The new 5-year Arctic Research Plan, 2022-2026 is a high-level research strategy that outlines key research goals for the region. The plan provides pathways to improve coordination among federal agencies working in the Arctic, as well as to strengthen relationships between federal agencies and Indigenous communities, academic and non-federal researchers, the state of Alaska, nonprofits, and private sector and international organizations.
USGS Science Helps Guide 5-year IARPC Arctic Research Plan
The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy released the new 5-year Arctic Research Plan, 2022-2026.
The Arctic is the most rapidly changing place on Earth. To help combat these changes, the USGS has once again joined with the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) to develop a new Arctic Research Plan that will guide and enhance federal investment in Arctic over the next five years, from 2022 to 2026. By participating in IARPC, USGS joins 16 federal groups and partners from the public and private sector who share their work and team up to tackle key issues facing humans, wildlife, and natural resources in the Arctic.
Arctic Research Plan
The Plan is a high-level research strategy that outlines key research goals for the region. The plan provides pathways to improve coordination among federal agencies working in the Arctic, as well as to strengthen relationships between federal agencies and Indigenous communities, academic and non-federal researchers, the state of Alaska, nonprofits, and private sector and international organizations.
The four Arctic Plan priorities include:
- Community Resilience and Health – Improve community resilience and well-being by strengthening research and developing tools to increase understanding of interdependent social, natural, and built systems in the Arctic.
- Arctic Systems Interactions – Enhance our ability to observe, understand, predict, and project the Arctic’s dynamic interconnected systems and their links to the Earth system.
- Sustainable Economies and Livelihoods – Observe and understand the Arctic’s natural, social, and built systems to promote sustainable economies and livelihoods.
- Risk Management and Hazard Mitigation – Secure and improve quality of life through research that promotes an understanding of disaster risk exposure, sensitivity to hazard, and adaptive capacity.
USGS Role
The USGS works across disciplines to monitor and assess the natural world and those factors affecting the well-being, stewardship, security, and understanding of Artic. In doing so, USGS provides valuable, objective research that is used to make well-inform decision making. Some of the aspects the USGS is involved in include those that:
- Enhance understanding of health determinants and improve well-being of Arctic residents
- Increase understanding of the structure and function of Arctic marine ecosystems and their role in the climate system and advance predictive capabilities
- Understand and project the mass balance of glaciers, ice caps, and the Greenland Ice Sheet, and their consequences for sea level rise
- Advance understanding of processes controlling permafrost dynamics and the impacts on ecosystems, infrastructure, and climate feedbacks
- Advance an integrated, landscape-scale understanding of Arctic terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and the potential for future change
- Strengthen coastal community resilience and advance stewardship of coastal natural and cultural resources by engaging in research related to the interconnections of people, natural and built environments
- Enhance frameworks for environmental intelligence gathering, interpretation, and application toward decision support.
USGS staff work with diverse partners on topics in the Arctic that are highly relevant to the priority areas and foundational activities of the new plan. The USGS Director serves as DOI Principal to the IARPC Oversight Board. In addition to conducting research, the USGS Alaska Regional Office also serves as DOI agency point of contact and consolidates DOI agency input on the Arctic Research Plan components, including providing USGS bureau input from each mission area. The Alaska Regional Director serves as “Plan Champion” and many USGS staff serve lead roles on IARPC writing teams and on the various collaboration teams. USGS also contributes financially to support many IARPC tasks, including forthcoming development of the biennial Implementation Strategy for this new plan.
We encourage Arctic residents and researchers to continue to engage with the Plan and support its implementation via the IARPC Collaborations website and collaboration team meetings. Contributions and leadership from all non-federal partners help IARPC and our member agencies support the health of the Arctic environment and the well-being of Arctic communities.
