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longleaf pine regrowth

The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Network (CESU)

 

The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Network is a national consortium of federal agencies, tribes, academic institutions, state and local governments, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and other partners working together to support informed public trust resource stewardship. The CESU Network includes more than 400 nonfederal partners and 15 federal agencies across seventeen CESUs representing biogeographic regions encompassing all 50 states and U.S. territories. The CESU Network is well positioned as a platform to support research, technical assistance, education and capacity building that is responsive to long-standing and contemporary science and resource management priorities.

The seventeen CESUs bring together scientists, resource managers, students, and other conservation professionals, drawing upon expertise from across the biological, physical, social, cultural, and engineering disciplines (from Anthropology to Zoology) to conduct collaborative and interdisciplinary applied projects that address natural and cultural heritage resource issues at multiple scales and in an ecosystem context. Each CESU is structured as a working collaborative with participation from numerous federal and nonfederal institutional partners. CESUs are based at host universities and focused on a particular biogeographic region of the country.

Auburn University is a member of two CESUs, the Piedmont South Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast.  Functionally, CESUs often serve as conduits for federal funding (RFPs) related to the previously mentioned disciplines.   Funding opportunities are posted through the AU POC (Dr. Daowei Zhang) and distributed to those units throughout campus that are most closely aligned with a particular request for proposals.    CESU member organizations have agreed to utilize a 17.5% indirect cost rate.  One feature of the CESU program is that rapid release of announcements and minimal turnover times for receipt of funding are facilitated.  Questions regarding the CESU programs at AU can be directed to Dr. Daowei Zhang, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, 334-844-1067, zhangd1@auburn.edu.

Links

National CESU Web Page: cesu.org

Piedmont South Atlantic Coast CESU: psaccesu.uga.edu

Gulf Coast CESU: gccesu.tamu.edu