PEGASuS Biodiversity and Natural Assets

Request for Proposals

An initiative of Future Earth, supported by the Future Earth Colorado Hub at Colorado State
University, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the CSU Global Biodiversity Center. This
initiative is funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the NOMIS
Foundation.

Future Earth is pleased to announce the first in a series of new funding opportunities through the
Future Earth Program for Early-stage Grants Advancing Sustainability Science (PEGASuS).
The PEGASuS program will focus on interdisciplinary research connecting the natural and social
sciences. The goal of this program will be to increase knowledge, promote innovation, and
establish evidence-based solutions to the worlds most difficult sustainability challenges.

PEGASuS Biodiversity and Natural Assets is the first in a series of funding opportunities
addressing the key challenges of Future Earth, and seeks integrated sustainability science
proposals focused on the Future Earth Natural Assets Challenge: Safeguarding terrestrial,
freshwater, and marine natural assets underpinning human well-being by advancing our
understanding of the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and services, and
developing effective valuation and governance approaches. PEGASuS will also support the
mission of Colorado State Universitys Global Biodiversity Center, to advance understanding,
conservation, and appreciation of lifes variation, ranging from genetics and organisms to
ecosystems and their interactions; to maintain resilient ecosystems supporting a diversity of
plants and animals, which enhances societal health and wellbeing, and strengthens human links
to wild nature; and to maintain and enhance biodiversity through research, policy advancement,
education, and outreach. We expect to award four to eight grants this year to a total amount of
approximately $600,000.
 Background and rationale

Human influence on natural systems is profound and increasing. This influence destabilizes,
simplifies, and reduces the resilience of natural systems while creating complex, coupled socio-
ecological systems that cross scales and change in complex, often unpredictable ways.
Understanding the dynamics of these coupled socio-ecological systems will require a new kind
of collaborative science one that integrates different disciplines and allows us to map, predict,
and respond to the feedbacks generated by the multi-scale changes.
The PEGASuS Biodiversity and Natural Assets grants opportunity aims to support
interdisciplinary teams in the study of biodiversity broadly, while focusing on the Future Earth
Vision for people to thrive in a sustainable and equitable world.

Guidance for successful proposals

Successful PEGASuS proposals will demonstrate a compelling need for interdisciplinary

integration to advance discovery and innovation within the Future Earth Natural Assets
Challenge area. Research projects may focus on any aspect of the Natural Assets Challenge.
Applicants must present a clear Research Plan including a research hypothesis, theory of change,
research methodology, and expected results and products. Proposals can come from any
institution from any country.

Proposals should address some or all of the following thematic areas: (1) biodiversity valuation,
ecosystem functions, ecosystem services, requisite socio-economic transformations, and the
sustainable consumption and production of natural resources; (2) biodiversity indicators,
scenario planning and prediction, risk analysis, identification of tipping points and/or feedbacks
between socio-economic, biodiversity, and ecosystem dynamics. Preference will be given to
research projects that show significant potential to advance the science and capacity needed to
predict and effectively respond to the scale, pace, and impact of global change.

Strong preference will be given to research projects that integrate across the natural sciences and
social sciences and include an interdisciplinary, multinational approach. Preference will be given
to research projects that include end-users, policy-makers, resource managers, and/or other
relevant stakeholders in the planning, design, execution, or use of the proposed research and,
when possible, in the development of outputs (products) that are relevant to those stakeholders.
Proposals should identify and address clear user needs, and it is recommended that applicants
develop applied innovations as well as research solutions.

Evaluation criteria and review process

The criteria for project selection (below) include a strong research focus, interdisciplinarity, the
potential for innovation and discovery, the capacities of the research to advance knowledge and
inform decision-making, and the capabilities for integrating science and non-science partners.
Teams will be further evaluated by the scientific credibility and originality of the proposed work
and their capacity to develop new tools, models, products, and knowledge by combining robust
research initiatives from multiple disciplines. Proposals will be scored and ranked based on the
following criteria:

The technical excellence and feasibility of planning and executing the Research Plan
within the proposed budget and time constraints (50 points)
The interdisciplinary design and strength of the team, depth and breadth of collaboration
across disciplines, countries, and sectors of society (25 points)
The potential for the research to lead to significant advances within the thematic areas
outlined above and relevance to the Future Earth Vison and Key Challenge on Natural
Assets (25 points)

Reviews will be conducted by anonymous external reviewers. Applicants may suggest reviewers
to exclude with justification.

Instructions for proposal preparation

Full proposal deadline: June 5th, 2017. Awarded teams will be notified in early July, 2017.

Proposals are limited to four single-spaced pages, 11-point Times New Roman font, with one
inch margins. Include an appendix with a CV for each of the principal investigators (maximum
two pages each), a research budget (maximum one page), and list of references. The appendix is
not counted in the four-page limit. Submit proposals in PDF format online through the following
link: http://network.futureearth.org/pegasus

Proposals should generally follow the format given here:

Part 1. Title of the research project. Titles should be catchy and short enough to use for general
communication purposes.

Part 2. Brief, compelling, three to five sentence summary, in third person, of the projects
proposed work in words that a layperson would understand. This summary will be used in all
official Future Earth communications (website, press releases, annual reports, etc.). Use verbiage
that is understandable to technical and non-technical audiences and can be used in isolation from
the rest of the proposal.

Part 3. Problem Statement: Describe the issue to be addressed and how this teams work will
make a significant contribution to and fill a unique niche within sustainability science related to
biodiversity. Explain how the proposed research aligns with the Future Earth Natural Assets
Challenge: safeguarding terrestrial, freshwater, and marine natural assets underpinning human
well-being by understanding relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and
services, and developing effective valuation and governance approaches. In addition, describe
how the proposed work contributes to solutions within some or all of the thematic areas
described above.
Part 4. Research plan: Describe the interdisciplinary research activities that will integrate and
move the project forward and provide a 12-month timeline. Describe the expected results,
outcomes, and products of this work and explain the metrics of success.

Part 5. Team Composition: Explain why the proposed activity requires an interdisciplinary
approach and provide a rationale for the proposed interdisciplinary team. Describe the leadership
and team organization. In general, it is expected that multiple principal investigators from
different disciplines will be responsible for the groups organization, intellectual leadership, and
for ensuring that the objectives of the proposed research are met. Describe how students,
postdoctoral fellows, and other researchers, and non-academic (e.g. private sector, government,
or NGO) partners might be involved now or in the future. It is expected that multiple institutions,
nationalities, and disciplines will be represented given the breadth of the challenge being met by
the proposed research and the interdisciplinary nature of successful biodiversity research for
global sustainability. Diversity in background, nationality, institutional rank, gender, and
expertise will be strongly valued.

Part 6. Budget and Resource Needs: The total budget for PEGASuS - Biodiversity and Natural
Assets is approximately $600,000 within which we anticipate funding four to eight research
projects. Describe the budget needed to achieve the goals of your project within 12 months
(starting approximately in August 2017). Indirect costs are permitted up to 12.5% rate. Future
Earth will aim to provide additional limited in-kind support for communications, capacity
building, and synthesis activities. Successful applicants will be required to complete a detailed
budget spreadsheet, track all expenses, and submit original receipts and financial reports to
Future Earth.

Applicants are encouraged to use the Open Network (http://network.futureearth.org) in order to

reach out to community members, form teams, and develop proposals.

Expectations of PEGASuS grant recipients

PEGASuS grants will be administered by Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of
Colorado Boulder (CU). Successful grantees may therefore be required to sign terms of reference
agreements with either CSU or CU or with both universities. Intellectual property of the
agreements will require the granting university (CSU and/or CU) to own all intellectual property
that is generated under these funds as well as the results to be published and disseminated. Any
products and publications resulting from this award must acknowledge the Future Earth
PEGASuS Program, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the NOMIS Foundation.

PEGASuS recipients will be required to follow reporting requirements as required by the

funders. A goal of PEGASuS is to share information broadly and build community. Therefore
PEGASuS recipients will be expected to provide initial, mid-term, and final public reports and
follow open data standards. Additional details on reporting requirements will be provided upon
notification of awards.
While PEGASuS grants could potentially be used as seed funding to catalyze larger research
programs, PEGASuS grants must also deliver stand-alone tangible research products within the
time frame and budget of the award.

All principal investigators and team members must have a profile on the Open Network prior to
submitting their proposal (http://network.futureearth.org).

PEGASuS Program Manager and Point of Contact:

Dr. Craig Starger, Colorado State University and Future Earth: craig.starger@futureearth.org

About Future Earth

Future Earth is the largest coordinated effort to mobilize science in the service of
sustainability. Future Earth was designed with the goal of generating integrated knowledge,
tools, and capacities in support of more rapid, effective, and durable solutions to our largest
sustainable development challenges. We are working toward this goal through the launch of ten
Knowledge-Action Networks (KANs) that address major societal challenges. We are also
building an international community committed to building the knowledge needed for global
sustainability through the Future Earth Open Network, an online platform that will support
collaboration among scientists and stakeholders on key challenges in sustainability science. The
Future Earth Colorado Hub is based at the School of Global Environmental Sustainability
(SoGES) at Colorado State University and at the Sustainability Innovation Lab (SILC) at the
University of Colorado Boulder.