TFS_handout.pdf

Institute of Arctic Biology Toolik Field Station

Toolik Field Station is the premier site for national and international terrestrial and freshwater research in the North American Arctic. The station is operated and managed by the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is supported by a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

> 400-650 individuals use TFS annually > 79% of projects at TFS are NSF funded > 457 scientists supported in 2014-15 > At least 1200 peer-reviewed publications have been authored by scientists, students, and staff working in and around Toolik Field Station

> In 2014-15, TFS welcomed scientists from 108 institutions and supported 114 research projects from the United States, Canada, and Europe

STATISTICS

RESEARCH

Geophysical science

> Aurora and space weather > Monitoring permafrost temperature > Earthscope - mapping Earth’s deep substructure

Adaptations to Arctic environments > Arctic ground squirrels, birds, insects

Environmental impacts in the Arctic > Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) > Mercury

SERVICES

Each year Toolik Field Station provides year-round housing, meals, labs, and science-support services for Arctic research and education to 400-650 scientists and students working in more than 20,500 different research plots.

Services include:

> Baseline environmental monitoring > GIS surveys, mapping, and research site selection

> Equipment fabrication and repair > Provision of general-use scientific equipment

> Wet and dry laboratories - some in tents

> Housing - most in tents > Dining facility > Washroom, showers > Internet, telephone > Central diesel power generation > Garage > Common-use equipment

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure needs > Research laboratory > Dormitory > Conversion of generators from diesel to natural gas

> Education center and lecture facility

Efficient, friendly science support is a tradition at Toolik Field Station.

Toolik Field Station serves as a base for researchers working along the ecological transect that crosses from tundra to boreal forest along the Dalton Highway.

TFS affords access to three major physiographic provinces of Alaska:

the Brooks Range, the Arctic Foothills and the Arctic Coastal Plain.

toolik.alaska.edu

Structure and function of Arctic ecosystems

> Fire, thermokarst, and other disturbances

> Long-term experiments on climate warming

> Understanding carbon storage and processing

Forecasting structure and function of Arctic ecosystems under climate change

> Modeling and scaling information from research plots to landscapes and regions

Meteorology > Documenting trends since 1975 > One of the longest climate records on the North Slope of Alaska

Observing change in the Arctic > Arctic Observing Network (AON) > National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

> Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research

(LTER)

> International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic

(INTERACT)

RESEARCH

UAF IS AN AA/EO EMPLOYER AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.

“Much of what is known about terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Arctic has emerged from long-term research projects at Toolik Field Station,” Senior scholar, The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory.

Use of Toolik Field Station has increased and is expected to increase further in the future with the addition of NEON. While use is year-round, it is concentrated in the peak biological season of summer.

Toolik Field Station is supported by a five-year, approximately $3.2 million per year cooperative agreement from the National Science Foundation, Division of Polar Programs, Arctic Research Support and Logistics program.

The infrastructure at TFS attracts and supports researchers from across the U.S. and the world who, as of 2015, had approximately $36M in current science funding, excluding NEON and Earthscope.

Toolik Field Station has provided input to the Bureau of Land Management’s new resource management plan for the Central Yukon Planning area, which includes the station and BLM’s Toolik Lake Research Natural Area (RNA), to expand the RNA from about 83,000 to 107,799 acreas to enable and promote future research.

USE

LAND MANAGEMENT

University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student conducts research at Toolik Field Station. Photo by UAF.

Briefing a U.S. Senator, in 2014, are TFS PI and Institute of Arctic Biology Associate Professor , UAF IAB Director (center), TFS Operations Manager (second from left), and UAF IAB Professor (left).

Photo by UAF.

TFS MISSION

The station’s mission is to support research and education that contributes to a greater understanding of the Arctic and its relationship to the global environment.

FUN FACTS

Toolik Field Station

> was established in 1975 > is 130 miles south of Deadhorse

> is at mile 284.5 of the Dalton Highway > is 169.5 miles north of the Arctic Circle

> is at latitude 68°38’N, longitude 149°36’W

SUPPORT

University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology

Toolik Field Station P.O. Box 757000 | Fairbanks, AK 99775-7000

07/26/16

The station is a founding member of the International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT), which is an EU-funded infrastructure project linking 59 circumarctic field research facilities.

EU COLLABORATION

Toolik Field Station. UAF