Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G24AS00258

Opportunity Information: Apply for G24AS00258

This opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G24AS00258) is a US Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement being offered through the USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK). It sits under the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, which is designed to support collaborations that deliver research, technical assistance, and education. The competition is discretionary and uses a cooperative agreement instrument, meaning USGS is expected to have substantial involvement in the work rather than simply issuing a hands-off grant.

The focus of the project is improving understanding of how climate change is reshaping snowpack characteristics and avalanche behavior, with particular attention to the growing risk of wet snow avalanches under a warming climate. The description frames a key concern: avalanche regimes may shift from traditionally colder, drier conditions toward warmer, wetter conditions, which can change not only how often avalanches occur, but also how large they get, how destructive they are, and where they are most likely to happen. Because wet snow avalanches are increasingly relevant to public safety yet still relatively poorly understood compared to other avalanche types, the work is positioned as both timely and high value for hazard forecasting and risk reduction.

A central deliverable implied by the notice is forward-looking projections. The proposed work will build on existing USGS research, specifically recent regional avalanche-dendrochronology (using tree-ring evidence to reconstruct past avalanche activity) and snowpack modeling efforts led by the USGS principal investigator E. Peitzsch. By combining those foundations with additional analysis and likely remote sensing support for snowpack property characterization, the project aims to project future changes in snowpack properties, avalanche frequency, and avalanche character (for example, changes in avalanche type, timing, magnitude, and wetness). It also highlights spatial landscape change associated with large-magnitude or extreme avalanche events, suggesting an emphasis on mapping and understanding how terrain-level patterns and impacts may evolve across regions.

The overarching research question is explicitly stated: how will snowpack properties and avalanche frequency and character change across space and time in the future, and what primary drivers explain the variability. In practical terms, that means identifying which climate variables and snowpack metrics are most responsible for observed and projected changes, and how those relationships differ from place to place and through time. The notice also connects the research to applied decision-making, particularly for water resource managers who need better information to plan for declining snowpacks and strengthen community resilience. In that sense, the work is positioned at the intersection of hazard science (avalanches) and water/climate adaptation planning (snowpack as a water storage reservoir).

Eligibility is restricted to partners affiliated with the North Atlantic Coast CESU Program. While the research topic is centered on snowpack and avalanches, the administrative requirement is clear: applicants must be participating partners of that CESU, which is a standard CESU limitation intended to keep awards within the established network of partner institutions.

Key administrative details included in the source data are: the CFDA number is 15.808; the activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development; the award ceiling is $130,000; and the original closing date was March 21, 2024. The opportunity was created on February 21, 2024.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-02-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-21. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $130,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G24AS00258

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