NOAA opportunity to share

[Rhiannon Hampson-Office]

Hi OA Folks,

I wanted to share this opportunity for funding through NOAA to better understand the connection between OA and harmful algae blooms. The deadline for the LOI is October 14th and the application deadline is in January of 2022.

Best,

Rhiannon

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a new 2022 Federal Funding Opportunity for projects that address the growing need to understand interactions between ocean acidification (OA) and harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their cascading impacts to coastal ecosystems, communities, and economies to inform management decisions.

 

NOAA is making $1.5 million available through this competition to fund 3 to 5 projects for one year. If more funds become available for this program, the selected projects are expected to be funded at the level of $300,00 to $500,000 per year per proposal. Projects are expected not to exceed 3 years in duration. Funding is contingent upon the availability of Fiscal Year 2022 Federal appropriations. 

 

How to apply:  The deadline for a letter of intent, which is required to submit a full application, is October 14, 2021. The deadline for full applications is January 19, 2022. The full Federal Funding Opportunity is here.  

 

Background:  There is growing concern regarding HAB and OA co-occurrence and impacts.  OA and HABs have some common drivers in coastal areas and often co-occur in space and time, which will likely become more common in the future.  They can impact the same coastal resources (e.g., aquaculture, wild fisheries, and tourism) in different ways, and there may be synergistic or antagonistic effects that are not recognized by current research efforts.  While past research has provided insights into the many factors that regulate HAB dynamics, toxicity, and impacts, only a few of these have included OA. Similarly, OA studies have examined ocean biogeochemistry and impacts to marine resources and economies and have started to expand into multi-stressor research studies (e.g., with hypoxia and warming). Recent studies indicate that increased carbon dioxide concentrations support higher phytoplankton densities and that OA parameters have variable effects on growth rate and cellular toxin production in different HAB species and strains.

 

Funding is being provided by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and Ocean Acidification Program (OAP).

 

Please let us know if you have any questions.