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Reserve Capacity Building Grants

Reserve Capacity Building Grants

Supporting reserves in advancing collaborative science project ideas toward the development of a future proposal

At a glance:

Who1 grant per reserve
Funding$15,000 / reserve
Duration1 year

Essential details:

  • Access flexible resources to support your reserve’s exploration of future collaborative science project ideas
  • Pool funds with other reserves to increase overall award amount
  • Reduce administrative burden by working with a partner organization as fiscal lead
  • Use the main product of a capacity building grant (a proposal framework) to apply to future Science Collaborative or other grant opportunities
  • Be inspired by prior, creative, and tailored uses of these funds (see examples below)

 

Learn more

Developing collaborative science project ideas requires significant investment in time and resources. Capacity building grants are intended to help ease that resource burden and enhance reserves’ capacity to develop collaborative science proposals in response to Science Collaborative and other funding opportunities. Each reserve within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System has the opportunity to receive a capacity building grant for up to $15,000 in 2026 or 2027.

This funding may be applied to a number of eligible activities related to proposal development to allow reserves to tailor the work to meet their individual needs. The primary required output is a framework for a future proposal. A reserve may submit an individual application or partner with one or more reserves to submit a joint application such that the total award exceeds $15,000. Applications are reviewed to ensure plans align with the intent of this opportunity but this is not a competitive process.

Capacity Building Examples in the NERRS

Capacity building grants can be used to support a variety of activities to advance collaborative science projects. In addition to supporting personnel time, training or needs assessments, these funds may be used to convene partners and support relationship-building activities. Below are some examples of how reserves have used capacity building funds.

By pooling their 2018 capacity building funds, Rookery Bay and Jobos Bay built a collaborative partnership around a shared need to understand the effects of environmental stress and episodic events on tropical coastal communities.
  • Activities supported: The reserves pooled their funds for a $20K grant to bring staff from each reserve together to better understand each other’s contexts and participate in workshops that identified shared goals and provided proposal development training. The reserves later partnered on a successful collaborative research proposal that emerged from this capacity building grant and led to other future collaborations.
  • Fund use: Staff time, travel, workshop hosting expenses like food and supplies, and proposal development training.

South Slough’s 2018 capacity building grant brought partners together to discuss research and monitoring data gaps and development of an inventory for eelgrass restoration projects. 
  • Activities supported: The reserve convened partners for a workshop that included a structured planning exercise that led to identification of shared goals and, eventually, a proposal framework that led to a successful collaborative research proposal.
  • Fund use: Meeting supplies, travel, and registration fees for the project lead to give a conference presentation on eelgrass decline in South Slough estuary and engage potential partners.

Hudson River’s 2021 capacity building grant enabled the reserve to invite an external partner, the Consensus Building Institute (CBI), to facilitate a collaborative proposal development process with the partners.
  • Activities supported: CBI facilitated several engagement activities with reserve staff and external partners to refine a project concept and identify existing resources they could leverage towards the development of a proposal framework and future proposals.
  • Fund use: CBI personnel time.

Lake Superior’s 2022 capacity building grant supported relationship building for a group of NERRS staff, colleagues in the National Estuaries Program, and Native Nation partners.
  • Activities supported: Lake Superior reserve staff helped to convene partners at Restore America’s Estuaries’ 2022 National Coastal and Estuarine Summit where the group participated in a panel designed to expand understanding and motivation among coastal professionals to support and learn from Indigenous leadership and stewardship. In addition, the project included a short survey of needs and opportunities associated with biocultural restoration in the NERRS. Team members later submitted a letter of intent for a related knowledge exchange proposal in partnership with Indigenous communities. 
  • Fund use: Travel and conference registration, as well as personnel time to support the distribution and analysis of the needs assessment survey. Lake Superior coordinated with their Friends Group to receive and administer the grant funds on their behalf.

Narragansett Bay’s 2022 multi-reserve capacity building project tested a proposed camera trapping approach and its potential to scale across the NERRS. 
  • Activities supported: Narragansett Bay developed an approach for a nationwide summer wildlife survey to enhance awareness of and answer questions related to camera trapping in wetlands across the NERRS.
  • Fund use: Capacity building funds supported the purchase of camera trapping kits and shipping costs for sending kits to participating reserves.

Lasting Impacts of Capacity Building Grants

More than ten years of capacity building grants have demonstrated how diverse and creative uses of these funds have advanced the collaborative science of the NERRS. Some impacts we have noticed: 

  • Convening partners for in-depth conversations yielded multiple proposal ideas or helped turn complex shared needs into actionable next steps, increasing the quality of the proposals teams submitted to Science Collaborative grant opportunities;
  • Testing methods and coordination of their application with some reserves revealed potential challenges and opportunities for scaling, saving the proposing team time, effort, and resources;
  • Removing cost as a barrier enabled opportunities for conversations that might never have happened among people who may never have met, creating new partnerships and laying the groundwork for future collaborations; and
  • Pooling funds facilitated learning and exchange among newer reserves and/or reserves with different capacities, identification of shared needs and goals, and future projects together that have resulted in lasting partnerships.

Application Information

  • Each reserve has the opportunity to receive a capacity building grant for up to $15,000 in 2026 or 2027. 
  • Any reserve staff member can lead a reserve capacity building project. 
  • A reserve may submit an individual application or partner with one or more reserves to submit a joint application such that the total award amount exceeds $15,000. 
  • Reserves may also partner with an external organization to receive and apply funds toward a capacity building effort. 

  • Personnel time: Supporting staff time to coordinate and facilitate workshops or meetings with intended users and researchers to elicit and advance collaborative science ideas.
  • Hiring subcontractors: Hiring consultants to provide training or facilitate workshops and meetings. Supplementing staff expertise through external contractors.
  • Training: Collaboration, facilitation, or proposal development training.
  • Convening partners: Travel and meeting expenses including food, meeting space rental, and supplies related to the convening of potential collaborators.
  • Expenses associated with increasing capacity to work with partners remotely: Webcams, microphones, web collaboration software licenses, or other related supplies.
  • Preliminary data analyses and literature reviews: Using existing samples or data to develop pilot analyses or visualizations, or synthesizing background information that would inform and strengthen a proposal.
  • Conducting a needs assessment or planning exercise: A structured needs assessment process to elicit and explore research opportunities that are responsive to the needs of intended users.

Capacity building funds CANNOT be used for:

  • Data collection, except for the purposes of a needs assessment;
  • Equipment purchases over $10,000; or
  • Professional proposal writing services.

Capacity building grants are one year in duration. There are two application deadlines, the second is the final deadline for applying for a capacity building grant. If a reserve does not apply for their capacity building funds by the final deadline, funds may be reprogrammed.

  • April 1, 2026: First application deadline
    • May: Funding notifications
    • July: Anticipated start date
  • April 1, 2027: Final application deadline
    • May: Funding notifications
    • July: Anticipated start date

How to apply

View the Application Guidance and begin your application. Reach out to us if you have questions or want to talk through your ideas.

Begin Your Application

Contact

Questions about this funding opportunity can be directed to:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: Nick Soberal (734-763-0034)