IARC 2016 Annual Report published
The team of IARC researchers, staff, and students is excited to share this selection of notable activities and achievements with you.
Message from IARC Director Hajo Eicken
Personally, I am honored and happy to serve in my new role as IARC Director, starting in the spring of last year. The transition from my appointment as UAF faculty member was straightforward, thanks to the tireless efforts of my predecessor, Dr.Larry Hinzman. In his tenure as IARC Director 2007–2015, Larry greatly diversified IARC’s research portfolio and created a solid foundation for the future. Ultimately, it is the outstanding roster of researchers, staff, and students at IARC that continues to move the institute forward in new directions.
This past year has been particularly interesting, with an unprecedented degree of interest in the Arctic, both at the national and international level. IARC researchers and their findings and insights received significant media attention, and several of us were involved in briefings and panel discussions that were part of the United States’ leadership of the Arctic Council and related events, such as the first ever Arctic Science Ministerial Meeting in Washington, D.C. in September 2016.
Arctic opportunities and challenges
This interest in the Arctic is driven by the recognition that numerous opportunities and challenges are emerging as part of a rapidly changing Arctic. Such changes include economic, geopolitical, and scientific interests in the North from a broad array of non-Arctic nations and organizations.
Thanks to the high caliber and breadth of research, education, outreach, and stakeholder engagement practiced by those collaborating under the IARC umbrella, our institute plays a central role in linking decision-makers to relevant findings and solution-oriented information obtained from research conducted here and elsewhere.
Major Arctic conferences
An apt illustration of IARC’s leadership in the international arena of Arctic science is our role as lead organizers of the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) and Arctic Observing Summit (AOS), hosted at UAF this past spring in conjunction with the Arctic Council’s Senior Arctic Officials Meeting and the Model Arctic Council.
ASSW/AOS drew over 1,000 leaders of Arctic science and policy to the UAF campus for a week of intense discussion and exchange. It is the type of research showcased in the pages of this report (and many exciting projects beyond that, such as the Nansen-Amundsen Basin Observing System, led IARC faculty member Dr.Igor Polyakov) that makes IARC a trusted and senior partner in such endeavors.
Solution-oriented science for a changing Arctic requires all kinds of new partnerships, and we invite you to join us, by following our work through our website or Facebook page, or by directly supporting some of our efforts.