U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant for Freshwater Mussel and Host Fish Contaminant Exposure Study

This is a notice of intent to award a single source cooperative agreement to Central Michigan University without competition under justification 505DM 2.14.B.4. This will be executed as part of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU). Competition for the award is not practical as Dr. Woolnough’s laboratory is uniquely qualified to perform this study and is capable of preforming the husbandry, exposures, and behavioral and reproductive health assessments necessary for the project. Dr. Woolnough’s laboratory is located in a centralized location which allows easy access for Service personnel and trailer validation study sites. Further, Dr. Woolnough is regarded as an expert in Great Lakes mussel ecology host fish interaction and has developed health and reproductive assessment protocols from previous work with the Service which will be utilized in this study allowing the Service to build upon and compare this study to previous research.

Substantial involvement on the part of the Service is anticipated for the successful completion of the activities to be funded. Service personnel will provide contaminants expertise and will work closely with CMU to ensure exposures and CEC mix validations are performed according to established guidelines. The Service will also act as the lead in host fish health assessments. CMU will be the lead on maintaining the exposures and all mussel health and reproductive assessments including host fish experiments.