Grants for conservation of Marine Mammals and their Environment

The Marine Mammal Commission’s mission is to further the goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 16 U.S.C. § 1361 et sec. These include restoring and maintaining marine mammal populations as significant functioning elements of healthy marine ecosystems.

Topics

The Commission is accepting proposals under this topic focused in two areas.

• Topic A: Marine Mammals in a Changing Climate
  • These include restoring and maintaining marine mammal populations as significant functioning elements of healthy marine ecosystems. However, the dynamic nature of ecosystems can make assessing and attaining these goals challenging, particularly in the face of global climate change. Oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.
  • The Commission is accepting proposals under this topic focused in two areas.
    • Marine mammal health in a changing climate
      • Climate-driven changes in ecosystems are expected to alter the exposure of marine mammals to pathogens and toxins, and change prey availability, abundance, or quality. These changes in exposure could lead to nutritional stress, compromised immune systems, or other impacts on health, and ultimately can affect population vital rates. Increased capacity to detect changes in marine mammal population health and understand the underlying factors and processes contributing to those changes is critically needed to identify possible actions to respond to and mitigate impacts.
    • Changes in marine mammal distribution or habitat associated with a changing climate
      • Climate-change driven alterations in ecosystems may lead to shifts in marine mammal distribution, range, phenology, or migration routes, and may alter the availability of prey or change exposure to predation or human activities.
• Topic B: Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusiveness, Belonging, Accessibility and Justice (DEIBAJ) in Marine Mammal Science
  • The Commission seeks proposals that broaden participation, engage diverse learners, foster pathways, and develop leadership opportunities for historically underserved and underrepresented communities in marine mammal science. Topic B proposals will create or support DEIBAJ initiatives within the fields of marine mammal science. For example, within a marine mammal research group or institution, or a community-based non-profit, Topic B funding could support DEIBAJ initiatives such as cultivating an accessible, inclusive, and equitable working environment, providing mentor/mentee training or professional development opportunities, or developing paid internship programs. These are only a few examples, and they encourage applicants to think broadly and intentionally about DEIBAJ initiatives.

Funding Information

• Funding requests are limited to $60,000 USD.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants from within the U.S. and outside the U.S. are eligible to apply, including both non-U.S. citizens and those affiliated with non-U.S. institutions.
• At the time of posting, the U.S. Federal Government is working under a continuing resolution. Availability of funds to support research is dependent on passage of a final budget for the Commission.

For more information, visit Marine Mammal Commission.