Summary of this Funding Opportunity

The GRP is seeking proposals that study the risk factors associated with poor mental health outcomes in combination with exposure to climate change or chronic climate stressors (e.g. extreme temperatures, flooding; degraded water, air, and environmental quality) and whether specific populations are more susceptible to mental health effects than others. The GRP will accept proposals from U.S. institutions and organizations, excluding federal agencies.

Purpose of this Funding Opportunity

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to identify the different risk factors (e.g. age, race/ethnicity, previous mental health diagnosis, geographic location, socioeconomic status, access to mental health services) and better understand their relationships to climate-induced mental health impacts in the GRP geographic region populations and communities. Specifically, the GRP is interested in:

1. Understanding the risk factors associated with poor mental health outcomes and climate change or chronic climate stressors within the GRP's geographic region.

2. Identifying climate-induced mental health disparities that may exist in the GRP's geographic region communities.
3. Determining, what, if any, potential protective factors could help mitigate poor mental health outcomes.

The GRP is accepting proposals from all types of U.S. institutions and organizations, excluding federal agencies.

Award Details

Total Amount Available: Up to $5 million

Award per grantee: Up to $1 million

Period of Performance: Up to 36 months

Estimated Number of Awards: 5

Key Dates

August 22, 2023: Online proposal submission opens

November 1, 2023: Deadline for submissions of proposals due by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time

March 2024: Award selection and notification

May 1, 2024: Anticipated funding start date

The Challenge

There is a need for more robust epidemiological study designs to identify potential risk factors for developing poor mental health outcomes as a consequence of exposure to climate change and chronic climate stressors within the GRP’s geographic focus region. Climate change is tied to major and far-reaching physical health implications, but there is less focus on its mental health impacts, particularly among members of U.S. Gulf Coast communities. Psychological distress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance abuse disorder, and suicidal ideation are mental health impacts identified by previous studies in general and within a disaster context. Additional mental health impacts are beginning to emerge as a result of the intensifying or increasing effects of climate change, including climate anxiety, eco-guilt, eco-anxiety, pre-traumatic stress disorder, and solastalgia. While evidence indicates a higher prevalence of mental health impacts in individuals experiencing a natural hazard or with previously diagnosed mental health conditions, these conclusions have been mostly formed from cross-sectional studies and from populations outside the GRP Focus Region. The GRP’s geographic focus region includes the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent coastal regions of the five Gulf States (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas). The GRP also works in other areas of the outer continental shelf of the United States where there is offshore drilling, hydrocarbon production, and transportation, and in adjacent coastal regions. This includes the coastal region of the Gulf of Alaska.