Funding

Deadline Passed. Most recent deadline: 04/26/2022. This grant program supports: (1) training students for master's and doctoral degrees in food, agricultural and natural resource sciences; and (2) Special International Study or Thesis/Dissertation Research Travel Allowances (IRTA) for eligible USDA NNF beneficiaries. Awards are specifically intended to support traineeship programs that engage outstanding students to pursue and complete their degrees in USDA mission areas. Applicants provide clarity about the philosophy of their graduate training, and relevance to USDA mission sciences, NIFA priorities and national science education policies and statistics. Applications are being solicited from institutions that confer a graduate degree in at least one of the following Targeted Expertise Shortage Areas: 1) animal and plant production; 2) forest resources; 3) agricultural educators and communicators; 4) agricultural management and economics; 5) food science and human nutrition; 6) sciences for agricultural biosecurity; and 7) training in integrative biosciences for sustainable food and agricultural systems.

Categories: agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, training, animal and plant production, forest management, economics, education

Deadline Passed 11/01/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. This program was designed to assist 1994 Land-Grant Institutions (Tribal Colleges) in building institutional research capacity through applied projects that address student educational needs and meet community, reservation or regional challenges. 

Categories: Research, Education, Land, Natural Resources, curriculum, higher education

Deadline passed as of August 19, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. This Challenge Area Focuses on the societal challenge to end obesity among children, the number one nutrition-related problem in the US. Food is an integral part of the process that leads to obesity and USDA has a unique responsibility for the food system in the United States. This program is designed to achieve the long-term outcome of reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents 2-19 years. The Childhood Obesity Prevention Program supports Multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants.

Categories: Health, Children's Health, Obesity

Deadline passed as of June 21, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown.This AFRI Challenge Area promotes and enhances the scientific discipline of food safety, with an overall aim of protecting consumers from microbial and chemical contaminants that may occur during all stages of the food chain, from production to consumption. This requires an understanding of the interdependencies of human, animal, and ecosystem health as it pertains to foodborne pathogens. The long-term outcome for this program is to support the development and deployment of science based knowledge to improve the safety and nutritional quality of food without sacrificing flavor, acceptability, and affordability. In order to achieve this outcome, this program will support multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects, and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants that address the Program Area Priority, Effective Mitigation Strategies for Antimicrobial Resistance (see Food Safety RFA for details).

Categories: Food Safety, Food Security, Community Development, Sustainable Agriculture, infrastructure, distribution, foundation, sustainability

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: July 13, 2023. Applications to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) Request for Applications (RFA) must focus on approaches that promote transformational changes in the U.S. food and agriculture system. NIFA seeks creative and visionary applications that take a systems approach for projects are expected to significantly improve the supply of affordable, safe, nutritious, and accessible agricultural products, while fostering economic development and rural prosperity in America. These approaches must demonstrate current needs and anticipate future social, cultural, behavioral, economic, health, and environmental impacts. Additionally, the outcomes of the work being proposed should result in societal benefits, including promotion of rural prosperity and enhancement of quality of life for all those involved in food and agricultural value chains from production to utilization and consumption. Apply here.

Categories: sustainability, agriculture, food, bioeconomy, health, rural, research

Deadline Passed 06/20/2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019. The purpose of this competitive undergraduate scholarship grant program is to increase the multicultural diversity of the food and agricultural scientific and professional workforce, and advance the educational achievement of all Americans by providing competitive grants to colleges and universities.

Categories: diversity, food and agriculture, higher education

Deadline Passed 07/19/2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development (EWD) (formerly the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences Education and Literacy Initiative, or ELI) focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. In FY 2018, EWD invites applications in four areas: professional development opportunities for K-14 teachers and education professionals; training of undergraduate students in research and extension; fellowships for predoctoral candidates; and fellowships for postdoctoral scholars. See EWD Request for Applications for specific details.

Categories: research, education, food, agriculture, training

Deadline passed as of November 17, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. In the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts (SBEBP) Challenge Area specific program areas are designed to achieve the long term outcome of reducing the national dependence on foreign oil through the development and production of regionally-appropriate sustainable bioenergy systems that materially deliver advanced liquid transportation biofuels, biopower, and bioproducts.

Categories: alternative energy, biofuel, sustainability, bioenergy

Deadline Passed 02/07/2020. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing potential availability of grants and agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource issues, encouraging collaboration and developing state- and community-level conservation leadership for historically underserved agricultural producers.

Categories: natural resources, collaboration, conservation, leadership, community

Past Deadline: 05/03/2021. CIG is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies for agriculture production. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users. Non-federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes or individuals are eligible. Applications are due via Grants.gov. NRCS OR CIG Applications are due 7 May. NRCS ID CIG Applications due 3 May by 11:59 pm ET.

Categories: conservation, agriculture, natural resources, science and technology, research and development

2020 Application Deadline passed on June 29, 2020. The purpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches (such as market-based systems) to agricultural producers, into NRCS technical manuals and guides, or to the private sector. CIG generally funds pilot projects, field demonstrations, and on-farm conservation research. On-farm conservation research is defined as an investigation conducted to answer a speciifc applied conservation question using a statistically valid design while employing farm-scale equipment on farms, ranches or private forest lands. 

Categories: conservation, agriculture, management, research, planning

Deadline Passed. Most recent deadline: March 6, 2023. The primary objective of the program is to provide grants to Agriculture Innovation Centers that will provide technical assistance to agricultural producers to market value-added agricultural products.

Categories: agriculture, innovation, technical assistance, production

Deadline passed as of April 17, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. This funding supports syntheses, tools, or best management practices to forest and rangeland managers including the National Forest System. Funding will support work fulfilling the needs of forest landowners, forest managers, ranchers, and farmers (agroforestry only) to adapt and/or mitigate for climate change within the United States.

Categories: climate change, mitigation, adaption, management, forestry, conservation, sustainability, collaboration

Deadline passed as of June 12, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. This program is designed to support empirical research on successful international engagement strategies and develop best practice reports and a competitiveness assessment tool. These elements will be incorporated into a user-friendly economic development organization (EDO) toolkit and training guide to help local communities assess and increase their ability to become globally competitive while enhancing their trade and FDI promotion activities.

Categories: economy, global trade, business, support, planning, policy, management, growth, infrastructure

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing a new initiative to significantly accelerate adoption of sustainable clean and energy efficiency strategies in remote rural Alaskan communities. For the purposes of this initiative, “remote or rural areas” include communities with a population of 5,500 or less that are not connected by an all-weather road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks, or with a population of 1,500 or less that are connected by road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks. Through the proposed competitive process, the Remote Alaskan Communities Energy Efficiency Competition is being designed to empower Alaskan communities to develop solutions for effectively advancing the use of reliable, affordable, and energy efficient solutions that are applicable throughout rural communities in Alaska and potentially in other Arctic regions.

Categories: Community, Clean Energy

Deadline Passed 10/10/2019. Deadline Unknown for 2020. The purpose of this competitive grant program is to encourage collaborative, science-based restoration of priority forest landscapes and further priorities identified in the State’s Forest Action Plans.

Categories: landscape restoration, forest management, coordination

Most Recent Deadline: 3/30/2020. The U&CF program requests innovative proposals that strengthen urban and community forest resiliency and align with the goals in the National Ten Year Urban Community Forestry Action Plan (2016-2026). Collaborative solutions may include but are not limited to: research; prevention; planning; policy; preparedness; implementation; best management practices; recovery; and reforestation that promotes the resilience of our Nation's urban and community forests. 

Categories: Urban Forests, Community Forests Assessment, Planning, Resilience, Forest Management, Natural Disasters, Prevention, Collaboration

The Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative intends that awards under this announcement will support its mission and goals regarding how climate change and other stressors affect natural and cultural resources within the geographic range of the GBLCC.

Categories: Landscape Conservation, Climate Change, Cultural Resource.

Deadline passed. Previous deadline: January 2, 2023. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will partner with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to administer the 2019 FWS Directorate Resource Assistant Fellows Program (DFP) for undergraduate and recently accepted graduate students who are in interested in a conservation career. Expected fellowship dates: May 20, 2019 to August 16, 2019. 

Categories: Conservation, Fellowship, Natural Resources Management

The Desert LCC is embarking on a Climate-Smart Landscape Conservation Planning and Design project that will: produce spatially explicit data and information about focal resources, chosen by the Desert LCC members; seek to understand the effects of climate change and other landscape stressors on natural resources; integrate social and economic information to understand what these resources might look like in the future; and result in collaborative adaptation responses that are useful and implementable by our partners.

Categories: Habitat Conservation, design, Planning

The USFWS requests interested entities to submit restoration, research and regional project proposals for the restoration of the Great Lakes Basin fish and wildlife resources, as authorized by the GLFWRA. The purpose of the act is to provide assistance to States, Indian Tribes, and other interested entities to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration and management of the fish and wildlife resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.

Categories: Habitat restoration, Conservation, Restoration, Species management.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) receives funds to support collaborative science and knowledge activities of the NPLCC. The USFWS Pacific Region awards these funds for financial assistance through a competitive process for projects, studies, and events that support natural and cultural resource conservation in the face of climate change and other landscape-scale stressors. The NPLCC recognizes the importance of considering both western science and traditional knowledges to advance landscape-scale conservation and sustainable resource management.

Categories: Natural Resource Conservation, Cultural Resource Conservation, Climate Change, Financial Assistance

RFP closed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) receives funds to support collaborative science and knowledge activities of the Western Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC). The Service administers these funds through financial assistance on a competitive basis for projects, studies, and events that advance the scientific and public community’s understanding of large-scale changes in landscape characteristics and the impacts of these changes on important species.

Categories: Terrestrial Systems

Landslide Grants 2025. Most Recent Grant Application Deadline: January 15, 2025. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is soliciting project proposals for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 competitive grants to support landslide risk reduction efforts including communication, planning, coordination, mapping, assessments, and data collection. Interested organizations can apply online at grants.gov under Funding Opportunity Number G25AS00032. The USGS Landslide Hazards Program encourages submissions that will advance landslide hazard mapping and assessments, improve landslide hazard planning and coordination, or improve dissemination and effectiveness of landslide hazard information in mitigating losses. A description of landslide risk reduction Guidance Criteria is in the Program Announcement found on grants.gov. A list of previously funded projects can be found on the USGS Landslide Hazard Programs External Grants Overview webpage, here.  For those interested in the FY 2025 landslide grant opportunity and would like to receive regular grant updates during the FY2025 open application period, please send a blank email to sslaughter@usgs.gov with the subject line “landslide grants 2025”. For more information, visit: 

Recent Deadline was 1/18/2017. Next Deadline Unknown. SOIs are invited for projects that support regional CSC science priorities. CSC funded projects cover a variety of topics that address the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, ecosystems, & the communities they support.

Categories: climate science, vulnerability assessment, climate change

Deadline passed 4/16/2019. Deadline 2020 unknown.The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for research on the Oregon Spotted Frog. The overarching objective is to provide high-quality demographic information for use by management agencies and other interested parties and to assess management actions. Specific questions are 1) how does seasonal survival of frogs relate to changes in water level; 2) what is population growth rate following pond creation; 3) what are positive and negative effects of beaver on frogs (for use as a restoration tool); 4) What is the range of individual survival for this species in the wild; and 5) what are the positive and negative effects of bullfrog removal on this species?

Categories: Oregon Spotted Frog, management actions, planning, water levels, beavers, habitat restoration, species management

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: May 25, 2022. Solar Energy grants provide competitive funding to install solar at public buildings and facilities, such as schools, hospitals, civic buildings and wastewater treatment plants, maximum award $250,000 per applicant. Projects must provide 50% of the total project cost, or 33% if developed by federally recognized Tribal Governments or located in highly impacted communities, lower income communities, rural communities. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Renewable energy, solar, Tribally-owned facilities, highly impacted communities, rural communities

Most recent deadline: January 15, 2025. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Ecology funds to develop a grant program and facilitate subawards of these funds toward improving the climate resiliency of riparian systems in Puget Sound. Ecology is working in partnership with riparian restoration and protection experts to start a new Climate Resilient Riparian Systems Lead grant program. The program is a coalition between Ecology, the Washington State Conservation Commission, and Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The goal of the program is to promote programs that catalyze sustainable, effective, reach-scale riparian restoration and permanent protection in Puget Sound. The Climate Resilient Riparian Systems Lead program focuses on protecting and restoring riparian areas that have been damaged or are struggling to support the plants, animals, and waters of Puget Sound. It also aims to maintain and learn from pristine riparian systems. The new program will support riparian restoration programs that work with communities and landowners to improve the overall function of river and stream riparian systems. https://ecology.wa.gov/about-us/payments-contracts-grants/grants-loans/find-a-grant-or-loan/climate-resilient-riparian

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: January 13, 2022. Specialty crops are defined by the USDA as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops, including floriculture. Projects should enhance the competitiveness of Washington’s specialty crops. grant requests can range from $25,000 to $250,000, for a maximum period of three years. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Agriculture, specialty crops,

Most Recent Deadline: June 7, 2024. The Washington State Department of Commerce has consulted with tribes within Washington state to co-design a strategy for the distribution of $50 million of Climate Commitment Act (CCA) dollars that the Washington Legislature appropriated for tribal climate resilience in the 2023-2025 biennium. https://www.commerce.wa.gov/program-index/tribal-climate-resilience-program-grants/

Categories: Resilience, Climate Committment Act