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Funding for Great Lakes projects available

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Mon, Jan 25th 2021 03:50 pm

Great Lakes Research Consortium announces 2021 RFP, 2020 projects update

The Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) recently announced the call for proposals for 2021 Great Lakes Research Consortium small grants funding. Grants are available up to $25,000 per project as seed funding for new, cooperative projects that contribute to the protection and restoration of the health of New York's Great Lakes and for ecosystem-based management. Applications are due no later than March 1. Submission guidelines and an application form are posted at www.esf.edu/glrc.

The GLRC small grants program provides funding for small-scale research projects that take initiating steps to address critical Great Lakes issues and establish baseline data to support requests for subsequent funding from such sources as the Great Lakes Protection Fund.

GLRC-funded projects must meet one or more Great Lakes Action Agenda priority goals. Priorities include addressing such issues as those associated with persistent toxic substances; sediment, nutrients and pathogens; invasive species; coastal resiliency; smart growth; recreation and tourism opportunities; and energy. Investigating how new and emerging technologies can be applied to current and future Great Lakes issues is also a major goal of these grants.

"The Great Lakes Research Consortium small grants program facilitates, on a small-scale, new basic or applied research, including the testing of hypotheses and assumptions, that develops a foundation for larger projects," said Great Lakes Research Consortium Director Gregory L. Boyer, Ph.D.

Five projects are expected to receive funding for projects to start May 1, and to be completed by June 30, 2022.

The GLRC has also announced an update on the five projects receiving a total of $121,907 in small grants funding in 2020. The State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport; the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse; SUNY Oneonta; and the University of Buffalo received 2020 GLRC small grants funding for projects that are addressing:

•How microplastics may influence harmful algal bloom development and spread;

•How nitrogen-phosphorus dynamics may drive differences in blooms as a way to improve harmful algal bloom prediction;

•Thiamine deficiency as a potential cause of diving and sea duck population declines on Lake Ontario;

•A genetics approach to restoring the American beachgrass plantings native to the Great Lakes region and a factor in its ecosystem sustainability, climate change resiliency, and invasive species management; and

•The impact of two invasive species on the loss of woody species and water quality in Bergen Swamp in the Genesee River Drainage Basin that empties into Lake Ontario in the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern.

"The Great Lakes ecosystem is a critical environmental, cultural and economic resource for New York state and for the states and provinces that border the system. These Great Lakes Research Consortium small grants project initiate innovative investigations that advance our science-based understanding of the complexities, interactions and attention this unique ecosystem needs," said Boyer, a nationally recognized algal bloom researcher.

The Great Lakes Research Consortium is an organization of 18 colleges and universities in New York, plus nine affiliate campuses in Ontario, Canada, all dedicated to collaborative Great Lakes research and science education. Nearly 400 faculty, with student support, are conducting research in every facet of Great Lakes science. The GLRC also supports student research and internships. The GLRC is housed at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Learn more at www.esf.edu/glrc.

This small grants program is made possible through the New York State Environmental Protection Fund Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act.

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