Broader Impact Group (BIG) discussion on SAGE Related Funding Opportunities
SAGE Workshop, Jamaica, June 16, 2015
| sage_workshop_funding_big_-_meeting_notes.docx |
Meeting Notes
Notes to follow are based on the BIG funding group meeting held Tuesday June 16, 2015 at the Jamaica workshop and follow-up discussions held during the workshop and immediately thereafter.
In attendance at Funding BIG group meeting June 16, 2015:
Yaser Abunnasr, Don DeGroot (Group Leader), Fernando Gilbes, Robert Walker, Farrokh Nadim, Pam Patrick (Scribe), Paul Kirshen, and James Kostaras.
1.0 Introduction and Objective
The purpose of the SAGE Broader Impact Groups (BIG) is to form a catalyst of people with clear products and develop processes to work towards those products. The objective of the Funding BIG is to discuss and target specific funding opportunities that appear to be well suited for taking advantage of the various disciplines (geosciences, engineering, planning, policy, etc) and expertise that comprise our SAGE network and to make plans for submitting such proposals. The primary focus is on bringing together multidisciplinary, multi-institution, research teams that can respond to requests for proposals (RFPs) involving large scale (in terms of scope and funding) projects related to resilient coastal infrastructure.
In preparation for the Funding BIG meeting a preliminary search of US federal, state and private funding opportunities was performed and the resultant list was discussed at the meeting.
2.0 Highly Relevant Funding Opportunities
The following large funding programs were determined to be the most highly relevant to SAGE.
1. US National Science Foundation (NSF) Coastal Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES) program. www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504816
2. US NSF Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) program. www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505180
3. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program. www.coast.noaa.gov/resilience-grant/
4. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants. www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/coastalresiliency.html
More details on these programs are given in the Annex at the end of this document.
Group Discussion
NSF Coastal SEES:
‐ current program deadline = October 2, 2015
‐ Paul K. was part of a proposal submitted by UNH (PI Diane Foster) last year and was not selected for funding. UNH is considering resubmitting.
‐ participating NSF Directorates listed in the 2015 call for proposals are Geosciences, Engineering and Biological Sciences. The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) is no longer formally participating in Coastal SEES.
‐ although the Directorate of Engineering is listed, NSF program managers have said engineering is no longer putting any money in the program and thus any proposal with a significant engineering focus is unlikely to be funded.
‐ a review of the recent round (2015) of Coastal SEES award topics include: salt marsh persistence, oyster fisheries, seawater intrusion. PI/Co-PI home departments include: Environmental Science, City and Regional Planning, Physical Sciences, Marine Sciences, Economics, Geography, Civil Engineering, Biology, Forestry and Environmental Resource.
‐ Conclusion: in spite of the above noted changes this program is still highly relevant to the SAGE network. Can SAGE put together a team to prepare a proposal?
NSF CRISP
Program is highly relevant to SAGE although last call for proposals had deadline of March 20, 2015. Not yet known if another call for proposals will happen; will monitor NSF for such.
NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program & Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants
- The primary focus of the Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program is to support regional approaches to building resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors through planning and implementation actions. Current program deadline = July 26, 2015
- The primary focus of the Ecosystem Resiliency Grants program is the development of healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation. Current program deadline = July 2, 2015.
- Kim P. strongly encourages SAGE members to apply for the Regional Coastal Resilience program. Proposals are 10 pages. Requires a match in funding. If we move forward on this we would need to select a specific region. If a Caribbean connection is desired it is noted that Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are both in the Caribbean and part of the US.
- Paul K. has a small part in a 5 state New England group submitting a proposal to the Regional Coastal Resilience Program with the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems as the lead. Paul suggested that SAGE could offer to serve this project in an advisory role.
- Conclusion: SAGE members should submit one or more proposals to this program. Elisabeth H. and Paul K. are considering leading such an effort. Likewise Robert W. is also considering applying with a proposal themed towards sustaining Hawaii’s beaches. Hawaii is outside of SAGE’s geographic area, but perhaps there is an opportunity for research collaboration between the island communities of Hawaii and island communities in the Caribbean.
3.0 Other Funding Sources?
NOAA Sea Grant
In New England, UNH and MIT are the NH and MA members of this program. MIT is the Regional Program manager for New England. Sea Grant is also present in Puerto Rico. While it may vary by state, it is understood that a member will put in a financial “match” of say 25%. Sea Grant network is very competitive internally. Generally there is not a lot of money available.
Other Funding Sources/General Discussion
‐ We could look at other funding sources entirely. For example: The World Bank.
‐ What about Europe? Europeans would be happy to partner with the US, but US partners would have to come with their own funding. Although, there may be a bit of travel funding to get started. US services are always welcome as they help strengthen a proposal.
‐ What about Private Foundations? We can look into the Rockefeller Foundation. While there are not explicit funds in SAGE to put together a package and visit the Rockefeller foundation, we could do a bit of “re-budgeting” if we think it is worthwhile.
‐ US National Academies Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Grant: Needs to be from a developing country with US acting as a partner. SAGE can act as a “supporter” or “advisor”.
‐ What about insurance companies? UMass Boston was having discussions with AIG. Insurance companies have a lot of money. AIG sent an impressive team to the talk (PhDs in risk assessment).
‐ Most work funded by the World Bank / UN are very project based (not research based). Institute for International Urban Development is a non-profit, which often finds itself competing against private companies.
‐ Note that even “project based” funds have some research component. You could study policy, for example, or train communities to do planning. Of course, there could be funds for design work.
‐ We can expect more “resilience” funding to come out of the UN in the future.
4.0 Student Funding
Don D., Tom S. and Elizabeth H. will look into funding opportunities for students. Perhaps supplemental funding for the SAGE NSF RCN grant, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, or maybe NSF International Programs Office. There may be other opportunities (e.g., led by the Caribbean). We could potentially partner the Northeastern US with the Caribbean and send students between the two regions to do case study type of field work.
5.0 Discussion of SAGE Specific Research Focus
Geographic Focus
- The Northeast United States and the Caribbean are our major focus areas. Although we have discussed going to New Orleans to observe gradients. Maybe we can learn from gradients outside our specific study area.
- We may need to partner with (or select) a specific location for some of the more project based funds.
What do We Want to Research?
‐ Green/nature based, hybrid vs structural/gray?
‐ Performance data for nature based and hybrid systems.
‐ One system for high frequency events and another for low frequency events?
‐ What is the effectiveness especially for extreme events?
‐ How relevant is nature based for urban areas?
‐ How do under-resourced communities adapt? How effective are their methods?
‐ How do you assign value on nature based systems?
Living Shoreline Database
- Robert W. has been working to develop a database of existing living shorelines. It has the involvement of representatives from NC Sea Grant, NY Sea Grant, US Naval Academy, VIMS, University of South Alabama, and a few others.
- This is an unfunded effort that has been completed on volunteer time alone, and if there was an opportunity to partner with SAGE on a grant opportunity, it would be great to receive some funds to help maintain the database.
- The site is live at http://www.livingshorelines.mycopri.org/ and we want to get the word out.
- The database provides information relevant to the design of living shore projects (environmental conditions, design criteria, construction materials, performance, etc.)
6.0 Marketing of SAGE Expertise
It was proposed to create a Statement to Expertise document that provides information on the background and expertise of the primary members of the SAGE network. It could include information on member disciplines, experience, geography, etc. The document could be used by individual SAGE members when approaching funding agencies. Likewise in preparing proposals individual SAGE members could use the document to pull together relevant members of a team to build the strongest proposal possible though the SAGE network. Don D., Pam P. and Yaser A. will lead this effort.
7.0 Summary of Outcomes/Current Action Items
1. NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program. Elisabeth H., Paul K., Robert W. looking into preparing proposal(s).
2. NSF SEES. Who could lead the effort in submitting a proposal?
3. NSF CRISP – keep watch for possible new call for proposals in 2016.
4. Educational Funding. Don D., Tom S. and Elisabeth H. to look into opportunities.
5. Statement of Expertise. Don D., Pam P. and Yaser A. to prepare draft.
Annex
Summary of Highly Relevant US Federal Funding Opportunities
A.1 NSF Coastal Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES): Program Solicitation: NSF 14-502 The National Science Foundation’s Coastal SEES program focuses on the sustainability of coastal systems, which include barrier islands, mudflats, beaches, estuaries, cities, towns, recreational areas, maritime facilities, continental seas and shelves, and the overlying atmosphere. The Coastal SEES program, in short, seeks to 1) advance understanding of fundamental, interconnected processes in coastal systems, 2) improve capabilities for predicting future coastal system states and impacts, and 3) identify pathways for research to be translated to policy and management domains, enhancing coastal resilience. The program seeks proposals from interdisciplinary research teams to conduct integrated coastal systems research (which can include theoretical, field, laboratory, or modeling activities). Proposal budgets should be in the range of $800,000 to $2 million (maximum) total, over a period of three to five years. The foundation anticipates a funding amount of $13 million, thus awarding up to 10 proposals depending on availability of funds. Eligibility: U.S. academic institutions (with NSF-supported research areas) and non-profit (non-academic) organizations (such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, or professional societies). The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. proposer’s local time on October 2, 2015
www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504816&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund
A.2 NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program
The Regional Coastal Resilience Grant program will support regional approaches to undertake activities that build resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors to the negative impacts from extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. It will support planning or implementing actions that mitigate the impacts of environmental drivers on overall resilience, including economic and environmental resilience. Funded projects will result in improved information for decision makers and actions that reduce risk, accelerate recovery, and promote adaptation to changing social, economic, and environmental conditions.
Awards will be made to organizations that advance resilience strategies in plans for land and ocean use, disaster preparedness, environmental restoration, hazard mitigation, or other regional, state, or community plans. Successful proposals will demonstrate regional coordination among project stakeholders, leverage resources (such as funds, programs, partnerships, and others), and result in economic and environmental benefits for coastal communities. Project results will be evaluated using clear measures of success.
‐ Proposals are due by July 24, 2015.
‐ Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private (for profit) entities, and local, state, and tribal governments.
‐ Award amounts will range from $500,000 to $1 million for projects lasting up to 36 months. Cost sharing through cash or in-kind matches is expected.
‐ Applicants must conduct projects benefiting coastal communities in one or more of the 35 U.S. coastal states or territories.
www.coast.noaa.gov/resilience-grant/
A.3 NOAA Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants
NOAA has developed the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program to build resilience of coastal ecosystems and communities in the U.S. The Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency awards will fund projects that develop healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation.
Priority will be given to projects that:
‐ restore habitat to support healthy fish populations and provide ecosystem functions that reduce hazards and risks associated with extreme weather events and a changing climate;
‐ provide sustainable and lasting ecological benefits and resiliency to extreme weather events, a changing climate, and allow for adaptation to known or potential climate change impacts;
‐ implement on-the-ground restoration actions that result in immediate beneficial impacts;
‐ demonstrate collaboration among multiple stakeholders;
‐ receive approval from the state governor; and
‐ result in socioeconomic benefits associated with restoration of healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems.
This grant program was developed to complement the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants program, which focuses on the development of safe and productive coastal communities through the development of policies, incentives, regulations, standards, and other tools and strategies.
Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Project Funding at a Glance
‐ Projects will primarily be funded through cooperative agreements.
‐ Up to $4 million will be available in 2015 for 1-3 year projects.
‐ We anticipate typical awards will range from $500,000 to $1 million.
www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/coastalresiliency.html
QUESTION: How do the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants administered by NOAA’s National Ocean Service differ from the Coastal Ecosystem Resilience Grants (Ecosystem Resilience) administered by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service? ANSWER: NOAA has developed these complementary grant programs to build the resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems in the United States. The primary focus of the Ecosystem Resilience program is the development of healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation. The primary focus of the Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program is to support regional approaches to building resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors through planning and implementation actions.
A.4 NSF Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP).
Last call for proposals was March 2015. Synopsis of Program: Critical infrastructures are the mainstay of our nation's economy, security and health. These infrastructures are interdependent. For example, the electrical power system depends on the delivery of fuels to power generating stations through transportation services, the production of those fuels depends in turn on the use of electrical power, and those fuels are needed by the transportation services. The goals of the Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) solicitation are to: (1) foster an interdisciplinary research community of engineers, computer and computational scientists and social and behavioral scientists, that creates new approaches and engineering solutions for the design and operation of infrastructures as processes and services; (2) enhance the understanding and design of interdependent critical infrastructure systems (ICIs) and processes that provide essential goods and services despite disruptions and failures from any cause, natural, technological, or malicious; (3) create the knowledge for innovation in ICIs so that they safely, securely, and effectively expand the range of goods and services they enable; and (4) improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which they deliver existing goods and services. These goals lead to the following specific objectives for this solicitation:
- To create new knowledge, approaches, and engineering solutions to increase resilience, performance, and readiness in ICIs.
- To create theoretical frameworks and multidisciplinary models of ICIs, processes and services, capable of analytical prediction of complex behaviors, in response to system and policy changes.
- To develop frameworks to understand interdependencies created by the interactions between the physical, the cyber (computing, information, computational, sensing and communication), and social, behavioral and economic (SBE) elements of ICIs. These could include, but are not limited to, approaches for: better physical design of ICIs and their placement; the use of new materials; software frameworks for better integration of the software and computing systems embedded in ICIs; software frameworks for modeling and simulation, management, monitoring and control of interdependent ICIs; and novel software engineering methodologies.
- To understand organizational, social, psychological, legal, and economic obstacles to improving ICIs, and identifying strategies for overcoming those obstacles.
The CRISP solicitation seeks proposals with transformative ideas that will ensure ICI services are effective, efficient, dependable, adaptable, resilient, safe, and secure. Successful proposals are expected to study multiple infrastructures focusing on them as interdependent systems that deliver services, enabling a new interdisciplinary paradigm in infrastructure research. To meet the interdisciplinary criterion, proposals must broadly integrate across engineering, computer, information and computational science, and the social, behavioral and economic (SBE) sciences. Proposals that do not meet this criterion may be returned without review. Projects supported under this solicitation may undertake the collection of new data or use existing curated data depending on the category of award, and must recognize that a primary objective is integrative, predictive modeling that can use the data to validate the models and that can be integrated into decision making.
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505180
Notes to follow are based on the BIG funding group meeting held Tuesday June 16, 2015 at the Jamaica workshop and follow-up discussions held during the workshop and immediately thereafter.
In attendance at Funding BIG group meeting June 16, 2015:
Yaser Abunnasr, Don DeGroot (Group Leader), Fernando Gilbes, Robert Walker, Farrokh Nadim, Pam Patrick (Scribe), Paul Kirshen, and James Kostaras.
1.0 Introduction and Objective
The purpose of the SAGE Broader Impact Groups (BIG) is to form a catalyst of people with clear products and develop processes to work towards those products. The objective of the Funding BIG is to discuss and target specific funding opportunities that appear to be well suited for taking advantage of the various disciplines (geosciences, engineering, planning, policy, etc) and expertise that comprise our SAGE network and to make plans for submitting such proposals. The primary focus is on bringing together multidisciplinary, multi-institution, research teams that can respond to requests for proposals (RFPs) involving large scale (in terms of scope and funding) projects related to resilient coastal infrastructure.
In preparation for the Funding BIG meeting a preliminary search of US federal, state and private funding opportunities was performed and the resultant list was discussed at the meeting.
2.0 Highly Relevant Funding Opportunities
The following large funding programs were determined to be the most highly relevant to SAGE.
1. US National Science Foundation (NSF) Coastal Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES) program. www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504816
2. US NSF Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) program. www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505180
3. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program. www.coast.noaa.gov/resilience-grant/
4. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants. www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/coastalresiliency.html
More details on these programs are given in the Annex at the end of this document.
Group Discussion
NSF Coastal SEES:
‐ current program deadline = October 2, 2015
‐ Paul K. was part of a proposal submitted by UNH (PI Diane Foster) last year and was not selected for funding. UNH is considering resubmitting.
‐ participating NSF Directorates listed in the 2015 call for proposals are Geosciences, Engineering and Biological Sciences. The Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) is no longer formally participating in Coastal SEES.
‐ although the Directorate of Engineering is listed, NSF program managers have said engineering is no longer putting any money in the program and thus any proposal with a significant engineering focus is unlikely to be funded.
‐ a review of the recent round (2015) of Coastal SEES award topics include: salt marsh persistence, oyster fisheries, seawater intrusion. PI/Co-PI home departments include: Environmental Science, City and Regional Planning, Physical Sciences, Marine Sciences, Economics, Geography, Civil Engineering, Biology, Forestry and Environmental Resource.
‐ Conclusion: in spite of the above noted changes this program is still highly relevant to the SAGE network. Can SAGE put together a team to prepare a proposal?
NSF CRISP
Program is highly relevant to SAGE although last call for proposals had deadline of March 20, 2015. Not yet known if another call for proposals will happen; will monitor NSF for such.
NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program & Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants
- The primary focus of the Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program is to support regional approaches to building resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors through planning and implementation actions. Current program deadline = July 26, 2015
- The primary focus of the Ecosystem Resiliency Grants program is the development of healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation. Current program deadline = July 2, 2015.
- Kim P. strongly encourages SAGE members to apply for the Regional Coastal Resilience program. Proposals are 10 pages. Requires a match in funding. If we move forward on this we would need to select a specific region. If a Caribbean connection is desired it is noted that Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are both in the Caribbean and part of the US.
- Paul K. has a small part in a 5 state New England group submitting a proposal to the Regional Coastal Resilience Program with the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems as the lead. Paul suggested that SAGE could offer to serve this project in an advisory role.
- Conclusion: SAGE members should submit one or more proposals to this program. Elisabeth H. and Paul K. are considering leading such an effort. Likewise Robert W. is also considering applying with a proposal themed towards sustaining Hawaii’s beaches. Hawaii is outside of SAGE’s geographic area, but perhaps there is an opportunity for research collaboration between the island communities of Hawaii and island communities in the Caribbean.
3.0 Other Funding Sources?
NOAA Sea Grant
In New England, UNH and MIT are the NH and MA members of this program. MIT is the Regional Program manager for New England. Sea Grant is also present in Puerto Rico. While it may vary by state, it is understood that a member will put in a financial “match” of say 25%. Sea Grant network is very competitive internally. Generally there is not a lot of money available.
Other Funding Sources/General Discussion
‐ We could look at other funding sources entirely. For example: The World Bank.
‐ What about Europe? Europeans would be happy to partner with the US, but US partners would have to come with their own funding. Although, there may be a bit of travel funding to get started. US services are always welcome as they help strengthen a proposal.
‐ What about Private Foundations? We can look into the Rockefeller Foundation. While there are not explicit funds in SAGE to put together a package and visit the Rockefeller foundation, we could do a bit of “re-budgeting” if we think it is worthwhile.
‐ US National Academies Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Grant: Needs to be from a developing country with US acting as a partner. SAGE can act as a “supporter” or “advisor”.
‐ What about insurance companies? UMass Boston was having discussions with AIG. Insurance companies have a lot of money. AIG sent an impressive team to the talk (PhDs in risk assessment).
‐ Most work funded by the World Bank / UN are very project based (not research based). Institute for International Urban Development is a non-profit, which often finds itself competing against private companies.
‐ Note that even “project based” funds have some research component. You could study policy, for example, or train communities to do planning. Of course, there could be funds for design work.
‐ We can expect more “resilience” funding to come out of the UN in the future.
4.0 Student Funding
Don D., Tom S. and Elizabeth H. will look into funding opportunities for students. Perhaps supplemental funding for the SAGE NSF RCN grant, NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, or maybe NSF International Programs Office. There may be other opportunities (e.g., led by the Caribbean). We could potentially partner the Northeastern US with the Caribbean and send students between the two regions to do case study type of field work.
5.0 Discussion of SAGE Specific Research Focus
Geographic Focus
- The Northeast United States and the Caribbean are our major focus areas. Although we have discussed going to New Orleans to observe gradients. Maybe we can learn from gradients outside our specific study area.
- We may need to partner with (or select) a specific location for some of the more project based funds.
What do We Want to Research?
‐ Green/nature based, hybrid vs structural/gray?
‐ Performance data for nature based and hybrid systems.
‐ One system for high frequency events and another for low frequency events?
‐ What is the effectiveness especially for extreme events?
‐ How relevant is nature based for urban areas?
‐ How do under-resourced communities adapt? How effective are their methods?
‐ How do you assign value on nature based systems?
Living Shoreline Database
- Robert W. has been working to develop a database of existing living shorelines. It has the involvement of representatives from NC Sea Grant, NY Sea Grant, US Naval Academy, VIMS, University of South Alabama, and a few others.
- This is an unfunded effort that has been completed on volunteer time alone, and if there was an opportunity to partner with SAGE on a grant opportunity, it would be great to receive some funds to help maintain the database.
- The site is live at http://www.livingshorelines.mycopri.org/ and we want to get the word out.
- The database provides information relevant to the design of living shore projects (environmental conditions, design criteria, construction materials, performance, etc.)
6.0 Marketing of SAGE Expertise
It was proposed to create a Statement to Expertise document that provides information on the background and expertise of the primary members of the SAGE network. It could include information on member disciplines, experience, geography, etc. The document could be used by individual SAGE members when approaching funding agencies. Likewise in preparing proposals individual SAGE members could use the document to pull together relevant members of a team to build the strongest proposal possible though the SAGE network. Don D., Pam P. and Yaser A. will lead this effort.
7.0 Summary of Outcomes/Current Action Items
1. NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program. Elisabeth H., Paul K., Robert W. looking into preparing proposal(s).
2. NSF SEES. Who could lead the effort in submitting a proposal?
3. NSF CRISP – keep watch for possible new call for proposals in 2016.
4. Educational Funding. Don D., Tom S. and Elisabeth H. to look into opportunities.
5. Statement of Expertise. Don D., Pam P. and Yaser A. to prepare draft.
Annex
Summary of Highly Relevant US Federal Funding Opportunities
A.1 NSF Coastal Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES): Program Solicitation: NSF 14-502 The National Science Foundation’s Coastal SEES program focuses on the sustainability of coastal systems, which include barrier islands, mudflats, beaches, estuaries, cities, towns, recreational areas, maritime facilities, continental seas and shelves, and the overlying atmosphere. The Coastal SEES program, in short, seeks to 1) advance understanding of fundamental, interconnected processes in coastal systems, 2) improve capabilities for predicting future coastal system states and impacts, and 3) identify pathways for research to be translated to policy and management domains, enhancing coastal resilience. The program seeks proposals from interdisciplinary research teams to conduct integrated coastal systems research (which can include theoretical, field, laboratory, or modeling activities). Proposal budgets should be in the range of $800,000 to $2 million (maximum) total, over a period of three to five years. The foundation anticipates a funding amount of $13 million, thus awarding up to 10 proposals depending on availability of funds. Eligibility: U.S. academic institutions (with NSF-supported research areas) and non-profit (non-academic) organizations (such as independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, or professional societies). The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. proposer’s local time on October 2, 2015
www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504816&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund
A.2 NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program
The Regional Coastal Resilience Grant program will support regional approaches to undertake activities that build resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors to the negative impacts from extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions. It will support planning or implementing actions that mitigate the impacts of environmental drivers on overall resilience, including economic and environmental resilience. Funded projects will result in improved information for decision makers and actions that reduce risk, accelerate recovery, and promote adaptation to changing social, economic, and environmental conditions.
Awards will be made to organizations that advance resilience strategies in plans for land and ocean use, disaster preparedness, environmental restoration, hazard mitigation, or other regional, state, or community plans. Successful proposals will demonstrate regional coordination among project stakeholders, leverage resources (such as funds, programs, partnerships, and others), and result in economic and environmental benefits for coastal communities. Project results will be evaluated using clear measures of success.
‐ Proposals are due by July 24, 2015.
‐ Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private (for profit) entities, and local, state, and tribal governments.
‐ Award amounts will range from $500,000 to $1 million for projects lasting up to 36 months. Cost sharing through cash or in-kind matches is expected.
‐ Applicants must conduct projects benefiting coastal communities in one or more of the 35 U.S. coastal states or territories.
www.coast.noaa.gov/resilience-grant/
A.3 NOAA Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants
NOAA has developed the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program to build resilience of coastal ecosystems and communities in the U.S. The Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency awards will fund projects that develop healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation.
Priority will be given to projects that:
‐ restore habitat to support healthy fish populations and provide ecosystem functions that reduce hazards and risks associated with extreme weather events and a changing climate;
‐ provide sustainable and lasting ecological benefits and resiliency to extreme weather events, a changing climate, and allow for adaptation to known or potential climate change impacts;
‐ implement on-the-ground restoration actions that result in immediate beneficial impacts;
‐ demonstrate collaboration among multiple stakeholders;
‐ receive approval from the state governor; and
‐ result in socioeconomic benefits associated with restoration of healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems.
This grant program was developed to complement the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants program, which focuses on the development of safe and productive coastal communities through the development of policies, incentives, regulations, standards, and other tools and strategies.
Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Project Funding at a Glance
‐ Projects will primarily be funded through cooperative agreements.
‐ Up to $4 million will be available in 2015 for 1-3 year projects.
‐ We anticipate typical awards will range from $500,000 to $1 million.
www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/coastalresiliency.html
QUESTION: How do the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants administered by NOAA’s National Ocean Service differ from the Coastal Ecosystem Resilience Grants (Ecosystem Resilience) administered by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service? ANSWER: NOAA has developed these complementary grant programs to build the resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems in the United States. The primary focus of the Ecosystem Resilience program is the development of healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation. The primary focus of the Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program is to support regional approaches to building resilience of coastal regions, communities, and economic sectors through planning and implementation actions.
A.4 NSF Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP).
Last call for proposals was March 2015. Synopsis of Program: Critical infrastructures are the mainstay of our nation's economy, security and health. These infrastructures are interdependent. For example, the electrical power system depends on the delivery of fuels to power generating stations through transportation services, the production of those fuels depends in turn on the use of electrical power, and those fuels are needed by the transportation services. The goals of the Critical Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Systems and Processes (CRISP) solicitation are to: (1) foster an interdisciplinary research community of engineers, computer and computational scientists and social and behavioral scientists, that creates new approaches and engineering solutions for the design and operation of infrastructures as processes and services; (2) enhance the understanding and design of interdependent critical infrastructure systems (ICIs) and processes that provide essential goods and services despite disruptions and failures from any cause, natural, technological, or malicious; (3) create the knowledge for innovation in ICIs so that they safely, securely, and effectively expand the range of goods and services they enable; and (4) improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which they deliver existing goods and services. These goals lead to the following specific objectives for this solicitation:
- To create new knowledge, approaches, and engineering solutions to increase resilience, performance, and readiness in ICIs.
- To create theoretical frameworks and multidisciplinary models of ICIs, processes and services, capable of analytical prediction of complex behaviors, in response to system and policy changes.
- To develop frameworks to understand interdependencies created by the interactions between the physical, the cyber (computing, information, computational, sensing and communication), and social, behavioral and economic (SBE) elements of ICIs. These could include, but are not limited to, approaches for: better physical design of ICIs and their placement; the use of new materials; software frameworks for better integration of the software and computing systems embedded in ICIs; software frameworks for modeling and simulation, management, monitoring and control of interdependent ICIs; and novel software engineering methodologies.
- To understand organizational, social, psychological, legal, and economic obstacles to improving ICIs, and identifying strategies for overcoming those obstacles.
The CRISP solicitation seeks proposals with transformative ideas that will ensure ICI services are effective, efficient, dependable, adaptable, resilient, safe, and secure. Successful proposals are expected to study multiple infrastructures focusing on them as interdependent systems that deliver services, enabling a new interdisciplinary paradigm in infrastructure research. To meet the interdisciplinary criterion, proposals must broadly integrate across engineering, computer, information and computational science, and the social, behavioral and economic (SBE) sciences. Proposals that do not meet this criterion may be returned without review. Projects supported under this solicitation may undertake the collection of new data or use existing curated data depending on the category of award, and must recognize that a primary objective is integrative, predictive modeling that can use the data to validate the models and that can be integrated into decision making.
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505180