2007 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
to DISCOVER LIFE IN AMERICA, INC.
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$60,000 is allocated in the current funding cycle for research activities in support of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (GSMNP's ATBI). This is a call for proposals for grants to be awarded by Discover Life in America, Inc. (DLIA), for research to be conducted during the upcoming (2007) field season. Proposals for collecting expeditions to GSMNP and for identification of georeferenced specimens are especially encouraged. In addition, for 2007, high priority will be given to proposals for specific TWIG products (e.g., revisions, database-driven species web pages, identification guides, keys, and other primary literature), bioblitzes, workshops, research targeting previously uninventoried taxa, and proposals of $5,000 or less. Investigators proposing to format and submit data for direct submission to the ATBI Database may request a supplement of up to $500 to support that work.
Please submit a proposal of no more than 1,000 words, excluding literature cited, budget, and any additional supporting information. The 1,000-word proposal should provide a review of results of any previous DLIA awards, the reason for undertaking the proposed project, objectives, methods, schedule, and expected products (e.g., georeferenced specimen/occurrence data, web pages, key, checklist, etc.).
The proposal must be submitted using the standard MS Word http://www.dlia.org/dlia/grants/grant_proposal_2007_form.doc. To use the form:
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The budget should include a brief justification for each major item and a short paragraph indicating any assured or anticipated funding (actual dollars) that would be leveraged by a DLIA grant award. The latter paragraph should contain, among other support, anticipated “in-kind” contributions, including hours to be donated to the project by professionals, students, technical assistants, and others. DLIA policy does not permit use of these funds for the purchase of equipment or for the payment of indirect charges.
If your proposal is funded, a written and poster/oral report of your results to date should be presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the ATBI, and a final report submitted to Dr. John Morse, jmorse@clemson.edu by 1 March 2008, using the final cover page to be found at http://www.discoverlifeinamerica.org/atbi/science/guidelines_submit.shtml.
Proposals are more likely to be successful if they are integrated with the ATBI Science Plan, which is available on the DLIA website http://www.dlia.org/. Proposals from previous awardees will be evaluated in part on their provision of products promised in earlier awards and their timely provision of expected reports and data from those awards for the ATBI annual meeting, the ATBI website, and the ATBI database. For applicants who have previously undertaken research in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, adherence to NPS rules and regulations, such as for permits, submission of data, housing, etc., will be a factor considered in the awarding of grants. Proposals should outline briefly how data/results will be quality-assured and transmitted to DLIA. [Georeferenced biotic inventory data should be in the DLIA MS-Access data base format (see http://www.discoverlifeinamerica.org/atbi/science/guidelines_submit.shtml for description) or other compatible format. Please specify anticipated format for non-inventory data or analytical or modeling results.]
To conduct research in the Park, a permit is required. A convenient online application form is available at http://science.nature.nps.gov/research.
Your proposal should be sent electronically to Dr. John Morse jmorse@clemson.edu by 15 February 2007.
If awarded, the first allotment of funds will be made available on or about 1 April 2007. The final allotment of DLIA funds will be provided to the PI upon receipt of (1) an acceptable final report and (2) useable data (i.e., data that have been reviewed for ATBI database usability by Dr. Michael Kunze Michael_Kunze@nps.gov if inventory data were promised in the approved proposal. Further help with data can be obtained from DLIA database technician Chuck Cooper Chuck@dlia.org and help with species pages or other web related products can be obtained from DLIA web technician Charles Wilder Wilder@dlia.org.
