Funding Opportunity: Joint Fire Science Program Releases 2024 Funding Announcements
The Interagency Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), a partnership across seven federal wildland fire management and research agencies, has posted its 2024 notice of funding opportunity. There are three separate solicitations:
- JFSP Primary Announcement, including six new research task statements;
- Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Program; and
- Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN) Program.
This is the first program solicitation to be overseen by JFSP’s new permanent Program Manager Coleen Haskell, who assumed this role July 30. Final proposals for all opportunities are due by September 28, 2023, by 5 PM Mountain Time. Descriptions about each of the three solicitations are provided below.
- JFSP Primary Announcement
- The JFSP Primary Announcement is the annual solicitation to support scientific research in support of the land management agencies addressing wildland fire. The JFSP Governing Board anticipates awarding between $1.5 and $6 million total across all six task statements, with average award sizes ranging from $300,000-$600,000. The total number of awards will reflect the number of meritorious applications received and the availability of funds. Unless otherwise noted, all researchers interested in wildfire science are eligible to apply for funding, including those from public and private institutions of higher education across the United States. Each of the six task statements are described in the full solicitation and summarized below:
- Effective Fire Communication and Outreach: The task objective is to support research on the public perception of wildfire management and the effectiveness and outcomes of fire-related communication strategies. The JFSP is especially interested in how public perception and understanding may have changed over long periods of time in response to different communication strategies.
- Prescribed Fire Effects on Water Quality and Quantity: The goal of this opportunity is to support research to examine the impacts of prescribed fire on water quantity or quality at the watershed or larger scales.
- Managing Carbon Emissions in Ecosystems with Deep Organic Soils: The objective of this program is to support research to inform effective strategies for managing carbon stores in soils that are increasingly impacted by wildfire.
- Social Equity and Wildland Fire Impact, Mitigation, Response and Recovery: The JFSP is looking for proposals to gain a better understanding of a broad range of direct and indirect wildfire impacts, caused by a multitude of entities that influence the ability of individuals and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfire.
- Characterizing Wildfire Risk in Wildland-Urban Interface and Urban Settings: The intent of this task statement is to develop existing methods to characterize and identify wildfire risk to wildland urban interface (WUI) and urban settings.
- Accelerating Science in Fire Prone Ecosystems: Spurring innovation in adaptation through knowledge exchange and place-based partnership: This opportunity will support “place-based partnerships” to bring together scientists and practitioners to identify adaptive management strategies or approaches to wildfires, develop implementation and monitoring plans for interventions, and identify further gaps in scientific knowledge to inform future wildfire research. Total funding under this task should not exceed $250,000 for the two-year performance period, including travel costs to attend two required convening events. Eligibility is limited to institutions based in Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California (south of the Sierra Nevada Mountains).
- The JFSP Primary Announcement is the annual solicitation to support scientific research in support of the land management agencies addressing wildland fire. The JFSP Governing Board anticipates awarding between $1.5 and $6 million total across all six task statements, with average award sizes ranging from $300,000-$600,000. The total number of awards will reflect the number of meritorious applications received and the availability of funds. Unless otherwise noted, all researchers interested in wildfire science are eligible to apply for funding, including those from public and private institutions of higher education across the United States. Each of the six task statements are described in the full solicitation and summarized below:
- Regional Science Exchange and Outreach
- The Regional Science Exchange and Outreach Program is seeking proposals for entities to lead and execute specific regional fire science exchanges for a two-year period. The JFSP has supported 15 regional fire science exchanges, which form the Fire Science Exchange Network (FSEN). This year, nine regions are up for competition: Appalachians, Great Plains, Lake States, North Atlantic, Southern, Southern Rockies, California, Southwest, and Tallgrass Prairie. Those leading the regional science exchange are expected to unite the fire science community within their region through leading activities to foster relationships; share research and synthesize information; identify and develop methods to assess the quality and applicability of research; demonstrate the application of research discoveries in the field; support adaptive management strategies; and help identify new research, synthesis, and application needs. The Bureau of Land Management anticipates issuing up to $4.2 million for this program, with individual regional awards ranging between $152,000 and $329,500 per year based on geographic region. Individuals affiliated with both public and private institutions of higher education are eligible to lead; however, the JFSP has indicated that proposals requesting funds for indirect rates higher than 20 percent will not be considered.
- Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Award
- The Joint Fire Science Program invites current masters and doctoral students who are enrolled in subject areas related to wildland fire or physical, biological, and social sciences to apply for the Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) Award. Recipients will receive up to $25,000 to supplement new, unfunded work that extends ongoing or planned research as a part of their graduate thesis or dissertation. Eligible topics include management or policy-related questions relevant to at least one of the following topics: fuels management and fire behavior; changing fire environment; emissions and air quality; fire effects and post-fire recovery; relative impacts of prescribed fire versus wildfire; or the human dimensions of fire. To be eligible, applicants must be enrolled at a college or university within the United States and have an endorsement from their adviser. The Bureau for Land Management anticipates extending between 10 and 25 awards. Award winners are required to produce at least one policy-oriented summary guide based on the funded project, present their work at a regional, national, or international fire conference or workshop, and write a final report for the JFSP.
Sources and additional information:
- The JFSP funding opportunities homepage, with links to each of the above opportunities and additional resources for proposers, is available at https://www.firescience.gov/JFSP_funding_announcements.cfm?pass_task_id=24-2-01.