SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL RESEARCH ON COASTAL COMMUNITY RESILIENCE Call for Proposals for Applied Community-Based Research Projects  Deadline: May 29, 2015 (4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time)       This document is in two sections: A. Funding and Proposal Information B. Proposal Guidelines        For electronic access to this document: April 6 to May 29, 2015 https://archive.flseagrant.org/funding/open/

 

Sponsored by the Sea Grant programs of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina and the NOAA Office for Coastal Management

To be eligible for this competition, investigators must have submitted a pre-proposal in response to the January 2015 RPF and had it reviewed by our regional panel. Proposals that did not go through that first step in the process will not be considered at this time.

SOUTH ATLANTIC REGIONAL RESEARCH COMPETITION

This is a call for Full Proposals for conducting research to address priorities of Sea Grant (SG) and the NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) in the South Atlantic Region, related to the resilience of coastal communities to natural hazards, including both contemporary disasters such as hurricanes, storm surge and coastal flooding, and future hazards associated with sea-level rise and climate change.

We now are soliciting Full Proposals from teams of collaborating researchers (one PI each in FL, GA, SC and NC) who will work in partnerships with coastal communities in each state, as well as engagement with our extension faculty and the OCM, who can provide support services for the selected project. Full Proposals may be submitted by any team that submitted a pre-proposal earlier in the process of this RPF and had it reviewed by our regional panel.

This RFP lays out the general approaches that a regional research team should follow in conducting their research and community engagement. Sea Grant and the OCM are open to considering a wide range of research and engagement foci, for example, using economic analysis to demonstrate to communities the costs of action vs. no action to prepare for hazards, use of visualization tools to support participatory decision making to identify adaptation options for sea level rise, or mapping of critical infrastructure and use of visualization tools to help communities realize their level of risk from storm surge and sea-level rise, and subsequently make decisions that increase their resilience. These are just examples. The critical issue is that Proposals are responsive to the bullets below and that the criteria on page 3 all are met.

We intend to fund one regional research / engagement project for two years, in an amount not to exceed $450,000. Each year of federal dollars will not exceed $225,000. Further, for this project, the two-year total for each state PI is limited to a maximum of $100,000. The exception is that the PI who assumes the role of project lead should include an additional $25,000 per year in his/her budget to include costs to ensure that an adequate level of interaction can occur within the team to have a cohesive project and for costs of serving as the lead project manager. For this regional project, each state PI will submit annual and final reports to their respective Sea Grant programs. However, since this is a regional project, we expect also that a concise regional executive summary report will be developed, in addition to any journal articles and/or outreach guidance documents, and that these will be sent by the lead PI to all four Sea Grant programs.

Research Proposals must be responsive to the following items:

• The research must EITHER develop and apply new tools, technologies or approaches OR use existing tools, technologies or approaches that are aimed at addressing issues of coastal community resilience in the South Atlantic.
• The regional work must be heavily community-based. The investigators must identify in each of the four states (FL, GA, NC and SC) one specific community where the approach or technology will be pilot-tested, and provide a letter from each community to affirm that they will be a partner in the project. The FL community must be from the Atlantic coast.
• The regional work must be done in close partnership with the four SG programs and may request support services from the NOAA OCM. Sea Grant Extension Agents or Specialists can help to identify pilot communities and may help to coordinate participatory work that happens as part of the project. Costs of travel for Extension Agents must be included in the project budget. OCM staff is available to provide support in regard to meeting facilitation and access to coastal models and visualization tools developed by the OCM, which the PIs may want to employ in the project.
• Reporting on project progress and outcomes must be done according to the guidelines of each state SG program. We also expect at the end of the project to have a concise summary report that identifies how a tool or technology was used in the four pilot communities, and what outcomes were achieved in regard to helping those communities move toward becoming more resilient to coastal hazards.
• There must be a team of investigators with one member from an academic institution in each of the four South Atlantic States. Each PI must submit the proposal through his/her university sponsored programs office for signature affirming cost-sharing and overhead and the lead PI should gather together these forms from each collaborator and submit the complete Final Proposal package by email to Florida Sea Grant (details below). The lead PI will be the point person for ensuring that the project is completed on time, is coordinated among the four states and is being done in a collaborative manner with communities, SG and OCM.

For this regional competition, a match of 25 cents of non-federal dollars is required for every one federal dollar requested. Match must be in the form of something that can clearly be documented. The preferred form of match is a percentage of investigators’ time or in-kind services of an agency or organization that can be specifically identified and cost estimated. Volunteer hours are not a desired form of match, because they are very hard to quantify.

General Criteria to Qualify for a Review

Submitting a Full Proposal does not guarantee that it will be considered for funding. To qualify for a review, the Proposal must satisfy the regional criteria mentioned above, and also the following general criteria. Unless ALL of these criteria are met, the Proposal will be returned without a review and will not be considered in this biennial applied research competition.

1. All required materials identified in the RFP must be submitted to Florida Sea Grant by email on or before 4 PM on May 29, 2015.
2. The Proposal must be responsive to the bullet items on Page 2 of this RPF, identifying clearly how each requirement will be met.
3. All Principal Investigators must have documented expertise in the specific area of the proposed research.
4. In addition to documenting the research / community engagement strategy, there must be a concise project management plan (up to 2 pages) that identifies how the work conducted with the four coastal communities will be coordinated and compared, to yield results that can be transferred to a broader segment of the coastal population.

OVERVIEW

This is a solicitation for Full Proposals for two-year coastal community resilience research grants.

• Proposals must describe projects that enhance community resilience to coastal hazards, and be responsive to the bullet items on page 2 of this RFP.
• This is an open competition for Principal Investigators from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina academic and research institutions who can meet the five previously described ‘criteria to qualify for review’ and who previously submitted pre-proposals in the first phase of this 2015 RFP process.
• Proposals must be strong in scientific or professional merit and in community engagement.
• The maximum award is $450,000 for two years, with no more than $225,000 in each individual budget year, and we are limiting the funding to each state PI to a maximum of $100,000 for the duration of the project (up to $50,000 per year per PI). The lead PI may budget $25,000 per year of additional funds to support collaboration among the research PIs.
• A 25% match is required – i.e., $25,000 match for each $100,000 of federal funds requested.
• Proposals will be reviewed by three experts in the field, from outside the South Atlantic region.
• A panel comprised of the Directors of the South Atlantic Sea Grant programs and experts from the NOAA OCM will determine which project is selected for funding.
• We intend to fund one project, assuming that there is a Proposal that meets Sea Grant and OCM’s standards of excellence and our expectations about the level of community engagement.
• Full Proposals require detailed budgets from all investigators, as well as budget justifications. Details are provided below.
• Full Proposals must include information about how NOAA data sharing requirements will be met, if applicable.
• The maximum length of a Full Proposal is 15 pages in 11 point font. Please use New Times Roman font. This maximum page limit includes: the proposal narrative, any embedded tables and figures and the list of literature citations (tables and figures must be embedded in the narrative). The page limit does not include: the budget, budget justification, biographical sketches, NOAA data sharing plan or the 2-page project management plan.

MAKING CONTACTS WITH COASTAL COMMUNITIES

Because of the requirements in the Pre-Proposal RFP, we expect that the investigators already have identified and are developing plans with specific coastal communities, possibly with the support of staff from the South Atlantic Sea Grant programs. If a team has not already worked with a Sea Grant staff member and needs their support at this time, contact information is provided below. If a Sea Grant extension faculty member becomes part of the project and is expected to contribute their time and expertise, please budget for their travel and time

Florida

Thomas Ruppert, E-mail: truppert@ufl.edu

Georgia

Kelly Spratt, E-mail: kspratt@uga.edu or Mark Risse, E-mail: mrisse@uga.edu

North Carolina

Jack Thigpen, E-mail: jack_thigpen@ncsu.edu

South Carolina

Susan Lovelace, E-mail: susan.lovelace@scseagrant.org

For project support from NOAA Office of Coastal Management:

Bill O’Beirne
Southeast and Caribbean Region Lead
NOAA Office for Coastal Management
E- mail: bill.obeirne@noaa.gov

PURPOSE

This document describes the process to apply for funding for a regional two-year applied research and community engagement project beginning in February 1, 2016. It provides an overview of the submittal and review process and presents guidelines for the preparation of Full Proposals.

A. Regional Funding and Full Proposal Information 2016 – 2017

 

1. The Proposal Selection and Funding Cycle

Sea Grant research projects are funded for two years. Thus, projects proposed should be for the period February 1, 2016 to January 31, 2018. Key dates, starting with full proposal submission:

2015    

April 6                      Faculty Notified of Pre-Proposal Results

April 7-May 28         Invited Proposals Written

May 29                     Full Proposals Due by 4:00 PM eastern time (No Late Full Proposals Will be Accepted)

June-July                 Peer Review Conducted

August 6                  Panel Meets to Review Full Proposals

August 14                Faculty Notified if Full Proposal is Successful

September 3            Response to Peer Reviews of Full Proposals Due

 

2016                        The exact date when funds are released depends on when they are provided by NOAA.

2. Research Proposal Described

The research proposal clearly describes the project in sufficient detail for reviewers to discern the technical and practical merits and scope of community partnership. It describes the need for the research and explains in detail the approach that will be taken to address that need. It includes a rationale, approach, community engagement plans and the expected outcomes and impacts.

The 15 page (maximum) Research Proposal format and a one-page biographical sketch are described and included in this document. The page limit includes tables, figures and references, but does not include budget pages, NOAA data sharing plan, program management plan and biographical sketches of investigators.

3. Participation

Any Principal Investigator who meets the aforementioned ‘review criteria’ and who submitted a pre-proposal in response to our call in January 2015 is eligible to apply now with a full proposal. The funded project will be selected on the basis of the degree to which it addresses the bullet items on Page 2 of this RFP, and on scientific / technical merits.

4. Size of Grant Award

The maximum two-year award that we will provide in this regional project is $450,000, with a maximum of $225,000 in each budget year. For each federal dollar, a 25% matching fund commitment is required (i.e., one non-federal matching dollar for every four federal dollars that is requested).

5. Student Involvement Is Strongly Encouraged

Sea Grant is a college program and student participation in Sea Grant funded research is strongly encouraged.

6. Review Criteria

To be considered in this review process, ALL of the bullet items listed on page 2 of this RFP must be addressed and all of the criteria listed on page 3 must be met. Pre-Proposals that do not meet ALL of the criteria will be returned without a review and will not be considered in this biennial research competition.

Peer review is the responsibility of the Directors of the four South Atlantic Sea Grant programs. Oversight of the peer review process is the responsibility of the National Sea Grant Office (Program Monitor). The Sea Grant Directors and OCM representatives will determine which Proposal is selected for funding.

Criteria that will be considered in reviewing and scoring Full Proposals include:

• Technical Merit — the degree to which the proposed project is innovative and addresses contemporary or future issues of coastal resilience with rigorous science and community engagement.
• Users, Participants and Co-Sponsors — the degree to which the communities that will benefit from the results of the research have been brought into the planning of the project, will be brought into the execution of the project, and will use results. Researchers must work with coastal communities in all four regional states to develop relevant Proposals.
• Expected Results, Applications and Benefits — the degree to which the completed project is expected to result in tools that can be used to increase the resilience of coastal communities in the South Atlantic, and that are pilot tested in a community in each state of the region (FL, GA, NC and SC). Projects are expected to result in detailed documentation of new methods or tools so that they can be broadly disseminated and used by communities beyond the four pilots in the project.
• Project Management Plan – the approach that is proposed to conduct an integrated project that will produce regionally relevant results in a coordinated manner. This should be written by the lead PI, who also is requesting $25,000 of additional funds per year in support of these activities.

7. NOAA Data Sharing Requirement (effective for all new NOAA funded research projects)

Environmental data and information collected and/or created under NOAA grants and cooperative agreements must be made visible, accessible, and independently understandable to general users, free of charge or at minimal cost, in a timely manner (typically no later than two years after the data are collected or created), except where limited by law, regulation, policy or by security requirements.  The new requirement has two basic parts: (1) environmental data generated by a grant project must be made available after a reasonable period of exclusive use, and (2) the grant application must describe the plan to make the data available.

To comply with this new requirement the Principal Investigator must comply with the process described below and explain how the data and metadata will be provided. Funds may be budgeted in the project proposal for this task.

Process for Providing Data and Information: Upon completion of the Florida Sea Grant funded project, the PI must provide Florida Sea Grant with electronic files containing all environmental field data collected during the project, as well as metadata that provide sufficiently detailed and easily understood information for another person to make use of the data and information. Files can be provided in the most appropriate form (e.g., Excel spreadsheet). Florida Sea Grant will hold the data on a secure server, and only after two years have passed will we provide the data to a third party who provides us with a written request for those specific data. This requirement applies only to routine field data on environmental conditions. It is not presently required in the case of controlled experimental data or models. In the case of those data, publication of the results in a peer-reviewed journal meets the intent of the NOAA data-sharing requirement.

8. Submitting Your Proposal:

For this regional project, where four PIs have formed a team to work with four communities (one each in NC, SC, GA and FL) we ask that one of the PIs serve as the project lead who will submit a single Proposal on behalf of the co-PIs, with individual PI budgets and budget justifications, biosketches and signed cover pages from each university. The lead PI will submit the Proposal and will be our point-of-contact for questions about the Proposal and for providing results of the review process.

Your Full Proposal MUST be submitted as a PDF document by email to Florida Sea Grant, at this email address: jhw04@ufl.edu

Deadline for receipt is May 29, 2015 by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (No extensions.)

For Additional Information: Jackie Whitehouse, Executive Secretary, jhw04@ufl.edu. Telephone: (352) 392-5870, Direct (352) 294-0754

Website: archive.flseagrant.org

B. Guidelines to Prepare a Full Proposal for the South Atlantic Regional Resilience Research Competition (2016-2017)

 

INSTRUCTIONS: Your Full Proposal, including the narrative, project management plan, NOAA data sharing plan (if applicable), budget pages (each PI and co-PI has a year 1, year 2 and cumulative budget, and then the lead needs to make a year 1, year 2 and summary budget for the entire project), budget justifications, and biosketches of all the co-PIs, must be submitted as one PDF file by email to Florida Sea Grant, at this email address: jhw04@ufl.edu. You are allowed a maximum of 15 single-spaced pages in 11 point New Times Roman font for the Proposal narrative including embedded tables and figures and the literature citations, but not counting the pages for the project management plan, biosketches, data sharing plan and budget related forms and pages.

FULL PROPOSALS RECEIVED AFTER 4 PM ON MAY 29, 2015 WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR REVIEW. PLEASE CONSIDER SUBMITTING YOUR FULL PROPOSAL A DAY OR TWO EARLY, BECAUSE IF AN UNEXPECTED EVENT HAPPENS SUCH AS LOSS OF INTERNET SERVICE NEAR THE DEADLINE, WE WILL NOT ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL IF OUR DEADLINE PASSES.

The following represent elements of a full Research Proposal. Each element should be prepared, proofed and saved. Please combine elements A – G into a PDF file, H into one PDF, I into one PDF and J into one PDF file, in the order listed below:

1. Signed Title Page
2. Project Record Form (90-2)
3. Budget Forms (90-4) for each investigator and a summary page for the entire project by year
4. Budget Justification for each investigator
5. Proposal Narrative Sections (15 pages including literature citations)
6. Project Management Plan
7. NOAA Data Sharing Plan (if applicable)
8. Biographical Sketches
9. Letters from Communities

10. Cost-sharing letter from each PI’s university

 

A. SIGNED TITLE PAGE: Investigators and the responsible university research or sponsored programs office must endorse this.

B. PROJECT RECORD FORM (90-2): The project record form follows the title page and is not numbered. This form is very important in the review process. We suggest completing it as the final step in writing the proposal to concisely summarize what is stated in the text. Please follow the instructions given below.

The Project Record Form is intended to present a concise description in non-technical language of the proposed project in a form useful to a variety of readers not necessarily requiring detailed information. The description must fit on one page. You will need to provide information for each of the following headings:

PROJECT TITLE: Project titles should be carefully constructed to give as much information as possible about the project in not more than two lines (about 16 words, preferably less). Consider always that there will be people who will judge the content of a program from scanning a list of titles. The title should be specific, descriptive of the activity, and clearly indicate subject and anticipated outcome.

DATES: (1) The revision date is the date you prepared this document, (2) initiation date is 2/1/2016, and (3) completion date is 1/31/2018.

PRINCIPAL, CO-PRINCIPAL, ASSOCIATE INVESTIGATORS: Names of the Investigators (last name first, full first name and middle initial) whose efforts are significant to the success of the project.

AFFILIATION: The academic affiliation of investigators, e.g., FAU Ocean Engineering, FSU Biology.

OBJECTIVES: This section should state concisely what the investigators intend to do. Stated objectives should enable comparison later to project results. NOTE: Be specific and brief. State the overall project goal, and then the individual objectives.

METHODOLOGY: Describe the methods to be used, in particular the approaches that will be taken to work with coastal communities, to gather data on outcomes and to draw general conclusions from the results of work done in the four states.

RATIONALE: Briefly describe why the project is important to coastal communities, businesses or residents. Discuss this both from the context of the pilot communities and more broadly for communities in the South Atlantic coastal zone.

IMPACTS: Describe the anticipated benefits to coastal communities in regard to increased resilience to hazards as a result of the research and outreach that will be conducted under the award. Identify both the benefits in the specific pilot communities and the broader implications of the results – i.e., the extent to which results from the project could inform other coastal locales such that they too could increase their resilience.

C. BUDGET FORMS (90-4): Each investigator must complete one budget page per year of project, and one cumulative budget page for all years of project. The lead PI then needs to develop summary budget pages for years 1, 2 and the overall two-year project. Please follow the instructions given below. Note that each PI needs to prepare a budget justification (also see below).

Instructions for Preparing Budget Pages: Please note – when you download the 90-4 form from the Florida Sea Grant web site the cumulative budget page will summarize Year 1 and Year 2 automatically. Therefore, you should not need to enter any information on the cumulative budget page.

All expenditures listed in the budget must be in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circular A-21 on cost accounting standards. OMB circular A-21 states that administrative and clerical salaries and other general office supplies will be charged as indirect costs. For more information on circular A-21 please contact the contracts and grants office of your institution. Any variation from OMB circular A-21 will be the sole responsibility of the grantee institution.

Please be informed that no budget justification information is to be put on the budget form 90-4. Each line item of your budget needs to be justified in the budget justification narrative that is prepared (See separate instructions, below in this section).

The Budget year line should have a number after the word year representing the particular year of the project Budget, i.e. Budget Year 1, Budget Year 2, or Cumulative Budget.

The Grantee Institution line – Line 7 Column C – is for the name of the primary principal investigator’s institution, e.g., University of South Florida.

Principal Investigators line: Should contain the name of primary principal investigator who is responsible for this project. If there is more than one you may list them as well. e.g., J.C. Porter/T.W. Day.

Duration/Months: The number of months this budget period is for. e.g., 02/01/05–07/31/05 = 6 months, the number 6 will go into that space.

The Grant Project Number is assigned by Florida Sea Grant.

Lines A1a through line A2h:

Column E: The Number of People involved with each line item.

Column F: Cumulative Man Months committed by all individuals identified in the line item.

Column G: Sea Grant Funds represents the amount of federal funding you are requesting from Sea Grant.

Column H: This is the amount of Match Funding that you and your institution will provide. One dollar of matching will need to be provided for every two dollars of federal funding received. Any form of pass-through federal dollars cannot be used as matching funds.

Each salary line item will require a justification on the Budget Justification page. (See instructions below.) For line A2h you may type in your own description on the 90-4.

Line B: Fringe Benefits, represents the cumulative amount for all employees.

Line C: Each item must be separately identified and justified in the budget justification page of the grant.

Line D: Expendable Supplies and Equipment. You must break down the cost of your expendable supplies in the budget justification, by category.

Line E 1 +2: Travel. The cumulative costs for domestic and international travel will need to be shown separately. Make sure in your justification that you identify each trip that will take place and report its cost separately. Identify the cost for each category of expenses for each trip (e.g. flights, hotel, mileage, etc.).

Line F: Publications. Make sure that the cumulative cost of this line has been justified in the budget justification page of the grant.

Lines G 1-9: Other Cost. Some of the major components of the other cost section have been identified for you. Make sure you justify each line item in the justification section of your proposal. Two lines have been left blank so you may write your own description. Misc. is not considered a valid description; if you use the caption Misc. make sure it is for a small amount and break down the cost of these items in your proposal budget justification section.

Line TDC: The total direct cost line is the sum of all the direct project costs identified by the Grant Budget Period.

Line MTDC: This is the Modified Total Direct Cost line. The amount that goes here is the amount of direct costs that will have University Indirect Costs (IDC) assessed.

Line IDC: Indirect Cost – Enter your IDC percent in the appropriate column and on its corresponding line. Multiply the MTDC line for each column by the IDC % that applies to each line in that column. Please note there is a line called “Other IDC” if you feel your IDC calculation does not fit the budget form enter the amount of IDC required for each column and explain it in the Budget Justification. The indirect cost will vary from institution to institution depending on what was negotiated between the federal government and your institution. The amount will not always be the same as the total direct cost line.

D. BUDGET JUSTIFICATION: Instructions for completing the budget justification section of the proposal appear below. Remember, the budget proposed in the Statement of Interest must not be exceeded in the Full Proposal. This section must be detailed enough to satisfy university and federal fiscal staff. Each line item in the budget will need to be justified. Note: Do not over-match; matching funds need be only 50% of the Federal request, no more. Please include a copy of your current IDC rate agreement and the fringe rate amount identifying what is included in the fringe rate.

The proposal Budget Justification should track directly with each line of the 90-4 budget form, giving item-by-item justifications for expenses. It is important to explain the items listed on the budget form. Tell major duties of personnel and percentages of time for graduate students (e.g., “Laboratory Technologist I – This employee will be a 1/3 time appointment and will perform the following duties). Although students are appropriate and significant components of Sea Grant projects, federal funds cannot be spent on student expenses for class work or thesis manuscript-related activities, such as word processing, after the research is finished.

Each piece of capital or permanent equipment must be listed separately along with the cost, a brief description, and the purpose of each item. Include a lease vs. purchase analysis for each item requested. Capital equipment and office or general equipment must be approved by the federal office before purchasing or leasing. Construction funds and purchase or repair of vessels and vehicles are not eligible for Sea Grant funding but prior approval of rental for vessels or vehicles may be obtained from the agency. Rates per hour or trip and estimated number of hours needed should be given.

For travel, give the formula for deriving the proposed amount (e.g., number of miles X rate per mile to some destination so many times a year). Remember to include estimated airplane fare or mileage allowance rate, per diem, lodging and or food and incidental rates and number of days and personnel. This information is required for each trip, including location if possible.

Do not include costs for reprints or publication page charges. Manuscript, illustration preparation costs are allowable.

Consultants must be justified as essential to the project, not just convenient. The Federal office must also approve them in advance based upon this justification. Rates and estimated number of hours should be stated. Biographical Data Sheets must also be included for consultants. Florida Sea Grant will give preference to projects that make use of students rather than technicians or consultants to conduct the work.

The Budget Justification also should include a description per line of each source of matching funds, particularly from user groups. Institutional matching funds should be distinguished from those obtained from participating users. Institutional matching funds are in-kind items such as faculty salaries and overhead, operating expenses on campus, etc., while extramural funds are so-called hard dollars, represented by actual dollars given to the project, labor supplied, etc. In the review process, extramural matching funds are an advantage as they demonstrate end-user commitment. Note: matching funds on the budget form should not exceed the 2 federal dollars to 1 non-federal dollar ratio.

E. PROPOSAL NARRATIVE SECTIONS: Use no more than 15 pages of single-spaced 11 point New Times Roman font for this narrative, including embedded tables, figures and the list of literature citations.

PROJECT TITLE: Please make this succinct and explicitly reflect both the (1) scientific aim and (2) anticipated application and intent of the project.

INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE: Identify the specific issue that is being addressed and explain why it is important to the resilience of coastal communities and/or residents to have it addressed with this proposed research.

GOAL AND OBJECTIVES: In one sentence, concisely state the overall goal of the proposed project. Then, please number and list the objectives. Be realistic and do not list too many objectives.

PROJECT DESIGN: Describe in detail (for peer review) the overall project design. Describe specific methodology If the project involves developing new policies, tools, or technologies explain clearly how their effectiveness will be evaluated. Include literature references. Also explain the process that will be used to evaluate what worked and what did not work in the project – this is particularly important to possible future use of the new approach in other NOAA regions.

PARTICIPANTS AND CO-SPONSORS: In this section, the role of every participant in the project must be clearly identified – including the individual investigators, any extension / outreach professionals, and the specific coastal community partners. If Sea Grant extension faculty members are expected to conduct any work in support of the project, costs of their travel and time must be direct costs in the budget. If any staff support or use of models or other tools from NOAA OCM will be required to complete the project, the PI must contact the OCM (see contact on page 5) to ensure that their support can be provided at the required level for the project to occur as planned.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION IS ENCOURAGED: A core element of the Florida Sea Grant mission is education and we desire that research funds will support, at least in part, one or more students.

ROLE OF INVESTIGATORS: For projects with more than one investigator, explain the specific role of each co-PI and collaborator.

EXPECTED RESULTS, APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITS: Describe the expected outcomes and potential impacts of the project from the standpoint of increased coastal community and/or resident resilience.

LITERATURE CITED: Provide complete reference information, per your disciplinary reviewed literature format but always including title of article (e.g., author, date, title, journal, pages). Up-to-date citations are expected.

F. PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN: Describe the process that will be used to coordinate the community research / outreach projects that are happening in the four states, in order to have a comprehensive regional project, including the approach that will be taken to exchange information among the investigators and to work up the combined data that is collected from the four communities in order to discern general results or different results that might be related to different demographic or other factors among the communities.

G. NOAA DATA SHARING PLAN: required only if you have environmental field data. In that case it is necessary to agree that you will provide those data at the end of the project to Florida Sea Grant, which will hold those data on a secure server and not make them available to anyone for 24 months after the end of the project. After that date, Florida Sea Grant will provide the data to any outside party that requests them in writing.

H. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: For each investigator, provide a one-page biographical sketch.

I. LETTERS FROM COMMUNITIES: We require that each of your community partners provide a letter. This is NOT a letter of endorsement. It is a letter in which the community partner clearly identifies, from their perspective, the outcome of the project, how that outcome is expected to help them become more resilient, and their role in the project. Also provide us with the name, telephone number and email address of a point person from each community that you are working with on the project

J. COST SHARING LETTER: We require a signed letter from your institution affirming that cost-sharing will be provided in the amount of $25 non-federal dollars for every $100 federal dollars requested in the proposal.

SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALSubmit your proposal to Florida Sea Grant to Jackie Whitehouse (jhw04@ufl.edu) as PDF files. You must submit your proposal by 4 PM, May 29, 2015, or earlier if possible. Please note that none of the proposal preparation expenditures are to be charged to any current Sea Grant project.