The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission (Commission) is pleased to announce its Fiscal Year 2026 funding opportunity focused on “Advancing Technologies and Methods to Improve Marine Mammal Stock Assessments and Mitigate Impacts”.

Specifically, the Commission invites proposals that develop or apply technologies, tools, analytical methods, and community-based approaches that contribute to:

Understanding of the status of marine mammal stocks; and/or
Mitigation or better characterization of human-caused impacts.

The Commission will be accepting pre-proposals until Friday, January 16^th, 2026, 11:59 pm EST. Applicants intending to apply to this funding opportunity must submit a pre-proposal briefly summarizing their proposed project.

Full proposals will only be accepted from those applicants invited to submit after the pre-proposal review. Invitations to submit a full proposal will be sent to applicants via email by Monday, February 16^th, 2026. Funding requests are limited to $75,000 USD.

More details on this funding opportunity, as well as deadlines, (pre-)proposal requirements, eligibility, and submission instructions, can be found on the Commission’s webpages below.

Current funding opportunities:

https://www.mmc.gov/grants-and-research-survey/current-funding-opportunities/

Proposal requirements:

https://www.mmc.gov/grants-and-research-survey/current-funding-opportunities/proposal-requirements/

Availability of funds to support projects is dependent on passage of the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

Potential applicants may contact Dee Allen, Scientific Program Officer by e-mail (RPO@mmc.gov) or telephone (+1 301-504-0087) with any questions.

Dee Allen

Scientific Program Officer

Marine Mammal Commission

4340 East-West Highway, Suite 700

Bethesda, MD 20814-4498

301-504-0087

dallen@mmc.gov

Funding opportunity inquiries: rpo@mmc.gov

Visit us online: www.mmc.gov

The Marine Mammal Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. Government.