Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies while leveraging Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection, in conjunction with agricultural production. The purpose of the Chesapeake Bay Conservation Innovation Grants Program is to expand the collective knowledge about the most effective ways to engage working farms in protecting and restoring vital natural resources in the Chesapeake Bay watershed while sustaining agricultural production. This program is funded by USDA NRCS.
Support Type:
Other-
Cost Share Funding, 1:1 match required
Funding Range:
$75,000 - $1 million
Restoration Activity:
Projects must meet one of the Bay Program's priority goals (see website for goals). Natural Resource Concerns category - up to $5 million available for proposals addressing one or more of the CIG natural resource concerns. Technology category - up to $6 million available for proposals addressing one or more of the CIG technology categories. Grant Leveraging category - up to $4 million to pilot the leveraging of CIG grants projects that provide further grants that align with the purposes of CIG. Chesapeake Bay Watershed category - up to $5 million available for proposals addressing one or more of the CIG natural resource concerns in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The Chesapeake Rising: Innovative Law and Policy Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Coastal Communities symposium will explore key legal and policy considerations that affect climate adaptation strategies. It provides a unique opportunity for upper-level law students and early-career lawyers to present and publish their legal scholarship.
Knauss legislative fellowships in Congress help build careers — and they're fun and educational. See our video and fact sheet for details.
Maryland Sea Grant has program development funds for start-up efforts, graduate student research, or strategic support for emerging areas of research. Apply here.
Smithville is a community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, on the edge of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. A century ago, Smithville had more than 100 residents. Today, it has four, in two homes: an elderly couple, and one elderly woman and her son, who cares for her.
Leone Yisrael is a cephalopod-loving scuba diver, cook, and loves to try new activities. She conducts genetic analysis and fieldwork at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center through the Coastal Disease Ecology Lab.
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.