Sustaining open geospatial software requires investing not only in technology but also in the people who steward it. This project envisions an accelerator program designed to strengthen the Stewardship Pipeline�the progression from user to modeler, contributor, and maintainer�within open-source ecosystems such as GRASS and QGIS. Through mentorship, collaborative workshops, and structured learning pathways, participants will gain the skills and confidence to advance along this continuum of engagement. At the same time, the initiative will reinforce the underlying model and infrastructure ecosystem, helping researchers transform ad hoc workflows into reusable, well-documented, and discoverable models. By integrating community development with technical sustainability, this program aims to build long-term capacity for open, interoperable geospatial science and provide a scalable model for other research software communities.

The purpose of this agreement, between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and North Carolina State University (Recipient), is to adapt the SIMulation of Water and Erosion (SIMWE) model for the integration of Dynamic Soil Survey data. Proposed work will expand model capabilities, add supporting modules, and incorporate data input flexibility for integrating soil survey data. The updated model will serve as an important component of the future Dynamic Soil Survey at field to watershed scales and minute to monthly time-steps.

This proposal seeks to grow the current GRASS GIS ecosystem through engaging developer communities of large projects used in research and industry, such as R, QGIS, PostGIS, which already connect to or integrate GRASS GIS in a limited way. Through focused engagement activities, we will identify and address technical barriers to seamless GRASS GIS integration as a geoprocessing engine in complex geospatial workflows. Together with broader community engagement activities such as cross-project meetups, community sprints and summer schools, we aim to significantly grow the number of active users, contributors, and developers of the GRASS platform, especially among researchers.

"Most of the world's coastlines and natural coastal habitats are vulnerable to loss from erosion due to wave action, flooding, and sea-level rise. The resulting land loss and ecological degradation are consequences of human activities and natural environment changes. During phase I, Natrx developed a novel framework named Resilience for Waterfront Infrastructure (REWIRE), which integrated high-resolution satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to scalably and efficiently quantify local hydrodynamics and erosive conditions. The new information is used to prescribe appropriate nature-based solutions per local needs.�� This phase of the project aims to build upon the novel workflow developed in phase I and extend its application to establish a systematic approach to quantify carbon stock in coastal wetlands. Such developments aim to address challenges inhibiting restoration and open financing channels for additional restoration through sustainable business models focusing on the value provided by coastal wetlands. Outputs generated from this project include an integrated suite of technologies for new observational datasets, a modeling framework to identify coastal shorelines at risk of erosion, quantified carbon stock in coastal wetlands, and characterized biodiversity in relation to the environment. The key outcome of this project is protecting wetlands from degradation, in turn preserving the numerous socio-economic and ecological benefits coastal wetlands provide to society."

We will use the PoPS Border simulation to estimate the amount of pests being during inspections at ports. Additionally, we will use the Freight Analysis Framework to determine which regions the pests will end up in and from there we will calculate the suitability for the pest to establish in that area.