Coastal Services Center

Center Grant Maps

Successful Grant Proposals Have Typically:

• Outlined a collaborative plan between the cooperator and the Center that makes effective use of each organization's strengths and capabilities.
• Cooperative agreement proposals have explicitly stated the roles and responsibilities of the NOAA Coastal Services Center, the cooperator, the cooperator's partners and how these roles will be collectively applied to an effective examination of coastal management issues; investigators have included a plan for the Center and the cooperator to work together to fully develop more detailed tasks early in the project when roles are unknown.
• Included an itemized budget and a detailed budget narrative of project costs, including labor, travel, supplies, and other costs.
• Described a clear quality-control strategy.
• Included details on how a broad range of coastal managers will use the products once the project is completed.
• Clearly stated the resulting impact of the project and products in the coastal management community. Information on developing and reporting on performance measures can be found in the April/May 2005 edition of Coastal Connections. More information about outputs and outcomes can be found in an on-line course maintained by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Section 2 entitled "More about Outcomes" contains a wealth of information about outcomes.

NOAA Standard Evaluation Criteria

NOAA uses five standard evaluation criteria for its competitive assistance programs.  A complete explanation of evaluation criteria and the selection process is outlined in all federal funding opportunities, specifically, Section V which is entitled, "Applicant Review Information."

Evaluation Criteria for Projects

1. Importance and/or relevance and applicability of proposed project to the program goals. 
   This ascertains whether there is intrinsic value in the proposed work and/or relevance to NOAA, federal, regional, state, or local activities.
2. Technical/scientific merit.
   This assesses whether the approach is technically sound and/or innovative, if the methods are appropriate, and whether there are clear project goals and objectives.
3. Overall qualifications of applicants.
   This ascertains whether the applicant possesses the necessary education, experience, training, facilities, and administrative resources to accomplish the project.
4. Project costs.
   The Budget is evaluated to determine if it is realistic and commensurate with the project needs and time-frame.
5. Outreach and education.
   NOAA assesses whether this project provides a focused and effective education and outreach strategy regarding NOAA’s mission to protect the Nation’s natural resources.

Grant Presentations

1. Grants On-line (presented at GeoTools Conference, March 2007, by Rimas Liogys, NOAA, Grants Management Division)
2. Hawaii Bay Watershed and Training (BWET) Program ( 25MB PPT - presented at Coastal Zone Conference, July 2007, by Divina Corpuz, NOAA, Coastal Services Center/Pacific Services Center)
3. Federal Program Officer Responsibilities (developed for the NOAA 2008 Grants Workshop that was postponed, December 2007, by James Lewis Free, NOAA Coastal Services Center)
4. Best Grant Practices (presented at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance workshop, August 2008, by Patrick Holland, TBG for the NOAA Coastal Services Center)
5. Grant Program Updates (presented at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance workshop, February 2009, by Patrick Holland, TBG for the NOAA Coastal Services Center)
6. Award Administration (presented at GeoTools Conference, March 2009, by Patrick Holland, TBG for the NOAA Coastal Services Center)
7. Finding Geospatial Grant Opportunities (presented at GeoTools Conference, March 2009, by James Lewis Free, NOAA Coastal Services Center)