Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G24AS00373

Opportunity Information: Apply for G24AS00373

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is soliciting proposals under a discretionary financial assistance opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit," issued as a Cooperative Agreement (Funding Opportunity Number G24AS00373). The purpose of this award is to support applied research and development work that strengthens the technical backbone of USGS web-based systems used for technical outreach, data management, and decision support. The focus is strongly oriented toward modernizing and improving the infrastructure and services that help deliver data and tools to partners and stakeholders, particularly where those tools feed into adaptive management decisions.

At its core, the opportunity seeks work that advances several interconnected technical areas. One major area is cloud engineering and networking, meaning improvements to how applications and services are hosted, scaled, monitored, and connected in cloud environments, along with the networking design that keeps those systems reliable and performant. Another priority is geospatial applications, which can include web mapping services, spatial analysis tools, and other GIS-enabled web applications that help users visualize and interpret environmental data. The opportunity also emphasizes data integration and delivery, pointing to efforts that combine datasets from multiple sources, improve data pipelines and APIs, streamline publication workflows, and ensure end users can access data efficiently in forms that support analysis and on-the-ground decisions. In addition, the scope explicitly includes authentication and security support, reflecting the need for secure user access, identity management, authorization controls, and broader cybersecurity practices that protect systems while still enabling appropriate sharing and collaboration across a suite of web applications.

This funding is issued through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program, which is a network of partnerships designed to facilitate research, technical assistance, and education collaborations between federal agencies and participating non-federal partners. In practical terms, this means the award is intended to be collaborative in nature, with substantial involvement expected between USGS and the recipient during the performance of the project, which is characteristic of cooperative agreements compared to more hands-off grant mechanisms. The specific CESU referenced here is the Rocky Mountain CESU, and eligibility is limited accordingly: applicants must already be a participating partner in the Rocky Mountain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. The eligible applicant category is listed as "Others," but the controlling eligibility requirement is CESU partnership status within that particular CESU.

Administratively, the opportunity is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and it is associated with CFDA (Assistance Listing) number 15.808. The opportunity was created on 2024-05-21, with an original closing date of 2024-06-21. The award ceiling is $499,999, indicating the maximum anticipated federal funding level for an individual award under this announcement. The notice lists "ExpectedAwards:" without a number provided in the source data, so the anticipated number of awards is not specified in the excerpt, but the single-award ceiling provides a sense of the scale of a typical project budget being sought.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as targeted support for a Rocky Mountain CESU partner to collaborate with USGS on strengthening the technical infrastructure behind mission-critical web applications. The deliverables implied by the description are improvements that make these systems more robust, secure, and effective at integrating and delivering geospatial and other scientific data to users, with the explicit goal of better enabling adaptive management and informed decision-making.

• 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 Rocky Mountain 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 2024-05-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-21. (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 $499,999.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G24AS00373

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