Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00406

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00406

This funding opportunity (G23AS00406) is a US Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement offered through the North Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). It is designed specifically for an eligible CESU-affiliated partner to provide technical assistance to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) focused on ticks and tick-borne diseases associated with wildlife in northern New England. The core idea is to generate practical, decision-ready science that helps agencies manage growing tick risks that affect wildlife health, domestic animals, and public health, while building long-term regional capacity for surveillance and response.

The funded work centers on developing and testing integrated tick management approaches, meaning strategies that combine multiple tools rather than relying on a single intervention. The opportunity highlights three major management levers: tick biocontrol (methods that suppress ticks using biological agents or biologically based techniques), wildlife species management (actions that affect host abundance, movement, or exposure), and wildlife habitat management (land or habitat practices that reduce tick survival or contact rates). Rather than treating these as separate tracks, the project is expected to weave them into a coordinated approach that can be applied across different jurisdictions in northern New England, reflecting the reality that ticks, wildlife, and diseases do not follow state or property boundaries.

A key emphasis is on a targeted set of tick species that represent distinct ecological and management concerns. Winter ticks are a focal point because of their outsized impacts on moose populations, including heavy infestations that can contribute to poor condition and mortality. The invasive Asian longhorned tick is also prioritized due to its relevance for domestic animal health and its potential to expand or change local tick dynamics. In addition, the project addresses ticks of major public health importance such as the blacklegged tick and the lone star tick, particularly when these ticks are found on wildlife or use wildlife as bloodmeal hosts, linking wildlife ecology to human disease risk.

One of the most important deliverables described is the co-production of a regional tick surveillance sampling strategy. In practice, that means the CESU partner and USGS will work alongside federal, state, and tribal natural resource management agencies to design surveillance that is standardized enough to compare across places and time, while also being realistic for agencies to implement. The description stresses coordination to avoid duplicative sampling and to ensure the results are actionable, so the surveillance plan is not just academic, but directly supports on-the-ground decisions about where to focus monitoring, management, or outreach.

Beyond surveillance planning, the opportunity calls for field evaluation of tick biocontrol methods, chosen in consultation with federal and state agencies. The goal is to assess efficacy under real-world conditions, not just in lab settings, so that agencies can judge whether a biocontrol approach is worth adopting, scaling, or integrating with other interventions. Alongside efficacy testing, the CESU partner (described as a university partner) will collaborate with USGS to evaluate potential non-target effects, meaning any unintended impacts of biocontrol on wildlife, other organisms, or the broader environment. This is a crucial component because management actions that reduce ticks must also be defensible from an ecological risk perspective, especially in sensitive habitats or when agencies are accountable to multiple stakeholders.

The grant also places strong weight on building durable regional capacity. To support long-term interjurisdictional monitoring for ticks and tick-borne diseases, the CESU partner will work with USGS to deliver training workshops for biologists and technicians from natural resource management agencies. These workshops are intended to spread consistent methods, strengthen identification and sampling skills, and help agencies sustain surveillance beyond the life of a single project. The partner is also expected to actively participate in multi-sectoral and interjurisdictional workshops and meetings related to tick-borne disease management, with particular attention to those facilitated by USGS, reinforcing that the work is meant to be collaborative, aligned, and continually informed by agency needs.

Public communication is another explicit part of the scope. The CESU partner will support outreach efforts during Vector Week and help develop educational resources for teachers. This indicates the project is not limited to technical audiences; it is also meant to translate findings into accessible materials that improve public understanding, encourage prevention, and support community-level awareness in regions experiencing changing tick dynamics.

Information sharing and products are expected to span multiple formats to reach both decision-makers and scientific audiences. The notice mentions federal reports, peer-reviewed manuscripts, presentations, and participation in meetings with federal, state, and tribal natural resource management agencies. Taken together, these dissemination pathways point to a project designed to both advance scientific understanding of tick ecology and tick-borne disease risk in northern New England and to deliver management-relevant outputs that agencies can use for planning and implementation.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity issued as a cooperative agreement (not a simple grant), which typically means USGS expects substantial involvement in shaping the work, coordinating partners, and ensuring the outputs meet DOI needs. The assistance is offered under CFDA 15.808. Eligibility is limited to organizations that are participating partners in the North Atlantic Coast CESU network. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $333,333 and was originally posted on 2023-06-13 with an original closing date of 2023-07-21. Overall, the project is framed as a regional, cross-jurisdiction effort to understand and respond to shifting tick threats while testing integrated management options and strengthening the surveillance and training backbone needed for sustained action.

• 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 North Atlantic Coast 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 2023-06-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-07-21. (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 $333,333.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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