Dear Colleague:
The National Science Foundation is pleased to announce a new
opportunity in Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC),
the most recent addition to the Arctic System Science program.
The goal of the HARC initiative is to understand the dynamics
of linkages between human populations and the biological and
physical environment of the Arctic.
Where researchers have studied evidence of past and contemporary
cultures, it is clear that survival in the Arctic has depended upon
adaptability. Changes in the Arctic have been tied historically to
both local and global processes. In addition to change driven by
seasonal extremes and variability, human activity within the region
has caused significant environmental, economic, social, and cultural
change (e.g., colonization, fur trade, gold rush, urbanization), and
arctic residents today have the capacity to foster or discourage some
of the most extensive and precipitous changes in the region (e.g.,
large-scale oil development, logging, alteration of fire regimes,
redirection of freshwater flow to the arctic basin).
Change has also come from human activity outside the Arctic (e.g.,
high-seas fishing; transport of ozone, greenhouse gases, and nuclear
waste to the region; the hunting of birds and mammals in southern
portions of their migratory route). Because humans are a catalyst of
change on global and regional as well as local scales, it is essential
to incorporate the human dimensions in any study of the arctic system.
The human capacity to adapt to change in the Arctic will be further
tested, as the polar regions are expected to sustain the early and
significant changes associated with contemporary global change. It is
not just the Arctic that will be affected, however. Some physical
changes that originate in the Arctic could propagate to lower
latitudes, changing air and sea temperatures, and affecting economies.
For example, major Atlantic and Pacific fisheries could depend on
ocean conditions that are influenced by arctic processes affected, in
turn, by changes in climate. Ten percent of U.S. oil supplies come
from arctic petroleum developments that are designed to perform under
current conditions. For these reasons and others, the Arctic is seen
as an early warning system for emerging global changes that will
ultimately affect other areas as well. The experience of arctic
peoples is, thus, instructive for humans elsewhere in the world who
are striving to accommodate exacerbated fluctuations and accelerating
rates of change in their respective natural and social environments.
The goal of proposals submitted to the Human Dimensions of the Arctic
System (HARC) described in this announcement of opportunity, must be
to enhance understanding of human interaction with physical and
biological environmental change in the Arctic. HARC research places
human activity as a vital driver and as a link among the terrestrial,
marine, and climatic subsystems. HARC research will focus exclusively
on current and potential impacts on human activity that may be
expected to occur in response to global change.
To understand the dynamics of linkages between human populations and
the biological and physical environment of the Arctic, the HARC
program supports an integrative, interdisciplinary approach which
includes:
- The biophysical basis for future human impacts on the functioning of
the Arctic system. - Recent patterns of habitat use (including land, water, and ice) and
resource use (including subsistence, land tenure, domestication,
farming, fishing, and resource extraction) where human
consequences of global change are expected. - Patterns of human response and adaptation to environmental change
(including settlement decisions, shifts in resource use, migration
diversification, and economic transitions). - The basis for sustainability, viability, resilience, and vulnerability
in future interactions between humans and their environment. - Development and implementation of an educational framework that offers
feedback and learning opportunities for local stakeholders, scientists,
and decision makers.
Research projects that
(1) illuminate the present and future role of humans in the arctic system;
(2) focus on the development of predictive capabilities; and
(3) build upon the existing body of ARCSS, research will be considered
high priority.
HARC research must be conducted in accordance with the Principles for the Conduct of Research in the Arctic, at
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic/conduct.htm,
as prepared by the Social Science Task Force of the U.S. Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) and approved by IARPC on June 28, 1990.
HARC research must include an education and training component, particularly with respect to Arctic residents. In addition, HARC research should seek, where possible, to:
- Integrate methods and principles from the natural and social
sciences, especially in the context of integrated assessment of the
Arctic system - Interpret scientific results on temporal and spatial scales that are
relevant to policy decisions made at local to global levels - Incorporate traditional knowledge
- Involve indigenous peoples in the design and implementation of
research and - Interact with and complement the activities of other arctic and
U.S. Global Change Research Program projects.
PROPOSALS ARE DUE on
April 30, 1999.
A copy of the program announcement (NSF 99-61) will be available soon on the
NSF publications web site http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/start.htm, or via the NSF
Arctic Sciences web site at http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/arctic. The NSF
publications Web site includes an email and web-based custom news service
that you can personalize so you receive only the information of interest to
you.
For background information on the HARC initiative, see "People and the Arctic: A Prospectus for Research on the Human Dimensions of the Arctic
System", at http://www.arcus.org/HARC/index.html or by request from ARCUS.
Questions can be directed to Dr. Michael Ledbetter or Dr. Fae Korsmo at the Office of Polar Programs
703/306-1029 voice
703/306-0648 fax
mledbett [at] nsf.gov or fkorsmo [at] nsf.gov