement would allow the I&M networks to work collaboratively with OSU to ensure I&M networks receive the specific tools they need to continue their respective long-term monitoring programs without interruption. Oregon State University will also facilitate easier use of LandTrendr for the public and other researchers because this service is being moved to cloud computing which will greatly increase compute speed, decrease the amount of data storage necessary at the network offices, and remove the need for high level computing within the office. STATEMENT OF WORK RECIPIENT AGREES TO: 1. Provide computer code on running LandTrendr through Google Earth Engine 2. Provide documented workflow on Google Earth Engine 3. Provide computer code to process output rasters of changes to polygons of change 4. Provide updated version of TimeSync compatible with Windows 10 5. Provide documented workflow on installing and running TimeSync

This project will be conducted in two phases as funds become available. Overall, the entire project will educate an array of audiences to the effects of climate change in two of Alaskas National Parks and Preserves in an interactive online fashion as told by those who have experienced or observed changes over time. It will capture through oral interviews the effects of climate change in both parks, providing opportunity for audiences to draw comparisons to two distinct regions of Alaska. Where applicable, interviews will pay particular attention to: vegetation succession; retreating glaciers; vertical advance of tree lines; changes to coastal lagoons and formation of sea ice; shoreline erosion; permafrost melt; and shifts in phenology.

This program will investigate the base of the Selawik River basin aquatic food web, and link it to the anticipated increase in terrestrial inputs of carbon and nitrogen to the aquatic ecosystem as a result of climate change. The main objectives are: 1) assess the quality and quantity of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC), organic and inorganic nitrogen, and phosphorus released with increased soil thaw depth during spring and early summer, and its entry to the aquatic ecosystem; 2) quantify change in aquatic microbial, mainly bacterial, respiration and production rates with change in DOC quality and quantity; and 3) examine how change in terrestrial DOC and nitrogen inputs to the aquatic ecosystem might alter the rate of phytoplankton primary production, the community composition, and energy (lipid) content.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research that will contribute to an improved ability to understand and anticipate the public health and environmental impacts and behavioral drivers of significant changes in energy production and consumption in the United States, particularly those changes associated with advancing toward the deep decarbonization necessary to achieve national and international climate change mitigation objectives and avoid the most significant health, environmental, and economic impacts of climate change. The proposed research is intended to contribute to the development of new insights and predictive tools related to the multimedia, life-cycle impacts of the decarbonization of electricity generation; the electrification of end uses; the adoption of low-carbon emitting, renewable fuels; and the adoption of energy efficiency measures. The proposed research is also intended to contribute to an improved understanding of the drivers of individual, firm (i.e. business), and community decisions that affect energy consumption patterns, including decisions about the adoption of new technologies and energy efficiency measures.

The consequences of climate variability and change are becoming more immediate and profound than previously anticipated. Over recent decades, the world has witnessed the onset of prolonged droughts on several continents, increased frequency of floods, loss of agricultural and forest productivity, degraded ocean and permafrost ecosystems, global sea level rise and the rapid retreat of ice sheets and glaciers, loss of arctic sea ice, and changes in ocean currents. These important impacts highlight that climate variability and change can have significant effects on decadal and shorter time scales, with significant consequences for plant, animal, human, and physical systems. The EaSM funding opportunity enables interagency cooperation on one of the most pressing problems of the millennium: climate change and??how it is likely to affect our world. It allows the partner agencies -- National Science Foundation (NSF) and??U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while??avoiding duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.This interdisciplinary scientific challenge calls for the development and application of next-generation Earth System Models that include coupled and interactive representations of such??components as ocean and atmospheric currents, agricultural working lands and forests,?? biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry,?? the water cycle and land ice.?? This solicitation seeks to attract scientists from the disciplines of geosciences, agricultural sciences, mathematics and statistics. Successful proposals will develop intellectual excitement in the participating disciplinary communities and engage diverse interdisciplinary teams with sufficient breadth to achieve the scientific objectives. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is focused on providing the essential and highest quality environmental information vital to our Nation's safety, prosperity and resilience. Toward this goal, the agency conducts and supports weather and climate research, oceanic and atmospheric observations, modeling, information management, assessments, interdisciplinary decision-support research, outreach, education, and partnership development. Climate variability and change present society with significant economic, health, safety, and security challenges and opportunities. In meeting these challenges, and as part of NOAA's climate portfolio within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Climate Program Office (CPO) advances scientific understanding, monitoring, and prediction of climate and its impacts, to enable effective decisions. This funding opportunity focuses on the Climate Variability and Predictability (CVP) Program. The CVP Program supports research that enhances our process-level understanding of the climate system through observation, modeling, analysis, and field studies. This vital knowledge is needed to improve climate models and predictions so that scientists and society can better anticipate the impacts of future climate variability and change. To achieve its mission, the CVP Program invests in NOAA mission-critical research, which is carried out at NOAA and other federal laboratories, NOAA Cooperative Institutes, academic institutions and private sector research entities. The Program also coordinates its sponsored projects with major national and international scientific bodies including the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) - especially CLIVAR (Climate and Ocean Variability, Predictability and Change) and GEWEX (Global Energy and Water Cycle Exchanges) programs - and the U.S. Global Change Research program (USGCRP). Specific details of this funding opportunity are contained in the Full Announcement Text.

The goal of research funded under the interdisciplinary P2C2 solicitation is to utilize key geological, chemical, atmospheric (gas in ice cores), and biological records of climate system variability to provide insights into the mechanisms and rate of change that characterized Earth's past climate variability, the sensitivity of Earth's climate system to changes in forcing, and the response of key components of the Earth system to these changes.

The goal of research funded under the interdisciplinary P2C2 solicitation is to utilize key geological, chemical, atmospheric (gas in ice cores), and biological records of climate system variability to provide insights into the mechanisms and rate of change that characterized Earth's past climate variability, the sensitivity of Earth's climate system to changes in forcing, and the response of key components of the Earth system to these changes.  Important scientific objectives of P2C2 are to: 1) provide comprehensive paleoclimate data sets that can serve as model test data sets analogous to instrumental observations; and 2) enable transformative syntheses of paleoclimate data and modeling outcomes to understand the response of the longer-term and higher magnitude variability of the climate system that is observed in the geological and cryospheric records. 

Projects must be designed to advance understanding of the impacts of or mitigating strategies for climate change. This may include but is not limited to understanding the impacts of climate change on water resources and natural resource preservation, tracking and predicting (human or animal) migration patterns based on changing weather conditions, developing models to analyze and improve crop or livestock resilience and yields in regions with extreme weather conditions, and more.

Energy cooperation is a central element of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership. Recognizing the need to address climate change, ensure mutual energy security, and build a clean energy economy that drives investment, job creation, and economic growth; India and the United States launched the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) on November 24, 2009 under the U.S.-India Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation on Energy Security, Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy and Climate Change. As a priority initiative under the PACE umbrella, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Government of India signed an agreement to establish the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC) on November 4, 2010. The JCERDC is designed to promote clean energy innovation by teams of scientists and engineers from India and the United States.

Energy cooperation is a central element of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership. Recognizing the need to address climate change, ensure mutual energy security, and build a clean energy economy that drives investment, job creation, and economic growth; India and the United States launched the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) on November 24, 2009 under the U.S.-India Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation on Energy Security, Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy and Climate Change. As a priority initiative under the PACE umbrella, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Government of India signed an agreement to establish the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC) on November 4, 2010. The JCERDC is designed to promote clean energy innovation by teams of scientists and engineers from India and the United States.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to the Arctic Sciences Section, Division of Polar Programs (PLR) to conduct research about the Arctic region. The goal of this solicitation is to attract research proposals that advance a fundamental, process, and systems-level understanding of the Arctic's rapidly changing natural environment and social and cultural systems, and, where appropriate, to improve our capacity to project future change. The Arctic Sciences Section supports research focused on the Arctic region and its connectivity with lower latitudes.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to the Arctic Sciences Section, Division of Polar Programs (PLR) to conduct research about the Arctic region. The goal of this solicitation is to attract research proposals that advance a fundamental, process, and systems-level understanding of the Arctic's rapidly changing natural environment and social and cultural systems, and, where appropriate, to improve our capacity to project future change. The Arctic Sciences Section supports research focused on the Arctic region and its connectivity with lower latitudes.

NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (Plan) in consultation with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (Team) to reduce the serious injury and mortality of several large whale species in U.S. commercial fisheries along the Atlantic coast. The Plan primarily addresses entanglement of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), although other large whale species expected to also benefit. The Plan has several monitoring components, including research priorities on: 1) identification of specific metrics for quantifying right whale abundance, trends in abundance, and trajectory of the population; 2) based on these metrics, determine most appropriate right whale survey and sampling methods/regimes to monitor the population and to detect and measure changes in population abundance; 3) Assess relative effectiveness of right whale threat-reduction measures; 4) identify most appropriate sampling and survey methods to assess possible changes in right whale distribution; and 5) Strategic evaluation of right whale assessment methods - appropriate balance of visual (vessel/aerial) surveys, passive acoustic moorings, gliders, and other assessment techniques. We are soliciting competitive proposals for grants and cooperative agreements that work to address any of the five monitoring priorities identified above. Total funding available under this notice is expected not to exceed $150,000. Actual funding availability for this program is contingent upon FY 2017 Federal appropriations. Award amounts will be determined by the proposals and available funds; one or more grants may be awarded.

NOAA Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (Plan) in consultation with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (Team) to reduce the serious injury and mortality of several large whale species in U.S. commercial fisheries along the Atlantic coast. The Plan primarily addresses entanglement of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), although other large whale species expected to also benefit. The Plan has several monitoring components, including research priorities on: 1) identification of specific metrics for quantifying right whale abundance, trends in abundance, and trajectory of the population; 2) based on these metrics, determine most appropriate right whale survey and sampling methods/regimes to monitor the population and to detect and measure changes in population abundance; 3) Assess relative effectiveness of right whale threat-reduction measures; 4) identify most appropriate sampling and survey methods to assess possible changes in right whale distribution; and 5) Strategic evaluation of right whale assessment methods - appropriate balance of visual (vessel/aerial) surveys, passive acoustic moorings, gliders, and other assessment techniques. We are soliciting competitive proposals for grants and cooperative agreements that work to address any of the five monitoring priorities identified above. Total funding available under this notice is expected not to exceed $150,000. Actual funding availability for this program is contingent upon FY 2017 Federal appropriations. Award amounts will be determined by the proposals and available funds; one or more grants may be awarded.

Cities and communities in the U.S. and around the world are entering a new era of transformational change, in which their inhabitants and the surrounding built and natural environments are increasingly connected by smart technologies, leading to new opportunities for innovation, improved services, and enhanced quality of life. The goal of this Smart & Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation is to support strongly interdisciplinary, integrative research and research capacity-building activities that will improve understanding of smart and connected communities and lead to discoveries that enable sustainable change to enhance community functioning. Unless stated otherwise, for the purposes of this year's solicitation, communities are physical, geographically-defined entities, such as towns, cities, or incorporated rural areas, consisting of various populations, with a governance structure and the ability to engage in meaningful ways with the proposed research.

Cities and communities in the U.S. and around the world are entering a new era of transformational change, in which their inhabitants and the surrounding built and natural environments are increasingly connected by smart technologies, leading to new opportunities for innovation, improved services, and enhanced quality of life. The goal of this Smart & Connected Communities (S&CC) solicitation is to support strongly interdisciplinary, integrative research and research capacity-building activities that will improve understanding of smart and connected communities and lead to discoveries that enable sustainable change to enhance community functioning. Unless stated otherwise, for the purposes of this year's solicitation, communities are physical, geographically-defined entities, such as towns, cities, or incorporated rural areas, consisting of various populations, with a governance structure and the ability to engage in meaningful ways with the proposed research.

The goal of research funded under the interdisciplinary P2C2 solicitation is to utilize key geological, chemical, atmospheric (gas in ice cores), and biological records of climate system variability to provide insights into the mechanisms and rate of change that characterized Earth's past climate variability, the sensitivity of Earth's climate system to changes in forcing, and the response of key components of the Earth system to these changes. Important scientific objectives of P2C2 are to: 1) provide comprehensive paleoclimate data sets that can serve as model test data sets analogous to instrumental observations; and 2) enable transformative syntheses of paleoclimate data and modeling outcomes to understand the response of the longer-term and higher magnitude variability of the climate system that is observed in the geological and cryospheric records.

The Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG) Program provides funding for eligible applicants for projects that address local environmental and public health issues within an affected community. The EJSG Program is designed to help communities understand and address exposure to multiple environmental harms and risks. The long-term goals of the EJSG Program are to help build the capacity of communities with environmental justice concerns and to create self-sustaining, community-based partnerships that will continue to improve local environments in the future. The fiscal year 2015 program will consider proposals supporting community-based preparedness and resilience efforts (community climate resiliency). The goal is to recognize the critical role of localized efforts in helping communities shape climate change strategies to avoid, lessen, or delay the risks and impacts associated with climate change. An overarching goal of including this emphasis is to help bolster the efforts of underrepresented communities to address climate change vulnerabilities and develop solutions.