Award Announcement for FY2009

I am very pleased to announce selections for FY2009 funding under the USGS/FWS Science Support Partnership.  The Science Support Partnership (SSP) is a collaborative program through which USGS scientists address priority research needs identified by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).  The SSP is supported by approximately $4 million of BRD funding each year, of which approximately $1.6 million was available for new activities in FY2009.  38 new projects were selected for funding. Along with 53 on-going activities, SSP will support a total of 91 research and technical assistance activities this year.  

Thank you to all who applied to the program, and congratulations to those selected for funding under this important partnership. 

Fiscal Year 2009 Selections
Information regarding all FY2009 SSP activities is enclosed as an Excel file. Please note that there are three lists displaying similar information in different ways:

Tab 1: FY2009 Selections – Look here to see the results of the most recent RFP. This list includes only the 38 activities newly selected for FY2009.

Tab 2: All projects by USGS Centers – This list includes all SSP activities being supported in FY2009 (and beyond) and is organized by USGS Regions and Science Centers.

Tab 3: All projects by FWS Regions – This list includes all SSP activities being supported in FY2009 (and beyond) and is organized by FWS Regions. 

As you review these lists, please note that some activities take place at more than one USGS Research Center, and some are supported by more than one FWS Region.  A few SSP activities are also supported by other funding sources, such as the USGS Quick Response Program or FWS offices; clarifying notes have been included on the Excel sheet where appropriate. 

I submitted a proposal, but do not see it listed here.

This could be due to one of two things; either the proposal was not ranked high enough to be funded this year under SSP, or in some cases, it may have received funding under the SSP's sister program, the Quick Response Program (QRP) which is managed by the USGS Regional Offices.

QRP activities are limited to one year of funding and lower dollar amounts (typically under 50K).  If your proposal fits these criteria, please refer to the appropriate QRP announcements:

Eastern Region, email from David Bornholdt on December 9, 2008,
Central Region, email from Jay Hestbeck on December 29, 2008,
Western Region, email from Frank Shipley on February 19, 2009.

If a proposal was not ranked high enough to receive funding this year I encourage you to seek feedback from FWS regarding this proposal.  The FWS Project Officer may have already received feedback from the Regional Review panels. If not, you may wish to contact the appropriate FWS Regional Contact (http://biology.usgs.gov/ssp/contacts.html).

Next Steps – Status of Funds
Activities funded under SSP are categorized as either Research or Technical Assistance. New research activities require a peer reviewed study plan prior to the eventual release of funds. PIs will need to initiate the peer review process using your local (Science Center or Cooperative Research Unit) peer review policy. Upon completion of the peer review process, please submit a copy of the study plan, including appropriate supervisory approval, to Steve Hilburger (shilburger@usgs.gov). Electronic copies are preferred, although hardcopy and faxes are also acceptable. Regardless of the submission method, supervisory approvals must be included as evidence of the review. Comments from individual reviewers are not required. Once the plan is received, a change of allocation (COA) will be prepared to distribute the funds.

Please refer to the “Status of Funds” column of the announcement list to determine if your activity requires a study plan. 

Funding for previously funded activities and new technical assistance activities are scheduled for distribution on the initial budget allocation (refer to the Cyclical Support Table). No further action or documentation is required for PIs to receive funds for these activities.

Next Steps – BASIS+
As with all USGS science, PIs or other appropriate Center/Coop Unit staff are required to include a description of the work and related products in BASIS+. All SSP activities are maintained under BASIS+ project 3210APN. A subtask number is assigned to each activity at the time funds are distributed, and the subtask number is provided on the COA form. The PI(s) and AO are initially set up as Task Leaders, others may be added as needed by Cost Centers or Reston.

FY2010 Requests for Proposals
Given the time of year, it is also appropriate to include information on the anticipated FY2010 proposal process.  A general timeline follows:

February 16: RFPs began to be issued by FWS Regional Offices.  Most, if not all, FWS Regions have issued RFPs to date.  RFPs are posted on the SSP web site. 
June 1: Proposals are due to FWS Regional Offices.
August 17: Selections are made and shared with USGS Reston.
October 1: Announcements are made by USGS.

Contact
For more information about this program or on proposals submitted but not mentioned here, visit our web site (http://biology.usgs.gov/ssp) or contact Steve Hilburger (shilburger@usgs.gov, 703-648-4036).