Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU | G17AS00095

Opportunity Information: Apply for G17AS00095

This grant opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G17AS00095), was offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically through the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK), under the Department of the Interior. It was structured as a discretionary cooperative agreement in the Science and Technology/Research and Development category (CFDA 15.808). The opportunity anticipated making a single award, with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $23,974. The posting date was June 22, 2017, with an original application deadline of July 7, 2017. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with the expectation that applicants would need to consult the notice's additional eligibility language for precise qualification details.

The core purpose of the project is to use an extensive, long-term dataset on the Yellowstone National Park wolf population spanning from 1995 to the present to evaluate how wolf social structure influences infectious disease dynamics. Rather than treating contact rates as a single, simplified input, the project emphasizes building a realistic representation of wolf-to-wolf connectivity by constructing a contact network and then using that network to simulate how disease could spread through the population. A notable feature of this work is that key disease modeling parameters are expected to be grounded in empirical data, which is meant to improve biological realism and reduce reliance on purely hypothetical assumptions.

A central scientific emphasis is comparing two distinct mechanisms by which wolves may come into epidemiologically relevant contact. The first mechanism is spatial: transmission opportunities arising from overlap in spatial distribution and intensity of use, essentially capturing how territorial boundaries, shared areas, and patterns of landscape use can create pathways for pathogen spread. The second mechanism is social and demographic: annual dispersal events, which reflect how individuals leaving packs and moving across territories can connect otherwise separate groups. These two pathways are framed as representing different wolf social processes, namely territoriality (space and pack-based structure) and breeding strategy/dispersal (movement that reshuffles social and spatial connections). The notice highlights that while many studies have explored disease spread by manipulating or randomizing contact rates, it is less common to explicitly test multiple, biologically distinct mechanisms that generate contact, making this comparative approach a key motivation for the work.

The project is designed to produce practical insight into when an infectious disease is likely to persist in the Yellowstone wolf population versus when it might fade out or go extinct. The modeling focus is on two diseases with known impacts on wolves: canine distemper virus (CDV) and mange caused by Sarcoptes scabiei. Both are explicitly identified because they can cause significant morbidity and mortality, meaning they affect both health and survival and can plausibly alter population trajectories and pack dynamics. By simulating these diseases within a network informed by long-term behavioral and spatial data, the project aims to clarify how the structure of wolf society either amplifies or constrains outbreaks.

The workplan described in the opportunity implies three major deliverables or components that would be necessary for successful completion. First, the recipient would need to describe and summarize Yellowstone wolf social structure using the long-term dataset, which could include pack organization, relationships among packs, patterns of association, and spatial/territorial arrangements over time. Second, the project requires SIR (Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered) parameter estimation, meaning the model needs credible values for disease transmission and recovery processes (and potentially related features such as duration of infectiousness), derived from empirical evidence rather than generic literature defaults. Third, the recipient would develop the contact network model and run SIR simulations across that network, using the two transmission pathways (space-use overlap and dispersal) to evaluate disease spread outcomes. Collectively, these elements are intended to yield a clearer, mechanistic understanding of how wolf behavior and social organization shape epidemic risk and long-term disease dynamics in one of the best-studied wild carnivore populations in North America.

• The Department of the Interior, Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Chesapeake Watershed CESU" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 22, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 07, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $23,974.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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