FFO-2025

Overview of FFO-2025 – Long-Term Trends in the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem

This funding opportunity (full announcement) is designed to support projects that will contribute to our knowledge of the trends and variability in the Gulf of Mexico’s natural resources, and the associated dynamics of abiotic and biotic factors driving those trends.

Projects should meet the needs of the end user community with a focus on improving our ability to manage natural resources. Applicants must clearly state the targeted natural resources and area(s) of emphasis (see below) for their project and clearly identify the resource management entities and any interested parties with whom they plan to work.

This funding opportunity is an open competition. All proposals will be evaluated and scored individually using an independent peer-review process. This process is designed to identify the strongest proposals based on the merit of the work being proposed.

Priority

This federal funding opportunity invites proposals that plan to identify, track, understand, or predict trends and variability in the Gulf of Mexico’s natural resources and the abiotic and biotic factors driving those trends. Applicants are required to form a team of researchers, resource managers, and other interested parties focused on the natural resource(s) they intend to investigate. 

Applicants are encouraged to propose research that aligns with one or more of three areas of emphasis identified from that process: 

1. Climate change – Research in this area should investigate if long-term trends and variability in key natural resources in the Gulf Region are or will be impacted by changes in the climate and its associated variability (e.g., extreme events such as hurricanes, precipitation events, drought, heat waves, etc.).  

2. Water quality and quantity – Research in this area should investigate if long-term trends and variability in key natural resources in the Gulf region are impacted or will be impacted by water quality and/or quantity (e.g., nutrient status and cycling, saltwater intrusion, harmful algal blooms, salinity dynamics, wastewater management, flooding, etc.).

3. Fish, fisheries, and fishing communities – Research in this area should investigate long-term trends and variability in fish stocks, fisheries, and fishing communities that enhance our understanding or lead to improved management of managed or endangered species, spawning aggregations, aquaculture, fisheries, and stressors. 

Applicants may also choose to propose a project that tracks long-term trends and variability in key natural resources in the Gulf region outside of these three areas of emphasis. If an applicant chooses to do so, they must have a strong justification for selecting an abiotic or biotic factor that does not fall within the three areas of emphasis described above. 

Click below for complete details on this funding opportunity. Click on the Related Documents tab and unzip file to read the full PDF.

Amount of Funding

NOAA is making approximately $17.5 million available through this competition to fund approximately six projects for up to five years, with the option for a five-year, non-competitive renewal award for high-performing projects.  

Key Dates

The Science Program will provide an overview of the funding competition and answer questions during public webinars on March 29 & April 11.

To join a session, please register at the following links:

• Webinar 1: Friday, March 29 from 2-3 pm ET. View recording below.
• Webinar 2: Thursday, April 11 from 11am-12pm ET. Register here. 

All applicants must submit a letter of intent by 11:59 pm ET on May 23, 2024 in order to submit a full proposal (see sections IV.B.B.1 and IV.D.1 of the full announcement). Once a letter of intent has been checked for the required components, the applicant will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.

Full proposals are due by 11:59 pm ET on August 22, 2024.

View the Informational Webinar

FFO-2025 informational webinar slides can be viewed here.

eRA Commons Registration Information

Important considerations for applicants:

1. All applicant and recipient organizations registering in eRA Commons should be aware that registration may take up to four weeks to complete.
2. For Unique Entity ID (UEI) associated with the eRA Commons registration, organizations must maintain an active registration in SAM.gov.
3. Organizations intending to apply for grants after January 2024 must register with eRA Commons, including establishing a Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account before submitting an application.

Please review these documents and tutorials for more details:

• Introduction to eRA for Applicants/Recipients Presentation
• Introduction to eRA – Information Sheet
• eRA Commons Registration for Applicant/Recipients Presentation
• eRA Commons Registration Business Process Guide
• Video Tutorial: Registering Institutions & Organizations in eRA Commons
• Visit the eRA Training web page for additional information

Additional Information

• Full announcement (See related documents tab, click on link to unzip file)
• Frequently asked questions
• Best practices and guidelines for co-producing actionable science:
  • Beier, P., L.J. Hansen, L. Helbrecht, and D. Behar. 2017. A how-to guide for coproduction of actionable science. Conservation Letters. 10:288-296. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12300
  • Djenontin, I.N. and A.M. Meadow. 2018. The art of co-production of knowledge in environmental sciences and management: Lessons from international practice. Environmental Management. 61:885–903. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1028-3
  • Laudien, R., E. Boon, H. Goosen, and K. van Nieuwaal. 2019. The Dutch adaptation web portal: seven lessons learnt from a co-production point of view. Climatic Change. 153:509–521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-018-2179-1.
  • Miller, B.W., A.J. Symstad, L. Frid, N.A. Fisichelli, and G.W. Schuurman. 2017. Co-producing simulation models to inform resource management: a case study from southwest South Dakota. Ecosphere 8(12):e02020. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2020.
  • Vincent, K., M. Daly, C. Scannell, and B. Leathes. 2018. What can climate services learn from theory and practice of co-production? Climate Services. 12:48-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2018.11.001.