Evaluating the Population-level impacts of contaminants of emerging concern on Lake Sturgeon

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There is not an application process for this funding opportunity; this is a notice of intent to award a single source cooperative agreement to Ball State University- Venturelli Lab under justification 505DM 2.14B 2 and 4 without competition. Competition for the award is not practical as it is a the intended recipient Venturelli Lab is uniquely qualified to perform the project duties based on technical expertise in fish population modeling, specifically with sturgeon modeling in regards to environmental toxicity. Currently the Venturelli lab is modeling the effects of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) on generic fish populations based on the CEC Team's laboratory work and this new project is a continuation of current work. It would build upon the model they have already created to expand it to Lake Sturgeon, a species of interest to USFWS. The Venturelli lab has maintained a good relationship with the CEC Team and has proven their expertise in fish population modeling and ability to work professionally and with high scientific rigor with the current CEC Team. In addition to their current good relationship and scientific excellence, the chosen recipient also has previous experience modeling contaminant effects on the European sturgeon, a close relative to the lake sturgeon, which again ensures they will be able to complete this project successfully. The chosen recipient is uniquely qualified to complete this modeling because of their previous work and current relationships with the CEC Team. The intended recipient has already been briefed on project goals and objectives and has agreed they align with their own lab's goals and objectives making collaboration ideal and successful for all parties. The combination of the recipients scientific background and knowledge as well as their current good relationships and status as a current CEC Team member is why they are intended as the sole source recipient. The Objectives of this project are: 1) Develop a general population model for the lake sturgeon to identify which individual-level impacts of exposure to CEC (e.g., growth, survival, reproduction) are the most important for population level effects. 2) Adapt the previously developed CEC effects model to a more specific case/location in order to answer a more specific research question linked to an existing research project at USFWS. 3) Communicate results via conferences, the peer-reviewed literature, and to interested stakeholders. Specifically the recipient of this project will, summarize the available literature on demographic/life history data of lake sturgeon, develop and run the models in different simulation contexts according to CEC project needs, interpret simulation results and outcomes in collaboration with USFWS CEC Team project manager, share all data, modeling code, reports with USFWS CEC Team, and prepare and submit publications in collaboration with USFWS CEC Team. The anticipated outputs and outcomes from this project include species-specific population model for assessing population-level effects of exposure to CEC in the context of environmental risk assessment, model code and a list of species-specific model parameters, values, and sources, attending at least three presentations at appropriate national and/or international conferences, and one or more publications in the peer-reviewed literature.

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