Organizational Background

GLOS’ mission, as laid out in GLOS 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, is to provide end-to-end data services that support science, policy, management, and industry in the Great Lakes. In collaboration with U.S. and Canadian academic, non- and for-profit organizations, as well as federal, state, provincial, and local government agencies, GLOS coordinates activities and supports a diverse suite of technologies that include nearshore and offshore monitoring platforms, autonomous vehicles, as well as shore and ship-based observing platforms. GLOS integrates data from these systems with the goal of providing products and services that help fill data and information gaps to improve the use and management of the lakes.

Program Goals, Application and Review Process

The focus of this program is to provide funding to help cover the costs of unforeseen repairs and/or equipment replacement for observing platforms that cannot be supported fully by other means and might impair the deployment and/or operation of the system(s). Up to $8,000 requests from academic institutions and non-profit organizations will be considered, based on funding availability.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact GLOS (platformrepair@glos.org) before applying to discuss funding availability as well as proposal alignment with the program. If the funds allocated via this program are not sufficient to cover all repair costs the applicant will be expected to demonstrate funding from other sources to fully support the need.

The proposal should be up to one page (12-point font with 1” margins) and describe the 1) problem, 2) need, and 3) estimated cost (including quotes as needed as an appendix) and timeline for repairs, procurement, and deployment. The applicant should also attach his/her CV (up to 2-pages). Proposal should be sent electronically as a single PDF attachment to platformrepair@glos.org.

Proposals will be reviewed by GLOS staff to assess 1) alignment with the RFP program goals, 2) relevance of the information/data produced by the observing platform to stakeholders and 3) ability to sustain the operations and maintenance of the asset long-term.

Successful applicants will be required to submit a final report once the project is completed.

Data + Info Lake News Observing