Funded Research
Sponsoring Applied Coastal Science
Florida Sea Grant funds applied research that addresses critical issues of today, while positioning itself to tackle emerging issues of tomorrow.
Science for the sustainable use and conservation of Florida’s oceans and coasts is at the heart of what we do, and it is part of our charge from Congress as one of 34 state-level Sea Grant programs nationwide
We fund actionable science to address priority topics in the following national and state focus areas: Environmental Literacy & Workforce Development, Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Resilient Communities and Economies.
We seek proposals from scientists that are working at universities, colleges and research institutes located statewide. These scientists often work in collaboration with the private sector, local governments, non-governmental (non-profit) organizations and resource management agencies to ensure that results address stakeholder needs. Moreover, research scientists also often work collaboratively and simultaneously with Extension specialists and agents to ensure that the research-outreach enterprise is integrated for maximum impact.
Further, our communications staff shares information broadly about funded projects with a wide range of audiences—from professional communities of experts to the general public—so that audiences remain informed about important work. Outreach staff also share information with a wide variety of audiences.
Resources for Funded Projects
Reporting:
Guidelines coming soon.
Publishing:
Tracking all research outcomes, including peer-reviewed publications that result from funded research, is critical to our program’s funding and standing. In order for us to track your work, we ask that you please include an acknowledgment when submitting for publication. Please see the template and example below.
Template: “This work was supported by Florida Sea Grant project [insert project #] under award NA24OARX417C0144-T1-01.”
Example: “This research was supported by Florida Sea Grant project R/LRA-70 under award NA24OARX417C0144-T1-01.”
Grant award numbers change with each funding cycle, please ensure you have the correct grant number before publication. Also note that NOAA is required to collect the manuscript (the version before the proofing stage) for publications resulting from NOAA funded awards. You will be asked to provide this.
Communications:
The Florida Sea Grant communications team promotes projects at all stages of your award’s lifecycle. The team may reach out throughout the course of your project from initial press release–once funds are awarded– to beyond project close, if a paper results from your project. The team is available to help or facilitate the creation of communications materials as it relates to your project. Please note that coverage of your project could also aid the team in promoting Florida Sea Grant. In-field and lab photos and videos can be very valuable in showcasing FSG in current and future projects. Please keep in mind if and when your project has any opportunities for the team to capture impactful visuals, you can also send photos to the team or the research team to be included within your project page in the Project Finder.
Who To Contact
Associate Director for Research
Dr. Charles Sidman
[email protected]
352-294-0752
Research Coordinator
Taylor Dluzniewski
[email protected]
313-574-6438
Creative/Art Director
Donielle Nardi
[email protected]
352-294-0760
Directory of Projects
Florida Sea Grant funds research projects are awarded on a biennial basis for two years following a rigorous review process in accordance with the National Sea Grant Competition Policy (Nov. 2020).
Learn more about each project funded by Florida Sea Grant during 2020-24.
Funding
Opportunities
Sea Grant provides a variety of funding opportunities based on its work in four focus areas: Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies, and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development.
Funding opportunities that are available from the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) are competitively available to state-based Sea Grant programs, and occasionally to eligible entities (e.g., academic institutions, non-profit organizations, state agencies, etc.) that submit through the state program. The most current information on Sea Grant funding opportunities is available at Inside Sea Grant, often with additional resources, including webinars.
National Competitions
- STATUS: Closed
DATE POSTED: December 14, 2023
DESCRIPTION: Research projects and programs that will develop and refine methods, protocols, techniques, and/or strategies to enhance the production (e.g. performance, growth, survival, yield) of one or more life stages of aquaculture species with the overall goal of improving the efficiency, output, and profitability of commercial coastal, marine, or Great Lakes region aquaculture businesses.
FUNDING: Subject to the availability of funding, Sea Grant anticipates $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 will be available n FY2024 to support approximately 4-12 projects for up to three years in the following categories:
Up to $250,000 in federal funds can be requested by individual entities (e.g. a single individual, group, or institution) for research projects addressing the program priorities.
Up to $1,200,000 in federal funds can be requested for projects proposing collaborative, multi-partner efforts addressing the program priorities.
Applications require the standard 50% non-federal match for Sea Grant projects.
ELIGIBILITY IN FLORIDA: This opportunity is open to: any individual; any public or private corporation, partnership, or other association or entity (including any Sea Grant College, Sea Grant Institute or other institution); or any State, political subdivision of a State, Tribal government or agency or officer thereof.
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) DEADLINE: LOIs must be received via email by the Program Managers ([email protected]) by 5:00 pm (local time of lead submitting entity) January 17, 2024. Contact information for Sea Grant Programs can be found at https://seagrant.noaa.gov/About. If you need further assistance in identifying Sea Grant extension personnel to partner with, please contact the National Sea Grant Office at the e-mail address above.
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: Full applications must be submitted to Grants.gov by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on April 3, 2024.
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON GRANTS.GOV: NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-24677
NSGO GUIDELINES: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
CONTACT: Dr. Charles Sidman ([email protected])
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Groups interested in partnering with Florida Sea Grant (FSG) to submit an LOI for this funding opportunity are asked to provide details in this Google Form no later than January 5, 2024.
DATE POSTED: September 13, 2023
DESCRIPTION: Funding is to support the creation of coalitions and partnerships among communities, groups, and localities – especially those that have been traditionally underserved – to address various marine debris challenges. Program priorities include (but are not limited to):
- Building local coalitions and partnerships to identify and actively address marine debris prevention and removal at the community level.
- Supporting projects in communities with climate and economic justice vulnerabilities.
- Providing technical support to local businesses, municipalities, tribes, and other stakeholders to mitigate marine debris.
- Enhance community literacy about marine debris through formal and informal education.
- Educate and develop a local marine debris-aware workforce (e.g., fishers, harbormasters, charter boat operators, waterfront business owners, etc.).
- Address topics from relevant, existing planning efforts, such as regional marine debris action plans.
FUNDING: Approximately $3 million in FY 2022 and 2023 federal funds will be available to individual Sea Grant programs in order to support 10-15 Coalitions to operate for up to 3 years. Awards are capped at $300,000. Matching funds are not required.
ELIGIBILITY IN FLORIDA: Florida Sea Grant (interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through FSG).
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) DEADLINE: December 14, 2023
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: March 5, 2024
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON GRANTS.GOV: NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-23704
NSGO GUIDELINES: See announcement
CONTACT: Dr. Maia McGuire, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Groups interested in partnering with Florida Sea Grant (FSG) to submit an LOI for this funding opportunity are asked to provide details to this Google Form no later than November 14, 2023.
DATE POSTED: September 13, 2023
DESCRIPTION: Funding is to support innovative, transformational research to application projects that will address the prevention and/or removal of marine debris. Proposals are sought that will build upon and extend existing knowledge and efforts related to marine debris; support broad, non-proprietary, and innovative research to address critical gaps with respect to marine debris; and make that information available to communities and stakeholders.
FUNDING: Approximately $16 million in FY 2022 and 2023 is available for 5-12 projects of up to three years duration. Awards must range from $1 million to $3 million. Matching funds are not required.
ELIGIBILITY IN FLORIDA: Florida Sea Grant (interested entities must develop proposals in partnership with FSG, however, they do not require FSG to submit LOIs/proposals.)
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) DEADLINE: January 31, 2024
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: March 27, 2024
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON GRANTS.GOV: NOAA-OAR-SG-2024-23706
NSGO GUIDELINES: See announcement
CONTACT: Dr. Maia McGuire, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Groups interested in partnering with Florida Sea Grant (FSG) to submit an LOI for this funding opportunity are asked to provide details to this Google Form no later than December 31, 2023.
- Status: Closed
DATE POSTED: September 21, 2022
DESCRIPTION: Funding to support travel for one or more individuals to domestic or international aquaculture facilities or sites to facilitate enhancing the knowledge exchange and expertise of coastal, Great Lakes, or marine-focused aquaculture.
FUNDING: Approximately $200,000 in FY 2023 federal funds will be available to individual Sea Grant programs in order to support 4-10 projects for up to one year. Awards are capped at $50,000. Applications require 50% non-federal match.
ELIGIBILITY IN FLORIDA: Affiliates of Florida Sea Grant. Any interested Florida-based investigator, outside of Florida Sea Grant, must partner a Florida Sea Grant program affiliate in the development and implementation of the project. A Florida Sea Grant affiliate must lead and serve as PI on the project. Interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through FSG.
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: March 22, 2023, by 3p.m. EST
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON GRANTS.GOV: NOAA-OAR-SG-2023-2007550
NSGO GUIDELINES: See announcement
CONTACT: Dr. Charles Sidman, [email protected] or Rod Venegas, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Researchers interested in engaging with the Florida Sea Grant program on this opportunity are encouraged to provide brief details on their ideas to this Google form.
DATE POSTED: September 21, 2022
DESCRIPTION: Funding to create an aquaculture economics and markets focused collaborative program that will serve as a hub for generating and promoting a greater understanding of economic and market issues of geographically diverse U.S. aquaculture sectors, encompassing coastal and marine aquaculture, Great Lakes aquaculture, and recirculating aquaculture businesses. The selected project will develop fully integrated research, outreach, and education activities that will seek to align aquaculture more closely with established commercial fishing and agricultural industries with respect to applied economics and market practices and resources.
FUNDING: Approximately $200,000 in FY 2023 federal funds will be available to individual Sea Grant programs in order to support 4-10 projects for up to one year. Awards are capped at $50,000. Applications require 50% non-federal match.
ELIGIBILITY IN FLORIDA: Affiliates of Florida Sea Grant. Any interested Florida-based investigator, outside of Florida Sea Grant, must partner a Florida Sea Grant program affiliate in the development and implementation of the project. A Florida Sea Grant affiliate must lead and serve as PI on the project. Interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through FSG.
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: March 29, 2023, by 3p.m. EST
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON GRANTS.GOV: NOAA-OAR-SG-2023-2007550
NSGO GUIDELINES: See announcement
CONTACT: Dr. Charles Sidman, [email protected] or Rod Venegas, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Researchers interested in engaging with the Florida Sea Grant program on this opportunity are encouraged to provide brief details on their ideas to this Google form.
DATE POSTED: September 21, 2022
DESCRIPTION: Funding to support innovative all-hazard preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives for coastal communities. The nature of these projects could be legal/policy analysis, research and development, training or education, or tool/resource development. The goal is to improve the ability of communities to manage impacts from natural and anthropogenic disasters including (but not limited to) hurricanes, flooding, harmful algal blooms, oil spills, and marine debris. Another desirable outcome is to improve disaster preparedness and communication in underrepresented coastal communities.
FUNDING: Approximately $480,000 in FY 2023 federal funds will be available to individual Sea Grant programs in order to support innovative all-hazard preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives for coastal communities. Awards are capped at $160,000. Matching funds are not required.
ELIGIBILITY IN FLORIDA: Affiliates of Florida Sea Grant. Any interested Florida-based investigator, outside of Florida Sea Grant, must partner a Florida Sea Grant program affiliate in the development and implementation of the project. A Florida Sea Grant affiliate must lead and serve as PI on the project. Interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through FSG.
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: February 27, 2023, by 3p.m. EST
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON GRANTS.GOV: NOAA-OAR-SG-2023-2007550
NSGO GUIDELINES: See announcement
CONTACT: Dr. Charles Sidman, [email protected] or Rod Venegas, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Researchers interested in engaging with the Florida Sea Grant program on this opportunity are encouraged to provide brief details on their ideas to this Google form.
Description: This opportunity supports local and regional training, education, outreach, and technical assistance initiatives for young fishermen, including programs, workshops, and services related to (1) seamanship, navigation, electronics, and safety; (2) vessel and engine care, maintenance, and repair; and (3) sustainable fishing practices. Grant recipients must be a collaborative state, tribal, local, or regionally-based network or partnership of public or private entities. Grants may not be used to purchase a fishing license, permit, quota, or other harvesting right.
Funding: The National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) anticipates between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 of federal funds will be available to support approximately 2-5 awards in order to develop and execute local, regional, and national programs, workshops, and services to enable fishermen to enter career paths and make a living supplying seafood from our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. Awards will be made for no more than $400,000 in federal funds per project, and may be for one or two years, though for no more than $200,000/year.
Eligibility in Florida: To be eligible to receive a grant under this program a recipient shall be a collaborative State, Tribal, local, or regionally based network or partnership of public or private entities, which may include— (A) a Sea Grant Institution; (B) a Federal or State agency or a Tribal organization; (C) a community-based nongovernmental organization; (D) fishermen’s cooperatives or associations; (E) an institution of higher education (including an institution awarding an associate’s degree), or a foundation maintained by an institution of higher education; or (F) any other appropriate entity.
Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline: December 1, 2022
Full Proposal Deadline: February 15, 2023
Formal Announcement on Grants.gov: NOAA-OAR-SG-2023-2007535
Contact: Questions about this opportunity may be submitted to [email protected].
Supplemental Information: Projects may benefit from engaging with the planning frameworks developed by Sea Grant programs in FY21-23. For questions regarding partnering with Florida Sea Grant please contact Dr. Charles Sidman, [email protected] or Dr. Maia McGuire [email protected].
Regional Competitions
- Status: Closed
DATE POSTED: August 24, 2022
DESCRIPTION: Funding is to support projects focused on Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs), along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. Continued engagement with Sea Grant partners will be an important aspect of this competition, and engagement with Sea Grant programs will be valued in the review process.
FUNDING: Approximately $600,000 is available to support 4-6 awards of up to $150,000. Matching is required of at least 50% from nonfederal sources.
ELIGIBILITY: Any researcher that is served by Florida Sea Grant. All fieldwork must take place within the waterways of the U.S. East Coast states of ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, NC, SC, GA or FL.
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) DEADLINE: September 23, 2022, by 5:00p.m. EST.
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: October 25, 2022, by 11:59p.m. EST.
FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT: RFP with submission details.
CONTACT: Charles Sidman, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: If an LOI is not submitted by the deadline, a full proposal will not be accepted. Researchers interested in engaging with the Florida Sea Grant program on this opportunity are encouraged to provide brief details on their ideas to this Google form.
Competitions
- Status: Closed
Date Posted: September 19 , 2025
Description: Florida’s coastal and estuarine ecosystems face major challenges from nutrient pollution, which has resulted in algal blooms and loss of seagrass habitat. Poor water quality continues to limit seagrass recovery in many areas. To combat this challenge, there is increasing interest in co-restoration of seagrass and aquacultured native bivalves, which can enhance local water quality. However, standardized, science-based methods for bivalve-seagrass co-restoration in Florida remain lacking, hindering optimization of efforts statewide.
- Status: Closed
DATED POSTED: January 21, 2025
DESCRIPTION: This biennial research competition is designed to help Florida Sea Grant (FSG) support its applied research and educational responsibilities drawing from fields related to ocean and coastal resources. Given the broad scope of the programmatic focus areas outlined in FSG’s 2024-27 Strategic Plan, research can span a wide range of disciplines (e.g., natural or social sciences, engineering, planning and design, science communication, policy and legal analysis, architecture, business, education, arts and humanities, etc.). An important aspect is that projects be developed and implemented in partnership with an end-user (i.e., government agency, private sector business/industry, non-governmental/non-profit organization) who will apply the results in a manner that generates tangible economic, societal and/or environmental benefits. Cooperation with a FSG Extension agent to support outreach is encouraged where feasible and logical for a particular project, especially in conjunction with end-user engagement.
FUNDING: Funding is to support two-year applied and end-user-driven projects focused on priorities identified in Florida Sea Grant’s 2024-27 Strategic Plan. Approximately 8-9 two-year projects of up to $200,000 each will be funded. Matching is required of at least 50% from non-federal sources. In addition, new this year, selected proposals will subsequently be awarded $22,000 per year (up to $44,000) to support graduate student assistant involvement in the project as a “Florida Sea Grant Fellow”.
ELIGIBILITY: Project investigators (PIs) must be affiliated with universities, agencies, local governments, non-profits or private corporations that are located in Florida. Co-PI’s and associate investigators may be from outside of Florida. Investigators may participate as PI on just one proposal. Projects must be relevant to Florida Sea Grant and benefit Florida’s coastal environment, communities, or economy.
LETTER OF INTENT (LOI) DEADLINE: February 25, 2025, by 3:00p.m. ET.
FULL PROPOSAL DEADLINE: June 18, 2025, by 3:00p.m. EST.
CONTACT: Charles Sidman, [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: See FSG FY 2026-2027 Biennial Applied Science Competition RFP for project development and submission guidance. See Florida Sea Grant 2024-27 Strategic Plan for information about Florida Sea Grant research priorities.
Fellowships & Other Student Opportunties
Visit our Student Opportunities page to learn more about fellowships, internships, and scholarships offered throughout the year.
