INTERAGENCY ARCTIC

RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE

BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

A Report by the

INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE 

A WORKING GROUP OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT

of the

NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

MARCH 2018 
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017 

– ii –

About the National Science and Technology Council

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is the principal means by which the Executive 

Branch coordinates science and technology policy across the diverse entities that make up the Federal 

research and development enterprise. A primary objective of the NSTC is to ensure science and 

technology policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's stated goals. The NSTC 

prepares research and development strategies that are coordinated across Federal agencies aimed at 

accomplishing multiple national goals. The work of the NSTC is organized under committees that 

oversee subcommittees and working groups focused on different aspects of science and technology. 

More information is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc. 

About the Office of Science and Technology Policy

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) was established by the National Science and 

Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 to provide the President and others within 

the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological 

aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the 

environment, and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics. OSTP leads 

interagency science and technology policy coordination efforts, assists the Office of Management and 

Budget with an annual review and analysis of Federal research and development in budgets, and serves 

as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major 

policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government. More information is available at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp. 

About the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee

The Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 (ARPA), Public Law 98-373, July 31, 1984, as amended by 

Public Law 101-609, November 16, 1990, provides for a comprehensive national policy dealing with 

national research needs and objectives in the Arctic. The ARPA establishes an Arctic Research 

Commission (ARC) and an Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) to help implement the 

Act. Since its inception, IARPC activities have been coordinated by the National Science Foundation 

(NSF), with the Director of the NSF as chair. A Presidential Memorandum issued on July 22, 2010, made 

the NSTC responsible for IARPC, with the Director of the NSF remaining as chair of the committee. 

About this Document 

This report was developed by the IARPC Staff Group and includes an overview of how the Arctic Research 

Plan 2017-2021 supports the Administration’s FY2019 research and development budget priorities and 

highlights IARPC accomplishments during the period 2016-2017. The report continues with brief 

descriptions of the Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017 and Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 and concludes 

with a summary of how the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 responds to the most recent (2015-2016) 

recommendations of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. 

Copyright Information

This document is a work of the United States Government and is in the public domain (see 17 U.S.C. 

§105). Subject to the stipulations below, it may be distributed and copied with acknowledgment to

OSTP. Copyrights to graphics included in this document are reserved by the original copyright holders 

or their assignees and are used here under the government’s license and by permission. Requests to 

use any images must be made to the provider identified in the image credits or to OSTP if no provider 

is identified. Printed in the United States of America, 2018.
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– iii –

NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

Chair

Ted Wackler, Deputy Chief of Staff and 

Assistant Director, Office of Science and 

Technology Policy

Staff

Chloe Kontos, Executive Director, National 

Science and Technology Council

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT

Co-Chairs

Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Science Advisor, 

Environmental Protection Agency

RDML Timothy Gallaudet, Assistant Secretary 

of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration

Deerin Babb-Brott, Principal Assistant 

Director, Oceans and Environment, Office of 

Science and Technology Policy

Staff

Lisa Matthews, Executive Secretary, 

Environmental Protection Agency

INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE

Chair

France Córdova, National Science Foundation

Executive Secretary

Sara Bowden, Interagency Arctic Research 

Policy Committee

Members

Gale Allen, National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration

Deerin Babb-Brott, Office of Science and 

Technology Policy

William Brown, Department of the Interior

Michael Emerson, Department of Homeland 

Security

Judith Garber, Department of State

Gary Geernaert, Department of Energy

James Hertz, Office of Management and 

Budget

James Jenkins, Department of Transportation

Kirk Johnson, Smithsonian Institution

David Kennedy, Department of Commerce

Rebecca Lent, Marine Mammal Commission

Mary Miller, Department of Defense

Bruce Rodan, Environmental Protection 

Agency

Peter Schmeissner, Department of Health and 

Human Services

Louis Tupas, U.S. Department of Agriculture
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 1 –

Introduction

The United States of America has been an Arctic state since 1867, when Alaska was purchased from the 

Russian Empire. The importance of Alaska and the Arctic to the nation was not fully appreciated until 

the advent of the Cold War in the late 1940s and, later, the discovery in the late 1960s of the “super 

giant” oilfield (greater than five billion barrels of recoverable oil) at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s 

northernmost coast facing the Arctic Ocean. Since then, Prudhoe Bay and nearby oilfields have 

continued to contribute significantly to the Alaskan and national economy. Continued national 

attention on Alaska and the Arctic materialized in response to environmental change. These changes 

are exemplified by the diminishing sea ice cover during the summer, which has significant implications 

for the people of Alaska, in particular Alaska Natives, as well as for national and homeland security as 

maritime transportation, natural resource development, and tourism, including cruise ship operations, 

are projected to increase.

Recognizing the growing importance of Alaska and the Arctic to the nation, and the need for research 

to increase scientific knowledge and understanding to inform decisions and policy, Congress passed 

the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984.

1 It established the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC)2

“to promote Arctic research and to recommend Arctic research policy” and the Interagency Arctic 

Research Policy Committee (IARPC)3 to “develop a national Arctic research policy and a five year plan 

to implement that policy.” The Act also requires IARPC to submit to Congress through the Executive 

Office of the President a biennial report containing a statement of activities and accomplishments of 

the IARPC, and a statement “detailing with particularity the recommendations of the Commission with 

respect to Federal interagency activities in Arctic research and the disposition and responses to those 

recommendations.” This biennial report addresses this requirement for the period 2016-2017, which 

includes the final year of the implementation of the Arctic Research Plan 2013-20174 and the first year of 

the implementation of the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021.

5

The report begins with an overview of how the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 supports the 

Administration’s FY2019 research and development budget (R&D) priorities, followed by select 

highlights of IARPC accomplishments during the period 2016-2017. The report continues with brief 

descriptions of the Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017 and the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021, and 

concludes with a summary of how the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 responds to the most recent (2015-

2016) recommendations of the USARC.

 1 https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/arctic/iarpc/arc_res_pol_act.jsp

2 https://www.arctic.gov/

3 The following Federal departments, agencies, and Executive Office of the President components comprise 

IARPC: Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Health and 

Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department of State, 

Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, Marine Mammal Commission, National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation (Chair), Office of Management and Budget, 

Office of Science and Technology Policy, Smithsonian Institution, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 4 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/uploads/cms/documents/2013_arctic_research_plan.pdf

5 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/uploads/cms/documents/iarpc_arctic_research_plan_2017-2021.pdf
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 2 –

The Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 and Administration Research and 

Development Priorities

In August 2017, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

in the Executive Office of the President issued a memorandum describing the Administration’s FY2019 

research and development (R&D) priorities.6 The five R&D priority areas are Military Superiority, Security, 

Prosperity, Energy Dominance, and Health. The budget memorandum also identified supporting 

innovative basic and early-stage research and maximizing interagency coordination as R&D priority 

practices.

IARPC practices the maximization of interagency coordination of basic and early-stage research in the 

Arctic. This coordinated research is described in the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 (the Plan) which 

supports the FY2019 R&D priorities in many ways.

The Plan supports Military Superiority by enhancing knowledge and understanding of the Arctic 

operational environment—in the air, on and under the ocean and sea ice, and on the land—and the 

transition of that knowledge and understanding into improving computer models and operational 

forecasting capabilities. In similar fashion, the Plan supports the Security and Prosperity of the people 

of Alaska in the face of emerging natural threats and hazards—severe weather, storm surges, flooding, 

coastal and riverine erosion, and wildfires—by enhancing knowledge and understanding of the 

environment and increasing the ability to make timely and accurate water, weather, and ice forecasts 

that support the safety of life and property. 

Alaska, particularly the North Slope of Alaska, continues to contribute significantly to Energy 

Dominance thanks to basic and early-stage applied research that enable the oil industry to operate in 

an extreme environment where the weather, sea ice, and permafrost alone present particular 

challenges not experienced anywhere else in the United States. The Plan also addresses the Health and 

Well-being of the people of Alaska, who depend on research into many issues, including food, water, 

and energy security; water, sanitation, and hygiene; mental health; substance abuse; violence; 

occupational safety and health; and health care delivery. 

The Arctic continues to be an area of extraordinary opportunity for scientific research and discovery 

that stands to impact the United States for generations to come. The following section of select 

highlights of the implementation of the Arctic Research Plans in 2016-2017 describes some recent 

research and discovery outcomes, and illustrates how IARPC is contributing to the Administration’s R&D 

priorities.

Highlights of IARPC Accomplishments in 2016-2017

1. Engaging with Stakeholders and Collaborators

Engagement with multiple stakeholders and collaborators is essential to the work that is underway to 

update the IARPC Principles for the Conduct of Research in the Arctic (the Principles).7 Almost as old as 

IARPC, the Principles are being updated because much has changed in the Arctic region and in Arctic 

research since the Principles were released in 1990. Among those changes is the growing recognition of 

the important role of Indigenous people and Indigenous knowledge in Arctic research.

 6 https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/memoranda/2017/m-17-30.pdf 7 https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/arctic/conduct.jsp
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 3 –

IARPC efforts to increase engagement with Alaska Natives are exemplified by the work of the Coastal 

Resilience Collaboration Team8 (CRCT). During 2017, this team sent information about IARPC and itself 

to all 97 tribal councils that the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Alaska advocates on behalf of, all comanagement bodies, all Arctic Council Permanent Participants, and all ICC Alaska membership 

organizations and ICC offices overseas. The CRCT also used the ICC Alaska networks to bring Indigenous 

community members into its monthly teleconferences. Once these members are engaged, the CRCT 

solicits their input and addresses the needs they express.

2. Health & Well-being

The rapidly changing environment in the Arctic poses new risks to food, water, and energy security, with 

implications for the health and well-being of Arctic residents. Major achievements of the Health and 

Well-being Collaboration Team9 have included supporting integrative approaches to human health that 

recognize the connections among people, wildlife, the environment, and climate; documenting the 

prevalence and nature of violence against Alaska Native women and youth; and increasing 

understanding of mental health, substance abuse (including opioids), and well-being for Alaskan youth, 

as well as supporting programs that address those impacts and strengthen youth resilience.

3. Marine Ecosystem Research

Through the collective efforts of six countries (Canada, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, and the 

United States), comprehensive surveys of the Distributed Biological Observatory10 (DBO) were 

completed between June and October of 2016 and 2017. Initiated by the United States in 2010, with 

support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science 

Foundation (NSF), and since supported by multiple IARPC departments and agencies, and their 

overseas counterparts, the DBO is a change detection array for the identification and consistent 

monitoring of biophysical responses to environmental change. The array encompasses “biological 

hotspots”—where there is high productivity, biodiversity, and/or rates of change—and sampling 

transect lines along a gradient that begins in the northern Bering Sea, goes through the Bering Strait, 

and extends into the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.

In August and September 2017, NOAA led a marine ecosystem research cruise, which included DBO 

surveys and the Northern Chukchi Integrated Survey, aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter ‘Healy’ in the 

northern Bering and Chukchi seas. The ship went as far as 160 nautical miles north of Utqiaġvik 

(formerly known as Barrow) and did not encounter any sea ice. The absence of sea ice exemplifies the 

continuing retreat of the Arctic sea ice cover in the summer, which is particularly significant in the 

Pacific region of the Arctic Ocean and provides exciting new opportunities for research and discovery.

The 2017 cruise aboard the ‘Healy’ represented a second opportunity for NOAA to operate the 

‘Saildrone’ in an innovative collaboration with the private sector (the first operation was in the Bering 

Sea in Summer 2016). An autonomous Saildrone, a 7 m (23 foot) long platform with outriggers and a 

rigid sail supported by a 6 m (20 foot) tall mast, can be instrumented with multiple sensors for 

atmospheric and oceanographic research. In 2017, two Saildrones departed from and returned to Dutch 

Harbor, Alaska, each completing an unprecedented round-trip voyage of 13,910 km (7,509 nautical 

miles) through the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort Sea. Navigation of the 

Saildrones in these Arctic waters was aided by ice charts provided by the Navy-NOAA- U.S. Coast Guard

 8 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/teams/Coastal-Resilience 9 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/teams/Health-Well-being 10 https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/dbo/
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 4 –

National Ice Center. During their 76 day voyages, which included the first ever passage through the 

Bering Strait by unmanned surface vehicles, the Saildrones made thousands of measurements of 

carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere and ocean as part of a continuing study of Arctic Ocean 

acidification.

The Marine Ecosystems Collaboration Team11 convened an international think-tank of 17 leading Arctic 

scientists from six countries and a conceptual artist to construct a unifying pan-Arctic perspective of 

marine ecosystems and related physical considerations. Outcomes of the meeting in November 2016 

will include innovative interactive software that will enable users to explore particular topics and 

linkages in the Arctic marine ecosystem. 

4. Coordinating International Arctic and Boreal Ecosystems and 

Socio-Ecological Systems Research

Through the Terrestrial Ecosystems Collaboration Team,

12 the the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE)13 Science Team is coordinating 

research funded by other government and non-government organizations in the United States, Canada, 

and Europe. ABoVE is a large-scale remote sensing and field study of environmental change and its 

implications for social-ecological systems in the Arctic-Boreal region, including Alaska, Yukon, Nunavut, 

and Northwest Territories. In the United States, one of ABoVE’s key collaborations is with the Next 

Generation Ecosystem Experiments14 (NGEE) Arctic project of the Department of Energy. The goal of 

NGEE Arctic is to advance the predictive power of Earth system models through understanding of the 

structure and function of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. NGEE Arctic field activities take place on the 

North Slope of Alaska and the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska. The Permafrost Action Team of the 

Study of Environmental Arctic Change, a project supported by NASA, the National Center for 

Atmospheric Research, NSF, USARC and the United States Geological Survey, plays a leading role in the 

synthesis of results from ABoVE, NGEE, and international projects to increase understanding of the role 

of Arctic freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle.

5. Observing and Modeling Researchers Increase Collaboration

Multiple large observational datasets that provide valuable constraints to computer models have been 

released. The Glaciers and Sea Level Collaboration Team15 reports that they include the Surface Mass 

Balance and Snow on Sea Ice Working Group, Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research 

Environments, Greenland glacier termini and ice velocity, various NASA Operation IceBridge ice sheet 

and sea ice datasets, and the Arctic Digital Elevation Model (supported by a partnership between the 

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and NSF).

Collaboration between the observing and modeling research communities is increasing, providing 

greater opportunities for scientific advancement. This collaboration includes the growing use of in situ

observations, such as those described in the previous paragraph, in computer modeling research to 

improve understanding of physical and biological processes, system-level interactions and feedback, 

and forecasting and prediction capabilities. For example, the Sea Ice Collaboration Team16 reports that 

 11 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/teams/Marine-Ecosystems 12 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/teams/Terrestrial-Ecosystems 13 https://above.nasa.gov/

14 http://ngee-arctic.ornl.gov/ 15 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/teams/Glaciers-Sea-Level 16 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/teams/Sea-Ice
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 5 –

sea ice observations from satellites and aircraft are being assimilated into and used to evaluate the skill 

of the U.S. Navy Arctic Cap Nowcast/Forecast System and the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory

Arctic sea ice forecasts. The interagency Sea Ice Prediction Network,

17 co-funded by the Department of 

Energy, NSF, and the Office of Naval Research with in-kind support from NASA and NOAA, is advancing 

sea ice forecasting at the seasonal scale through the annual Sea Ice Outlook, which uses an iterative 

process involving observations and model outputs to project the annual, end-of-summer sea ice 

minimum at Arctic-wide and regional scales.

The Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017

In February 2013, the IARPC, through its parent body, the Committee on Environment, Natural 

Resources, and Sustainability of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released the 5-

year Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017.

4 The plan focused on advancing knowledge of the Arctic by 

improving collaboration in seven priority research areas:

1. Sea Ice Physics and Marine Ecosystems

2. Terrestrial Ice and Terrestrial Ecosystems

3. Atmospheric Studies

4. Observing Systems

5. Regional Climate Models

6. Human Health Studies

7. Adaptation Tools for Communities 

Twelve collaboration teams were formed to respond to the 145 milestones distributed across the seven 

research areas. The collaboration teams were also charged with enhancing inter-institutional and 

interdisciplinary implementation of scientific research on local, regional, and circumpolar 

environmental and societal issues in the Arctic. 

The collaboration teams were chaired by Federal Government subject matter experts, and in some 

cases co-chaired with an external partner. Team members met monthly by teleconference or Webinar 

to inform each other about ongoing and planned programs and share new research results, as well as 

to inventory existing programs, identify gaps in knowledge and research, and address the milestones 

and evaluate progress toward reaching them. These discussions were open to researchers and others 

in the Federal Government; State of Alaska agencies; northern residents, including Alaska Natives; 

academia; non-governmental organizations; and the private sector. All meetings of the teams were 

announced on the new IARPC website—IARPC Collaborations18—a platform for sharing knowledge, 

generating new ideas, and reporting on research progress toward accomplishing milestones. 

In 2015, IARPC released a Biennial Report19 highlighting major accomplishments in the implementation 

of the Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017 during the period 2013-2014. In October 2016, program managers 

responsible for implementing the Plan released their final annual reports,

20 summarizing achievements 

during the final implementation phase of the plan. The final annual reports were sent to the Arctic 

Executive Steering Committee for reporting on the implementation of the National Strategy for the 

Arctic Region.

21

 17 https://www.arcus.org/sipn

18 http://www.iarpccollaborations.org/index.html

19 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/uploads/cms/documents/iarpc_biennial_report_10.12.15_low.pdf

20 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/news/7207

21 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/uploads/cms/documents/national-strategy-for-the-arctic-regionexecutive-office-of-the-president-2013.pdf
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 6 –

The Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021

While IARPC significantly advanced Arctic science through enhanced interagency collaboration to 

implement the Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017, much remained to be done. The United States is an Arctic 

nation, and America’s Arctic—Alaska—has seen climate, environmental, and socio-economic changes 

that are testing the resilience and sustainability of communities and ecosystems. The changes that are 

occurring in the Arctic also have global consequences. 

In response, IARPC prepared the second comprehensive Arctic research plan—Arctic Research Plan 

2017-2021.

22 As with its predecessor—the Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017—the new plan does not 

attempt to address all Arctic research supported by the Federal Government. Many important single 

agency efforts are not included because of the Plan’s emphasis on interagency collaboration.

The Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 has nine research goals: 

1. Health and Well-being

2. Atmosphere

3. Sea Ice

4. Marine Ecosystems

5. Glaciers and Sea Level

6. Permafrost

7. Terrestrial and Freshwater Ecosystems

8. Coastal Resilience

9. Environmental Intelligence

Like the Arctic Research Plan 2013-2017, the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 is being implemented by 

Federal and non-Federal stakeholders and collaborators through IARPC Collaborations. IARPC 

continues to welcome diverse participation in the implementation of its research plans and encourages 

all who want to address difficult research challenges in the Arctic to work together. Comprehensive 

annual reports23 describing each collaboration team’s accomplishments implementing the Arctic 

Research Plan 2017-2021 in 2017 are available online at IARPC Collaborations. 

Through the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021, IARPC will continue to address the need for coordinated 

basic and applied research that will increase knowledge and understanding for science-informed 

decisions and policy for Alaska, the Arctic region, and the planet. In recognition of the broader factors 

that contribute to health and community vitality, the new plan includes a stronger focus on the health 

and well-being of northern residents. The plan also emphasizes the role that northern residents play in 

the co-production of knowledge.

Additionally, with a new goal focused on Permafrost, IARPC brings together basic geophysical research 

with adaptation research, and improves the treatment of permafrost processes in predictive models. 

The Coastal Resilience24 topic is also new to this plan and draws together a rich array of existing activities 

 22 The preparation of the Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 was informed by discussions with researchers and 

others in the U.S. Government, State of Alaska agencies, Alaska Natives, academe, non-governmental 

organizations, and the private sector. The draft plan was made available for public comment via the Federal 

Register in July 2016.

23 https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/news/10523 24 Coastal resilience research addresses the need to increase knowledge and understanding that will inform 

decisions and policy for decreasing the vulnerability and increasing the resilience (the ability to “bounce back”) 

of the coupled human-physical-biological system in Arctic coastal regions that are experiencing rapid changes.
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 7 –

in a more coordinated effort. Finally, the concept of Environmental Intelligence25 is also a new addition, 

but draws on some familiar topics: observations, models, and data management. The Environmental 

Intelligence framework will identify areas where an interagency focus on these topics can strengthen 

the role of research in decision support.

Response to Recommendations of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission

The ARPA establishes the relationship between IARPC and the USARC, and calls for IARPC to develop its 

5-year plans “in consultation with the Commission, the Governor of the State of Alaska, the residents of 

the Arctic, the private sector and public interest groups.” In accordance with ARPA, the 2015-2016 

USARC Goals and Objectives Report26 provided key input in developing the Arctic Research Plan 2017-

2021. How the 2015-2016 USARC Goals and Objectives Report informed the Arctic Research Plan 2017-

2021 is described here. 

While the structure and purpose of the USARC Goals and Objectives Report and the Arctic Research Plan 

2017-2021 are distinct, connections to the Report are found at all levels in the Plan. It is important to 

note that, while the Report looks broadly at how Federally-sponsored research could address emerging 

and persistent needs, the IARPC Plan focuses on topics requiring interagency collaboration. 

Specifically, this means that some Arctic research topics addressed by individual Federal agencies are 

not included in the Plan. The six goals in the USARC Report are:

1. Arctic Environmental Change

2. Arctic Human Health

3. Arctic Natural Resources 

4. The Arctic “Built Environment”

5. Arctic Cultures and Community Resilience

6. International Scientific Cooperation

The structure of the IARPC Plan is tiered, and begins with Policy Drivers and Implementation Strategies. 

The Policy Drivers of Well-being, Stewardship, Security, and Arctic-Global Systems are high-level and 

capture the scope of all six of USARC’s goals. The Plan’s Implementation Strategies address how IARPC 

will coordinate research, and again, the USARC goals are reflected in these principles. The principles 

include integration of basic and applied research, and that Arctic research should be conducted in 

collaboration with indigenous and international partners.

The nine Goals of Arctic Research Plan 2017-2021 each reflect a topic that the USARC Report considers 

important. In some cases, the Report identifies a research objective that is not reflected in the IARPC 

Plan. There are two fundamental explanations for this discrepancy. The first is when other Federal 

interagency work is already addressing an issue identified by USARC, IARPC sought a non-duplicative 

and exclusive Plan. For example, the Report highlights the important issue of ocean acidification in the 

Arctic, which is covered by the NSTC interagency Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology. The 

Report also stresses the importance of research into oil pollution prevention and response in Arctic 

waters, which is addressed by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research. The 

second occurs when there are limited Federal activities addressing a topic recommended by the 

Commission or it is the remit of a single agency. For example, the Report identifies topics, like socio-

 25 Environmental Intelligence is a system through which timely, reliable and suitable information obtained, for 

example, by people, autonomous sensors and platforms, ships, airplanes and satellites, about a particular region 

or process is collected and integrated for the benefit of decision makers.

26 https://www.arctic.gov/reports_goals.html
INTERAGENCY ARCTIC RESEARCH POLICY COMMITTEE BIENNIAL REPORT 2016-2017

– 8 –

economic research focused on the North, yet there are limited Federally-funded efforts to coordinate 

across agencies. In other cases, like renewable energy, there is significant Federal work, but interagency 

efforts have only recently been initiated and will take more time to develop concrete objectives. 

Examples where the Plan clearly reflects USARC recommendations include: 

The Plan reflects the Report’s emphasis on efforts to enhance research on Arctic environmental change 

(USARC Goal 1) in multiple ways, and examples include: 

• a focus on ecosystem interactions among marine trophic levels and their impacts on human 

communities; 

• interagency efforts to understand the warming-induced degradation of permafrost and other 

components of the cryosphere such as glaciers and sea ice; and 

• research to understand how change in fire activity is impacting rural and urban communities 

and atmospheric emissions.

Additionally, USARC calls for greater support of scientific monitoring and improved modeling of the 

Arctic System along with improved data sharing and integration (USARC Goal 1). The Plan responds 

vigorously through its Research Goal on Environmental Intelligence, which emphasizes systems 

research and the need to integrate observations, data sharing and modeling across all areas of 

foundational science in support of improving scientific understanding of Arctic environmental change. 

The Plan’s responsiveness to the USARC emphasis on human health (USARC Goal 2) can be seen in 

IARPC’s Research Goal on human health and well-being through its support for the following activities:

• research seeking to explore the interconnections between human health and the natural 

environment;

• community monitoring of environmental impacts associated with climate change on health, 

and research to increase understanding and surveillance of diseases, especially climate 

sensitive diseases;

• efforts surrounding health-care education, water quality and sanitation innovations, 

improving indoor air-quality, and supporting residents to become involved in health care 

processes;

• research on violence against Alaskan Native women and children; and

• efforts to improve effectiveness of responses, and support health care delivery across the 

Arctic through methods like telemedicine.

Some emerging work in the Plan relates to Report recommendations toward the “built environment” 

(USARC Goal 4) and community resilience (USARC Goal 5). New efforts under the Permafrost and 

Coastal Resilience Goals consider the impacts of permafrost degradation and coastal erosion on 

infrastructure. Issues related to community resilience are woven directly into the Health and Well-being

Research Goal, for example research on the resilience of Alaskan Youth, and are present in communitybased research approaches organized under the Coastal Resilience Goal.

Although the Plan spans a five-year period, Performance Elements are designed to be completed within 

two years and new Performance Elements will be designed to take their place. With this “living 

document” structure, IARPC hopes, through collaboration with partners like USARC, to add socioeconomic research and renewable energy to the Plan in the near future. IARPC enjoys a beneficial 

partnership with USARC and looks forward to its next Report.