Earthwatch – Marine Conservation

Funder’s website

The funder’s website can be found HERE.

Funding Value and Duration

$20,000 – 80,000 for three (3) years.

Overview

The Earthwatch Marine Conservation RFP invites pre-proposals from scientists for research that will take measurable action to address global change and loss of biodiversity by:

• Increasing scientific knowledge and public awareness of environmental challenges to ecosystems, while providing locally relevant
  solutions
• Increasing partnerships with local people, communities, governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and corporations at local and international levels
• Informing management plans and environmental policies.

All pre-proposals must be hypothesis-driven, have quantifiable goals, measurable direct impacts, and an overarching research theme directly related to taking action to address extinction and loss of biodiversity. Because meeting these challenges requires a whole-ecosystem approach, we are specifically interested in contributions that incorporate keystone species to address biodiversity loss. For research that takes place in or near land managed by Indigenous communities, pre-proposals must incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), defined as a cumulative body of knowledge and beliefs, handed down through generations about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment. We strongly welcome pre-proposals that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Global Biodiversity Framework
that will improve human livelihoods and support scientists in emerging nations. We seek projects in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America.

Suggested topic areas include;

• Food-web relationships driven by apex predators and other keystone species and their effects on biodiversity and ecosystem productivity
• Sea turtle ecology and conservation, including foraging research and enhancing sea turtle nesting success through habitat restoration and direct conservation intervention. Prioritizing projects in the West Indies and Caribbean, particularly Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands
• Conserving and/or restoring threatened ecosystems, prioritizing coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, coastal wetlands, and prime sea turtle nesting beaches
• Climate change impacts on marine ecology, particularly sea-level rise, ocean acidification, marine biodiversity, species adaptation, and marine carbon sequestration
• Ecological restoration, to repair damaged marine ecosystems and improve their management
• Urban marine ecology, particularly increasing resiliency to climate responses
• Marine macro and micro plastic impacts and reduction
• Marine research that promotes human-wildlife coexistence.

The full overview can be found HERE.