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Competitive Call for Research Projects to Explore the MPA and Climate Resilience Nexus

Grantor:
Ocean Protection Council
Portal ID:
17591
Status:
Closed
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

The overall goal of this solicitation is to understand the role that California’s MPA Network plays in the face of climate change, climate variability, and marine heatwaves in the lives of key species, habitats, or human activities. Projects must be research-based. Applications submitted in response to this solicitation should advance implementation of the OPC’s Strategic Plan to Protect California’s Coast and Ocean 2020-2025.

Description:

Research projects that are designed with scalable and replicable methods and linked with research questions or monitoring components to inform future projects will be prioritized. Projects must inform adaptative management of the MPA Network and be able to directly link research outcomes to potential management tools. Projects should also be responsive to priorities outlined in the Climate Resilience and California’s MPA Network report. Projects should advance scientific understanding of the intersection of California’s MPA Network and climate change, including potential areas of refuge, vulnerability, and resilience. It is anticipated that proposals will focus on one of the three project types outlined below, however proposals that include components of multiple project types will be considered.

The following three project types will be prioritized for funding. Projects that:

Characterize local vulnerability of MPAs across multiple stressors to evaluate the potential of the MPA Network to provide ecological resilience through climate refugia.

Projects should investigate and identify physical, ecological, and biological characteristics of climate refugia in California coastal systems and assess whether MPAs include or promote these conditions. Projects should investigate the spatial distribution of MPAs relative to historic and current stressor exposures and how those stressors are likely to evolve in the future.

Model habitat and species distributions in current and future conditions to inform risk assessments of species, ecosystems, and habitats within MPAs.

Projects should model future species and habitat distributions while considering important conditions that affect focal taxa of MPA monitoring, including but not limited to: physiological tolerances, tipping-point thresholds, species and ecological community range shifts, and genetic diversity. Projects can also feature risk assessments that focus on key managed species or culturally important species and identify those that are most at risk from climate change. Refer to the list of species targeted for long-term MPA monitoring in the 2018 MPA Monitoring Action Plan (Tables 7 - 10, pages 33 - 40). Projects that propose to assess culturally important species should be able to describe how the lead investigators will engage with Tribes and other communities to determine cultural importance.

Assess social values and outcomes relating to MPAs and climate resilience in California.

Projects should aim to understand social resilience outcomes of MPAs in California specifically. Proposed projects could assess the state of the knowledge to identify and assess important gaps in our understanding of the interactions between MPAs and social resilience under a changing climate. Projects should investigate the role that MPAs play in protecting or rehabilitating species or ecosystems that are considered culturally important to different societal groups, or what species or ecosystems are considered important to society (beyond economic or consumptive uses).

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Business
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

•     Local, state, and federal agencies;

•     Public or private universities;

•     Nonprofit organizations (must be a 501(c)(3) as verified by the Internal Revenue Service)

•     Private entities

•     California Native American Tribes, including federally recognized Native American Tribes and non-federally recognized Native American Tribes included on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission

Eligible Geographies:

Grant funds must be used within California.

Matching Funding Requirement:

Matched funding awards extra points during scoring.

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
February 2023
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
18 months

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$634,770
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
1
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
$634,770
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
Yes ( see Description for details )
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
No
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018 (Proposition 68 or “Prop 68”) was approved by voters in June 2018. Funding from Prop 68 is intended to support projects that provide Californians with access to safe natural spaces and to continue investments in the state’s diverse ecosystems to ensure high quality of life for all Californians.

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Reimbursement(s)

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
1-916-902-6366, prop68ch9@resources.ca.gov

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