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The National Science Foundation (NSF) and its staff are deeply concerned for the people and institutions affected by Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. Now that the consequences of Hurricane Harvey are upon us, new science and engineering questions are being raised. Through this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), NSF encourages the submission of proposals that seek to address the challenges related to this storm. NSF also will support fundamental science and engineering research projects whose results may enable our country to better prepare for, respond to, recover from, or mitigate future catastrophic events. Research proposals relating to a better fundamental understanding of the impacts of the storm (physical, biological and societal), human aspects of natural disasters (including first responders and the general public), emergency response methods, and approaches that promise to reduce future damage also are welcome. With NSF support, researchers have a long history of advancing understanding and knowledge about natural and built environments, as well as the relationship between humans and their environments in the context of large-scale disasters. Researchers also have improved our ability to better predict, with longer lead times, the path of tropical cyclones. NSF support for researchers has led to the deployment of underwater rescue robots in an effort to safeguard emergency workers, developed real-time flood potential models, conducted effectiveness assessments of oil plume dispersants, assessed and advised better hazard-resistant buildings, and developed liquefaction mitigation methods in response to earthquakes.

This Program Announcement provides the vehicle for Louisiana State University (LSU) to submit proposals with matching funds to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for consideration for funding in Fiscal Year 2019. This announcement identifies specific proposals that are invited based on a recently completed review of letters of intent submitted by LSU. The Environmental Studies Program (ESP) of the BOEM is offering a cooperative agreement opportunity through Louisiana Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) to LSU and other units within the LSU system that have the ability to conduct research in topics that serve the public interest of safe and environmentally sound energy production and meet the goals of the BOEM. This announcement is specifically to request proposals for the following selected research topics: 1) Investigation of an Ancient Bald Cypress Forest in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Phase 2, 2) Developing and Applying a Novel Morphodynamic Model to Predict Multi-Decadal Effects of Barrier Island Restoration, 3) Investigation of Fluid Mud's Impact on Benthic Ecosystem and Dredge Pits on Louisiana Shelf, 4) Geological and Geophysical Investigation of Mass Wasting on the Mississippi River Delta Front: Characterization of Spatial and Temporal Patterns, 5) Investigation of Increasing Seawater Barite from Oil Production on Gulf of Mexico Corals, 6) Impact of Hurricane Harvey on Sediment Dynamics and Water Quality Along Texas Louisiana Shelf, 7) Thermal, Evaporative, and Momentum Flux Impacts of the Lower Mississippi River on Near-Shore Environmental Processes, 8) Human Impacts of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industries in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Awards will be cooperative agreements. These involve substantial involvement by BOEM scientists in various aspects of study development and/or study conduct. All awards are premised on receipt of an acceptable proposal.

This CRISP 2.0 solicitation responds both to national needs on the resilience of critical infrastructures and to increasing NSF emphasis on transdisciplinary research. In this context, the solicitation is one element of the NSF-wide Risk and Resilience activity, with the overarching goal of advancing knowledge in support of improvement of the nation's infrastructure resilience. The devastating effects of recent disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have underscored that a great deal remains to be done. In addition, CRISP 2.0 is aligned with the NSF-wide frontier thinking on convergence, characterized as "deep integration of knowledge, techniques, and expertise from multiple fields to form new and expanded frameworks for addressing scientific and societal challenges and opportunities".