Request for Coastal Resilience Project Ideas
January 4, 2024
AOOS will be receiving 5 million dollars in funds from the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The funds will be used for subsidizing new ocean observations on existing projects, purchasing equipment for observing efforts, capacity building, collaborative projects, or helping to implement new projects. Projects can be 1-5 years long.
To prepare for this funding, we requested project proposal ideas with a submission deadline of November 10, 2023. We were excited to receive 88 project ideas, totaling approximately 37 million dollars in requested funds!
Submissions were evaluated by AOOS by November 20, 2023. We notified everyone who submitted a project idea as to whether or not they were selected to submit a full proposal. If selected, full proposals are due to AOOS on January 5, 2024, to be included in our application to IOOS in March 2024.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact Sheyna Wisdom (wisdom@aoos.org) or Holly Kent (kent@aoos.org).
A printable version of our Request for Project Ideas is available here.
AOOS hosted an informational webinar on September 29, 2023.
Webinar Link
User
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Frequently Asked Questions
A printable version of these FAQs is available here. You can find more information on guidance for the Regional Associations here.
How does NOAA define “coastal resilience?”
See how NOAA defines coastal resilience here. Coastal resilience, which relates to climate resilience, includes bouncing back from significant environmental events or changes that impact communities. This funding can also help get ocean information to ocean users, specifically when faced with the challenges of climate change. Here is a press release about NOAA funding for coastal and climate resilience.
Is October 30 a hard deadline?
We’ve extended the deadline to Nov 10. AOOS is starting to evaluate project ideas and will ask for more formal project proposals by early December
What does “recapitalize and modernize IOOS system components” mean?
Replacing old equipment and/or using new technologies that support coastal and ocean observing.
What do you mean by “rough order of magnitude budget?”
Are there any major themes or types of projects that AOOS is looking for?
No, we are open to many different types of project ideas, as long as they meet NOAA’s goals as described in the RFA:
- IOOS seeks proposals with measurable outcomes that support and leverage NOAA’s long-term and sustained investment in the national network of regional coastal observing systems, along with recent investments through the BIL.
- Proposals should present finite projects that have lasting impacts and enhance partnerships that deliver services and products to a wide range of users.
- Proposals should recapitalize and modernize IOOS system components that support coastal resilience by strengthening the delivery of data and predictions to provide equitable services to address coastal resilience needs.
Are the dollar amounts in AOOS’ RFI hard caps?
Not necessarily. We put bounds of $10,000 to $100,000 total or per year. We recognize this range is broad, but we don’t want to limit your ideas by the amounts; so if you aren’t sure, please submit your idea anyway! If you have a project idea that is over $100,000, please submit and we will take the full impact of the proposal under consideration.
Are projects required to generate data for the AOOS Portal?
No, but projects should make progress and complete measurable milestones, even if data is not one of them, e.g. new flood maps for up river communities, engagement/participation with tribal communities, etc.
Are there specific metrics that projects should meet?
We encourage the proposers to tell us how their project will be successful. We are looking for this to be a bottom-up process, rather than the metrics coming from the top down.
We will also be assessing coastal resilience outcomes, technical merit of methods/approaches, and proposed milestones to identify the strongest proposals.
Can data rescue projects be proposed?
Yes, please propose any ideas you think might be relevant. Please provide 1-2 sentences on how the data rescue will improve coastal resilience information, etc.
Do projects need to be directly on the coast?
No, as long as your project has a coastal element, like a tidally influenced river, impacted by coastal storm surges, or coastal flooding.
Is proposal writing assistance available from AOOS?
Yes, please contact Sheyna Wisdom (wisdom@aoos.org) or Holly Kent (kent@aoos.org), we’re happy to help.
Can people submit ideas for projects that they would like to see done, but not necessarily be the principal investigator?
Yes! If you don’t have a project but you have ideas for a product or service that AOOS can provide, please let us know! We will include these in this proposal as well.
How will AOOS handle “competing” proposals, i.e., multiple submissions for similar projects?
We encourage collaborations wherever possible. If we see multiple similar proposals, we may contact each principal investigator to see if we can find avenues of collaboration between the proposals.
If someone has an idea that would involve multiple IOOS Regional Associations, including AOOS, would that idea be considered?
Yes! AOOS is working with other Regional Associations on collaborative projects, and would be interested in hearing any ideas you may have.