Rhode Island Sea Grant is now accepting pre-proposal submissions for the 2022-2024 funding cycle until Friday, February 12, 2021
This Request for Proposals (RFP) is for research projects (individual or multi-institutional) up to 2 years in length to be funded as part of Rhode Island Sea Grant’s 2022-2024 Omnibus Proposal. Project funding will begin 01 February 2022 and end 31 January 2024.
For the 2022–2024 Omnibus, Rhode Island Sea Grant intends to fund projects that integrate Sea Grant’s functional areas of research, education, outreach, and communications, and that are collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and/or multi-institutional in the following topical/thematic areas:
Research that improves understanding of Rust Tides and/or Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and their impacts to Rhode Island’s ecosystems, public health, and aquaculture and wild harvest industries.
Topical research areas include, but are not limited to:
- Ecology of harmful algae blooms (HABs) in Rhode Island waters. Rhode Island Sea Grant has particular interest in research that will investigate Pseudo-nitzschia and Alexandrium species.
- Factors that influence production (or lack) of domoic acid, trigger or hinder bloom events, and/or
- Factors that influence the abundance, distribution, and movement/progression of HAB organisms.
- End-user driven research that results in the development of tools to predict and/or manage HAB events and their progression in Rhode Island waters.
- Ecology of rust tide in Rhode Island waters.
- Factors that trigger bloom events, distribution and abundance, and/or
- Factors that impact shellfish and associated benthic communities and organisms.
- End-user driven research that supports/enhances grower and harvester ability to plan for and mitigate impacts of rust tide events.
Research that enhances understanding and improves end user application of multi-use marine spatial planning tools.
Multi-use is defined as an intentional joint use of ocean space and resources by two or more users in close geographic proximity. Research topics should consider anthropogenic and environmental factors that influence multi-use potential, including but not limited to:
- Assessments of social vulnerability, economic risk, and/or social justice values regarding various uses through cost-benefit or other suitable analyses. For the purposes of this RFP, uses of particular interest are tourism, aquaculture, wild commercial and recreational fisheries,wind/energy production and/or transfer, and recreation.
- Spatial analyses that support tool development and/or multi-use planning processes in Rhode Island waters, including Narragansett Bay, the south shore, and salt pond ecosystems.
An informational meeting for this RFP will be held on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, from 10:30 a.m. –12:00 p.m. via Zoom interface. RSVP to Alan Desbonnet (aland@uri.edu) to gain access to the meeting. Attendance by applicants is optional. This meeting is an opportunity to meet with Rhode Island Sea Grant staff to discuss specifics of this RFP, assess the potential to engage RISG extension, legal, or communications specialists, and address any questions about developing and submitting proposals.
Deadlines
Pre-proposal submission Deadline: 5:00 PM Friday, February 12, 2021.
Full Proposal Submission deadline: 5:00 PM Wednesday, May 26, 2021
