Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Clemson University's Division of Research received a $635,184 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), awarded June 15, 2026, with a completion date of May 31, 2029. The collaborative research project will produce scientific outputs addressing positive biotic interactions in freshwater ecosystems, specifically how facilitation—wherein one species modifies habitat to improve fitness of other species—influences ecological community structure under varying environmental stress conditions. Deliverables include laboratory and field experimental data, AI-ready datasets synthesizing facilitation dynamics across freshwater species groups (including fishes and insects), computational models, and cross-scale inference products spanning continental to streambed scales. The research will interrogate the stress-gradient hypothesis across abiotic context, functional traits, and spatio-temporal scale dimensions to advance facilitation theory.

Supporting the core research mission, the project will generate educational and outreach products including public-facing videos and lesson plans highlighting positive interactions in freshwater environments. Additionally, the award will develop research trainee capabilities in artificial intelligence applications, including data synthesis, data visualization, and programming language proficiency. The scientific outputs are intended to address knowledge gaps regarding the role of positive interactions in freshwater ecosystems, with potential applications for increasing productivity and yields in fisheries and aquaculture sectors.