The NOAA RESTORE Science Program released its first federal funding opportunity (FFO-2015) on December 17, 2014 (click here for full announcement). The program is seeking proposals that will produce timely and high-quality scientific results that may be used to develop management strategies to support the sustainability of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, including its fisheries. The projects supported by this opportunity will synthesize current scientific understanding and management needs and inform the future direction of the NOAA RESTORE Science Program as well as other science and restoration initiatives in the Gulf of Mexico region.
This funding opportunity is focused on three short-term priorities
- comprehensive inventory and assessment (i.e., strengths and weaknesses) of ongoing ecosystem modeling efforts (conceptual and quantitative)
- identification of currently available health/condition indicators of Gulf of Mexico ecosystem components, including humans, followed by comparative analysis of strengths and weaknesses and design/testing of additional indicators
- assessment of monitoring and observing needs and development of recommendations to build off existing assets to establish a Gulf of Mexico wide monitoring and observing network.
in three topical areas
- ecosystem and living marine resources management
- climate change and extreme weather impacts on sustainability of restoration
- integration of social, behavioral, and economic science into restoration and management of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem
The amount of funding available in this competition will be up to $2.5 million and the program anticipates funding between three and seven projects of one to two years in duration. This amount of funding represents roughly 10% of the funds available to the science program at this time.