USFWS announces $2 million research RFP

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service just announced that it will award up to $2 million in grants for high-priority research projects on WNS. The intent is to fund research within three broad topics:

Timing and dynamics of the fungus associated with WNS;

Persistence of the fungus on bats or in the environment; and

Susceptibility of bat species, including migrating and European bats, to the fungus.

Requests for proposals will be accepted until June 4 with grants awarded in the autumn. Funding requests must be between $50,000 and $750,000, and projects must be completed by Sept. 30, 2012. $1 million of the available funding comes from a special congressional appropriation for WNS work. Up to $1 million more comes from a Service fund called Preventing Extinction.

For further information see http://www.grants.gov, "Find Grant Opportunities" and search by Keyword: white-nose or FON: FWS-R5-ES-10-049 or CFDA: 15.657.

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