Understanding and Predicting the Multi-Scale Eco-Geomorphic Evolution and Ecosystem Service Benefits of Coastal Engineering With Nature® (EWN) Solutions | W81EWF 21 SOI 0011

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 21 SOI 0011

This funding opportunity, issued by the Department of Defense through the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) under a Cooperative Agreement, focuses on improving how coastal Engineering With Nature (EWN) solutions are understood, evaluated, and designed over time. The central aim is to understand and predict the multi-scale eco-geomorphic evolution of coastal systems, meaning how coastlines change physically (landforms, sediments, shoreline position) and biologically (habitats, species interactions, ecological function) before, during, and after nature-based engineering approaches are implemented. A second, equally important emphasis is quantifying the ecosystem service benefits that EWN solutions provide, such as risk reduction, habitat creation, water quality improvements, and other public benefits that arise when infrastructure and natural processes are intentionally aligned.

The project is structured as a multi-year effort in which year 1 establishes the program foundation and launches initial work, while years 2 and 3 (if funded) expand the research portfolio, deepen collaborations, and broaden field engagement. The grant expects the awardee team to work closely with USACE and EWN researchers to build a coordinated research and development (R&D) enterprise that produces practical tools, transferable knowledge, and public-facing products. The opportunity is framed to move beyond isolated studies and instead create a connected set of research activities and demonstrations that collectively strengthen the EWN portfolio and its real-world performance.

Objective 1 is to establish a collaborative EWN R&D enterprise aimed at understanding coastal systems in a way that directly informs sustainable, high-performing EWN design. The funded team is expected to help prioritize and initiate a suite of diverse, collaborative R&D projects that extend current EWN research. These projects are intended to address several major scientific and engineering questions: how coastal systems evolve around an intervention over different timescales; how to explicitly integrate biological components such as microbes, plants, and animals into monitoring and modeling rather than treating ecology as an afterthought; how resilient EWN solutions are under shifting biological, chemical, and physical conditions driven by storms, sea level rise, water quality changes, and ecosystem shifts; and how EWN performance depends on scale and context, recognizing that what works in one setting may not translate directly to another. In the first year, the opportunity anticipates initiating roughly three to five R&D projects jointly with USACE, with an explicit expectation that the work will create technology transfer opportunities, meaning methods, models, monitoring approaches, or decision-support practices that can be adopted more broadly.

Objective 2 focuses on identifying and pursuing field-demonstration projects, which are positioned as applied research efforts that validate and refine EWN approaches in real coastal settings. These demonstrations are meant to go beyond the core project team and USACE researchers by bringing in additional collaborators and partners, reflecting the reality that coastal projects often involve multiple agencies, local stakeholders, and complementary funding sources. Demonstration concepts could include deploying or testing an EWN monitoring-and-modeling system at a site where EWN solutions are being considered, then using the resulting data and models to forecast the eco-geomorphic evolution of different EWN alternatives. The selection and prioritization of these field sites is expected to be based on a system-level opportunity assessment and practical constraints, such as environmental conditions, partner coordination, suitability for monitoring and modeling, site access, availability of informative existing datasets, feasibility of acquiring new data, public interest, and the presence of collaborative funding or in-kind support. The first year target is to identify and actively pursue two to three field demonstration projects.

Objective 3 requires launching and operating an EWN communication platform designed to deliver timely information products and engagement activities across the EWN network, with a clear public communication and outreach purpose. The idea is to integrate and optimize the collaborators existing communication strengths so that the program produces consistent, visible outputs that advance EWN strategic outcomes for public benefit. The opportunity lists a wide range of acceptable products, including workshops, symposia, news articles, videos or documentaries, graphics, case study reporting, technical notes, and peer-reviewed journal articles. The selected team is expected to work directly with EWN leadership and researchers to produce most or all of these deliverables. For year 1, the opportunity sets specific expectations: at least two workshops or symposia, one video, two to three technical notes, and two journal articles, with the broader goal of generating ongoing educational and outreach opportunities that expand awareness and adoption of EWN.

In terms of who should apply, the opportunity signals that a strong proposal will come from a multidisciplinary team capable of spanning coastal physical processes, ecological dynamics, and engineering implementation. The listed expertise areas include geomorphology, remote sensing, numerical modeling, water quality monitoring, marine and estuarine ecophysiology, coastal community ecology, ecosystem restoration, coastal engineering, estuarine morphodynamics, hydrodynamics and sediment transport, and environmental fluid dynamics. Beyond academic knowledge, the solicitation emphasizes applied experience that aligns with EWN practice, such as designing and implementing nature-based strategies in coastal environments, conducting ecological monitoring and modeling for restoration projects, incorporating human-use benefits into infrastructure planning, using dredged sediment beneficially, quantifying benefits produced by restoration, and modeling coastal system behavior in ways that inform decisions.

Administratively, the opportunity is a discretionary funding action with a cooperative agreement mechanism, meaning the government expects substantial involvement and collaboration during the project rather than a hands-off grant. It was posted March 8, 2021, originally due May 14, 2021, and anticipated one award with an award ceiling of $1,000,000. The program is tied to CFDA 12.630 and is described as CESU-funded, which typically implies collaboration within the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units framework and an emphasis on partnerships that connect federal agencies with academic and other research organizations. Overall, the solicitation is aimed at building a coordinated research-to-practice pipeline for coastal EWN solutions: generating new understanding of coupled ecological and geomorphic change, validating approaches through field demonstrations, and packaging the results into accessible products that support implementation, adoption, and public value.

• The Department of Defense, Engineer Research and Development Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Understanding and Predicting the Multi-Scale Eco-Geomorphic Evolution and Ecosystem Service Benefits of Coastal Engineering With Nature® (EWN) Solutions" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 08, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 14, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for W81EWF 21 SOI 0011

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