Do It Now! U.S. Arctic Research Community Survey to Close on July 31
Survey at http://www.arcus.org/rslwg/fr_rslwg_survey.html
The Research Support and Logistics Working Group (RSLWG) of the Arctic
Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) is in the process of updating the
May, 1997 report "Logistics Recommendations for an Improved U.S. Arctic
Research Capability." The working group has been tasked by the National
Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (NSF-OPP) to update the report
and to develop a five-year implementation plan for Arctic research support
and logistics.
It is an exciting time for U.S. Arctic research support and logistics.
NSF-OPP now has a specific budget for Arctic logistics and an Arctic
Research Support and Logistics program manager. The USCGC Healy has just
completed its icebreaking performance and science equipment trials, and
will commence operations as an Arctic research vessel in the spring. VECO
Polar Resources is in its first year of providing Arctic logistics support
for NSF-OPP. The Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) has an agreement
with NSF-OPP to provide research support on Alaska's North Slope. Major
improvements at Toolik Field Station in Alaska have facilitated the
implementation of more research programs and have increased year-round
access. Efforts are underway to better support arctic research in other
parts of the Arctic and to increase international collaborations. Despite
these improvements, far more research support is necessary to adequately
address major Arctic science issues.
The RSLWG depends upon the Arctic research community to establish science
priorities and to help identify the accompanying research support and
logistics necessary to carry out that research. To gather information from
the scientific community, the RSLWG initiated an on-line and email survey
in March 2000 and held an arctic research support and logistics town
meeting at the ARCUS Annual Meeting in Washington DC in May 2000. The
information received through these discussions has been valuable. To this
date, the Group has received 69 responses to the survey. The survey
responses may be viewed in several different formats at
http://www.arcus.org/rslwg/fr_response.html. Viewing formats include by
respondent, both alphabetically and chronologically, by question, and
through a quantitative summary of survey results (to be posted soon).
Please join your colleagues and complete this short survey at
http://www.arcus.org/rslwg/fr_rslwg_survey.html. Your opinions, concerns
and needs are of crucial importance to developing improved U.S. Arctic
research capabilities.
Peter Schlosser, co-chair, peters [at] ldeo.columbia.edu, Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory Terry Tucker, co-chair, wtucker [at] crrel.usace.army.mil, Cold
Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory