Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NOS NCCOS 2024 2008161
The Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program is a competitive research funding opportunity administered by NOAA through the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), specifically under its Competitive Research Program (CRP). The broader CRP mission is to fund peer-reviewed, regionally focused or targeted research that produces practical, actionable science for people who manage and protect coastal and ocean resources. In other words, the program is not just interested in publishing new findings; it is built around turning research into usable information, decision-support tools, and products that help agencies and communities respond to real problems in coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. A defining feature of NCCOS/CRP is its emphasis on collaboration with end users. Applicants are expected to involve resource managers, planners, policymakers, and impacted communities as partners or advisors, and proposals must clearly state management-relevant outcomes. Funded projects must then report progress each year against those outcome-based goals, keeping the work tied to measurable benefits for management and policy.
ECOHAB sits within CRP as an applied research program focused on harmful algal blooms (HABs) and is authorized under the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA). The opportunity description frames HABs as an expanding national challenge across marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes waters, with blooms now reported in nearly every coastal state and involving a wide range of species and habitats. The impacts described span public health, ecosystem health, and the economy. Human health concerns include multiple seafood poisoning syndromes from toxin-contaminated seafood, as well as illness or irritation from breathing aerosolized toxins, exposure to contaminated water, or skin contact. Ecological impacts can include fish and wildlife kills, disruption of food webs, degraded habitat quality, and oxygen depletion (hypoxia or anoxia) when large blooms die off and decompose. The notice also highlights that some events involve massive microalgal or seaweed accumulations that create foul conditions and additional stress on ecosystems.
The grant description also underscores the steep and wide-ranging costs that HABs can impose on communities, even when direct damages are hard to roll up into a single national figure. A single HAB event may trigger expensive toxin monitoring and sampling, shellfish bed closures, fishery restrictions, mortality events affecting fish, shellfish, turtles, birds, and marine mammals, and major disruptions to recreation and tourism. Public health and resource agencies may need to issue watershed, drinking water, or seafood advisories and support medical responses. Beyond these direct costs, the notice points to secondary socio-economic impacts driven by public perception and behavior, such as canceled travel, lost jobs tied to declines in seafood demand or tourism activity, reduced property values in coastal or lakeside areas, and loss of access to culturally important or subsistence foods. This framing is meant to justify why research that improves understanding, prediction, and management of HABs remains a high priority.
ECOHAB itself traces back to a national research agenda titled "The Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms: A National Research Agenda" and was established in 1998 as a competitive program aimed at strengthening understanding of the fundamental processes that cause HABs and shape their impacts. The opportunity stresses that, despite progress in recent decades, HABs remain complex, new bloom problems continue to emerge, and basic science is still essential to support better management. The program calls for multidisciplinary and holistic approaches, reflecting the reality that HAB dynamics are influenced by interacting physical, chemical, biological, and ecological drivers, along with human activities that can change nutrient inputs, hydrology, and coastal conditions.
The stated goals of ECOHAB focus on two main outcomes. First, the program seeks a quantitative understanding of HABs, and where relevant their toxins, in relation to surrounding environmental conditions. The purpose is to generate new information and practical tools such as predictive models, forecasting capabilities, and prevention strategies that managers can apply in coastal environments and other affected waters. Second, ECOHAB aims to improve understanding of how algal toxins move through food webs and affect higher organisms. This includes research that supports models of trophic transfer, advances knowledge of toxin biosynthesis and metabolism, and assesses impacts on higher trophic levels, which can include commercially important fish and shellfish as well as protected wildlife. Together, these goals reflect the program's intention to connect mechanistic science to management needs: understanding what drives blooms, how toxins are produced and spread, and what consequences follow for ecosystems and people.
From the published opportunity details, the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates NOAA expects an active role during the project (for example through substantial involvement, coordination, or technical input). The opportunity is listed as discretionary funding under the Department of Commerce, with CFDA number 11.478. The maximum award amount shown is $1,000,000, with an expectation of about three awards. The original closing date listed for submissions was January 31, 2024, and the opportunity was created on September 20, 2023. Eligibility is summarized broadly in the listing as "Others" with additional eligibility details referenced elsewhere in the full notice, meaning applicants would need to consult the complete funding announcement for the exact eligible entity types and any restrictions.
Overall, the ECOHAB Program can be read as NOAA's push to fund research that explains why harmful algal blooms happen, how they interact with environmental conditions, how toxins are produced and transferred through ecosystems, and how those insights can be turned into forecasting tools and management strategies. The program is explicitly designed to bridge science and decision-making by requiring proposals to define real-world outcomes, involve the people who will use the results, and track progress toward those practical deliverables over the life of the award.Apply for NOAA NOS NCCOS 2024 2008161
- The Department of Commerce in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.478.
- This funding opportunity was created on Sep 20, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 31, 2024. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the ECOHAB Program?
The Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program is a competitive research funding opportunity administered by NOAA through the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS). It sits within NCCOS's Competitive Research Program (CRP) and funds peer-reviewed, applied research focused on harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their impacts in marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes waters.
Which NOAA office administers this opportunity?
This opportunity is administered by NOAA through NCCOS, specifically under NCCOS's Competitive Research Program (CRP).
What is the Competitive Research Program (CRP) trying to achieve?
CRP funds regionally focused or targeted research that produces practical, actionable science for people who manage and protect coastal and ocean resources. The emphasis is not only on producing new scientific findings, but on translating research into usable information, decision-support tools, and products that help agencies and communities respond to real coastal and Great Lakes challenges.
Is ECOHAB basic science or applied science?
ECOHAB is framed as applied research that still values essential basic science. The program emphasizes that HABs remain complex and that fundamental understanding is still needed to support management, forecasting, prevention strategies, and decision-making tools.
What types of problems is ECOHAB designed to address?
ECOHAB targets harmful algal blooms as an expanding national challenge. The opportunity description notes HABs occur across marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes waters, with blooms reported in nearly every coastal state, involving many species and habitats, and creating public health, ecosystem, and economic impacts.
What kinds of impacts from harmful algal blooms are highlighted in the opportunity?
The notice describes a wide range of impacts, including public health risks (for example, seafood poisoning syndromes from toxin-contaminated seafood, illness or irritation from breathing aerosolized toxins, and exposure through contaminated water or skin contact), ecological impacts (fish and wildlife kills, food web disruption, degraded habitat quality), and oxygen depletion (hypoxia or anoxia) when blooms decompose. It also notes that some events include large microalgal or seaweed accumulations that create foul conditions and additional ecosystem stress.
What economic and community costs does the opportunity associate with HAB events?
The opportunity highlights that a single HAB event may trigger costly toxin monitoring and sampling, shellfish bed closures, fishery restrictions, mortality events affecting fish, shellfish, turtles, birds, and marine mammals, and major disruptions to recreation and tourism. It also cites public health and resource agency actions such as watershed, drinking water, or seafood advisories and support for medical responses. Beyond direct costs, it points to secondary socio-economic impacts tied to public perception and behavior, such as canceled travel, job losses linked to reduced seafood demand or tourism activity, reduced property values in coastal or lakeside areas, and loss of access to culturally important or subsistence foods.
Under what authority is ECOHAB authorized?
ECOHAB is authorized under the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA).
When was ECOHAB established?
According to the opportunity description, ECOHAB was established in 1998 as a competitive program aimed at strengthening understanding of the fundamental processes that cause HABs and shape their impacts.
What is the overarching scientific approach ECOHAB encourages?
The opportunity calls for multidisciplinary and holistic approaches, reflecting that HAB dynamics are influenced by interacting physical, chemical, biological, and ecological drivers, along with human activities that can alter nutrient inputs, hydrology, and coastal conditions.
What are ECOHAB's main goals?
The program states two main outcomes:
- Quantitative understanding of HABs (and where relevant their toxins) in relation to environmental conditions, aimed at producing new information and practical tools such as predictive models, forecasting capabilities, and prevention strategies that managers can apply.
- Improved understanding of how algal toxins move through food webs and affect higher organisms, including research supporting models of trophic transfer, advancing knowledge of toxin biosynthesis and metabolism, and assessing impacts on higher trophic levels (including commercially important fish and shellfish and protected wildlife).
What kinds of research outputs does the opportunity emphasize?
The description emphasizes outputs that support real-world decision-making, including usable information, decision-support tools, practical products, predictive models, forecasting capabilities, and prevention strategies that can be applied by managers in coastal environments and other affected waters.
Does ECOHAB require collaboration with end users?
Yes. A defining feature of NCCOS/CRP described in the opportunity is collaboration with end users. Applicants are expected to involve resource managers, planners, policymakers, and impacted communities as partners or advisors, and proposals must clearly state management-relevant outcomes.
What does it mean that proposals must have management-relevant outcomes?
Based on the opportunity description, proposals should clearly define outcomes that matter for management and policy (for example, decision-support tools, forecasts, predictive models, or prevention strategies) rather than focusing solely on publishing scientific findings.
Are funded projects expected to report progress toward outcomes?
Yes. The opportunity states that funded projects must report progress each year against outcome-based goals, keeping the work tied to measurable benefits for management and policy.
What is the funding instrument type for this opportunity?
The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates NOAA expects to play an active role during the project (for example, through substantial involvement, coordination, or technical input).
What does a cooperative agreement imply about NOAA's role?
The opportunity notes that a cooperative agreement typically means NOAA anticipates substantial involvement during the project, such as coordination and/or technical input, rather than a more hands-off relationship.
What is the maximum award amount listed?
The maximum award amount shown in the opportunity details is $1,000,000.
How many awards does NOAA expect to make?
The opportunity indicates an expectation of about three awards.
Which federal department is associated with this funding?
The listing identifies the funding as discretionary funding under the Department of Commerce.
What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?
The CFDA number listed is 11.478.
When was the opportunity created, and what was the original closing date?
The opportunity was created on September 20, 2023, and the original closing date listed for submissions was January 31, 2024.
Who is eligible to apply based on the listing?
Eligibility is summarized broadly in the listing as "Others," with additional eligibility details referenced elsewhere in the full notice. Applicants would need to consult the complete funding announcement for the exact eligible entity types and any restrictions.
Does the opportunity focus only on coastal marine waters?
No. The description explicitly includes marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes waters, and notes that HABs affect coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems.
What kinds of organisms and ecosystems are discussed in relation to HAB impacts?
The opportunity mentions impacts that can affect fish and wildlife broadly, including mortality events impacting fish, shellfish, turtles, birds, and marine mammals. It also highlights food web disruption, habitat degradation, and oxygen depletion in affected ecosystems.
Does ECOHAB include research on toxins and how they move through ecosystems?
Yes. One of ECOHAB's stated goals is to improve understanding of how algal toxins move through food webs and affect higher organisms, including research supporting trophic transfer models, toxin biosynthesis and metabolism, and impacts on higher trophic levels.
What is the overall intent of ECOHAB as described in the notice?
The opportunity presents ECOHAB as NOAA's effort to fund research that explains why HABs occur, how they relate to environmental conditions, how toxins are produced and transferred through ecosystems, and how those insights can be converted into forecasting tools and management strategies. It also emphasizes bridging science and decision-making by requiring real-world outcomes, user involvement, and progress tracking against practical deliverables.
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