The Bureau of Land Management, through the U.S. Wildland Fire Service Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), is accepting proposals for FA-NOFO0027-001, Fire Leaders And Managers, Emerging Scientists (FLAMES). The program supports current master’s and doctoral students enrolled at U.S. colleges or universities whose research addresses wildland fire or closely related physical, biological, or social science questions.
Application Deadline
September 17, 2026 at 5:00 PM Mountain Time. Proposals must be submitted through the JFSP electronic submission process at firescience.gov. The federal notice states that proposals cannot be submitted through Grants.gov and that no exceptions to the closing date or time are allowed.
Funding
JFSP lists $500,000 in total program funding, approximately 12 expected awards, an award floor of $5,000, and an award ceiling of $40,000. No cost sharing or matching is required.
Eligibility
Eligible applicant types include public and private institutions of higher education, independent school districts, state and local governments, public and Indian housing authorities, federally recognized Tribal governments, other Native American Tribal organizations, and qualifying nonprofit organizations. The substantive program focus is narrower: proposals must center a current master’s or doctoral student enrolled at a U.S. college or university and describe a new, currently unfunded wildland-fire research project that supplements an advisor-approved thesis or dissertation.
Supported topic areas include fuels management and prescribed fire, the changing fire environment, emissions and air quality, fire effects and post-fire recovery, and human dimensions of fire management.
Submission Requirements
Applicants should review the JFSP database and task requirements at firescience.gov before preparing a proposal. The proposed project must directly support JFSP’s mission and management or policy needs. Award recipients are expected to complete the supplemental research, gain practical exposure to fire-management activities, participate in JFSP cohort meetings, attend at least one practitioner-focused event, and produce at least one management-relevant product.
Atlas Fit
This is a specialized research and workforce-development opportunity with meaningful fit for eligible colleges, universities, research-connected nonprofits, and public entities supporting graduate wildland-fire research. Because the deadline is already inside Atlas’s 48-hour cutoff, this opportunity is published for accurate federal coverage and deadline monitoring only; no new applicant outreach should be initiated. Dr. Miltie is not a natural direct prime for the student-centered research requirement.