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Cornell University

Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center
for Wildlife Health

Resources

Catalyzing Conservation Fund

Catalyzing conservation impact for free-ranging wildlife

The Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health Catalyzing Conservation Fund (CCF) is an internal grants program that provides catalytic seed funding to Cornell faculty, research associates, and postdoctoral fellows from a diverse array of disciplines and backgrounds. Our goal is to spur innovation and leadership, generate faster results when feasible and, ultimately, deliver conservation impact for wildlife and wild places. The CCF provides:

  • Seed funding for ‘big idea,’ innovative projects with a focus on yielding significant conservation impact for free-ranging wildlife.
  • Support for Cornell conservation scientists to catalyze research and field activities targeted at solving One Health problems around the world.
  • Rapid response funding to support urgent or time-sensitive wildlife health issues, to allow for the deployment of resources to address situations quickly – including, for example, disease outbreaks or mass mortalities.

To learn more about our mission, vision, and approach, visit our About Us page.

Request for Proposals

The 2024-25 proposal cycle is now closed. Information on the 2025-26 Request for Proposals will be provided later in the year. Proposals deemed urgent (e.g. rapid response) will be considered as needed — please contact CYCWH Associate Director Helen Lee about “urgent” classification prior to developing a proposal.

Applications requesting rapid response funding should be uploaded at this portal. The Request for Proposals can also be downloaded here as a PDF.

Eligibility 

  • For this 2024-25 call, eligibility will be limited to PIs affiliated with the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and/or the K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health (CYCWH). Individual faculty, research associates, and postdoctoral fellows may be involved with more than one proposal but can only be PI on one proposal each cycle. Affiliates with adjunct, courtesy, joint, or visiting appointments are not eligible to serve as PIs.
  • Projects that involve co-PIs from other parts of the CVM, other parts of Cornell University, and/or partnerships with external organizations are strongly encouraged. An external organization is preferably a governmental, non-governmental (including community-based), or private sector entity. The external organization may be another university or higher education entity if the PI provides a strong justification for such an arrangement.
  • Proposals in the $20,000-$50,000 range (or less) are recommended. The maximum amount that can be requested is $100,000. Indirect costs are not allowed.
  • Projects can be up to 24 months in duration.

Timetable

The primary Request for Proposals will come out once per year. The 2024-25 proposal cycle is now closed. Information on the 2025-26 Request for Proposals will be provided later in the year. Please contact the Center as per below for projects deemed time-sensitive. 

Proposals deemed urgent (e.g. rapid response) will be considered as needed — please contact CYCWH Associate Director Helen Lee about “urgent” classification prior to developing a proposal.

How to Apply

Proposals, based on the guidance below, should be uploaded in the form of one PDF at this portal. Please use a 12-point font, single-spaced, with 1” margins. Please include the budget as part of the PDF file as well as provide it as a separate Excel file.

Proposals should contain the following:

  1. Title Page:
    • Your proposal must have an explanatory title. 
    • All PIs, Co-PIs and partners should be listed on the cover page (names, departments, email addresses / NetIDs of the Cornell PIs and other key Cornell participants).
    • Provide a concise, clear explanation of how the proposed project aligns with and furthers the mission and vision of the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health.
    • Total budget amount requested.
    • Proposed project start and end dates.
  2. Abstract +/- Non-Technical Summary:
    On the next, separate page, please provide an abstract (300 words or less) summarizing the proposed work, along with a non-technical summary (300 words or less) for a public audience, unless you feel that your primary abstract is clear for scientific colleagues as well as the public.
  3. Narrative:
    The CYCWH is especially interested in how you envision the proposed work leading to real-world impact. For example, how will you or your collaborating partners help get findings into the hands of decision-makers? Are any of your partners decision-makers in the context of the conservation problem being addressed? How, for example, might community partners help ensure adoption of recommendations?

    Provide a narrative (4 pages max; may include 1 additional page for figures if needed) that includes a clear set of objectives and a compelling vision of what the project will achieve, including details of expected conservation-relevant outcomes / impacts. Clearly outline the steps of your project and how each step leads to the next and, ultimately, to the impact you hope to achieve. Please delineate a realistic project timeline (the inclusion of a Gantt chart could be helpful). Describe any role(s) your partners might play in helping to deliver an impactful project. Explain your interdisciplinary approach to the project and anything novel about the proposed work, or clearly explain why a single discipline is sufficient to achieve the desired impact.

    We recognize that the ultimate conservation impact of a project may be envisioned beyond the maximum 24-month time frame of these grants. For projects envisioned as critical steps along a pathway to longer-term impact, please simply describe your theory of change (i.e., where your proposed work logically fits into a realistic chain of events you believe will ultimately lead to impact at a given time in the future).
  4. Literature Cited: 
    Provide a list of literature cited.
  5. Budget (use this downloadable budget template):
    • Salary support for research/extension associates, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduate students, and technical staff is allowed. Salary support for all other faculty, student tuition/insurance costs, laptops/computers, and indirect costs are not allowed. Fringe for Contract College employees will not be permitted; the fringe rate for Endowed College employees needs to be charged and must be included in the budget.
    • To remain consistent with CVM’s internal grant PI effort policy, PIs (whether salary is requested or not) are required to commit a minimum 5% of their time to this project without it being considered cost-share. Effort should be calculated based on an individual's total appointment and effort (FTE). There is no minimum effort requirement for Co-PIs and Co-Is.
    • Publication costs cannot be included in your budget. However, if a publication related to your award is later accepted, we will consider such costs if the publication will be open access (please contact us at the time). Please also note the Acknowledgements bullet point below. 
  6. Budget Justification (no more than 2 pages):
    Provide sufficient information for reviewers to understand the funding request. Ultimately, these awards are intended to be impact‐oriented, which should be reflected in the budget proposed.
    • Personnel:  Please provide an explanation of the responsibilities of all individuals drawing funds from the proposed budget (academic/non-academic). An indication of the estimated percent effort or the time that each of those individuals will spend on activities related to the proposed work must be included. 
    • Services/Consultants: Specify the role(s) of services and consultants. 
    • Travel: Provide the purpose and destination of each trip and include detailed costs (e.g. lodging, flights, ground transportation, meals, registration fees, etc.) for each individual.
    • Equipment (limited to $5,000): Item should be justified. Partial costs for equipment may be requested up to the $5,000 maximum. If partial costs are requested, other sources of funding for the specified equipment must be identified. Items valued less than $5,000 should be listed as supplies.
    • Supplies & Materials:  Itemize by category and unit cost. 
    • Other Direct Costs: Itemize by category and unit cost.
    • Cost-Sharing: Indicate if cost-sharing is being provided by any involved parties and/or if there are other complementary sources of funding. 
  7. Compliance Form (use this downloadable compliance form)

Review Process and Criteria

Catalyzing Conservation Fund proposals are evaluated by the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health Program Committee and Director. Reviewers are prohibited from evaluating their own proposals. Colleagues considering a proposal submission are welcome to contact Dr. Steve Osofsky with any questions.

Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Intellectual Merit: Will the proposal advance understanding and/or help develop new solutions regarding one or more important wildlife health / One Health challenges? Is the proposed work filling an important gap? Is the proposal approach novel?
  • Impact: Does the proposed project have the potential to impact a real-world wildlife conservation challenge? Are the critical steps on a path to impact clearly articulated and convincing?
  • Collaborations: Are the roles of any listed project participants clearly explained? Does the proposal describe important collaborations within Cornell and/or with one or more external organizations? Alternatively, if there are no such collaborations described, is the proposal poised for success as written?
  • Interdisciplinary Reach: Does the proposal team reach across disciplines and/or campus units? If not, does the proposal clearly explain why this approach is not needed?
  • Feasibility: Does the proposal clearly describe a realistic timeline and budget for achieving its objectives?

Successful Applicant Obligations

  • Ensure compliance with any necessary reviews (e.g. IACUC, IRB) and/or permits (e.g. CITES). The PI will be responsible for ensuring that approvals for all necessary research protocols regarding the use of vertebrate animals, human subjects, recombinant DNA, radioactivity, and/or biological and other hazardous materials are in place prior to the start of the work.
  • Submit annual reports, including a final report 60 days after the project's end date (listed in the memorandum of understanding awardees will sign to receive funding). Reports should describe results and progress relating to the objectives presented in the original proposal, as well as any obstacles of concern. A minimum of 4-6 quality media files (i.e. photos, videos) that can be used without restrictions must be submitted with each report, with appropriate captions and credits. Reports should also include any meeting abstracts or publications resulting from the funded work, as well as brief descriptions of any related external grant submissions.
  • Respond to surveys, requests for interviews (you of course have discretion in terms of declining or accepting such interview requests), or other requests for information about the project during the funding period and after the end date for public awareness / communications purposes.
  • Include acknowledgement of the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health in all presentations, reports, and publications stemming at least in part from awarded funding. (Awardees must notify the CYCWH prior to the publication of papers that cite Center-supported work.) Additional guidance for acknowledging support from the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health in presentations and publications is available on our website.