Toolik Field Station Base Funding

Toolik Field Station (TFS), established in 1975, continues to be a premier site for research in the Arctic to study tundra, lakes, streams and is a site for atmospheric and space research. TFS is the site of many discoveries about how arctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems function. The long history of research at TFS enables studies of the impacts of climate change, how plants and animals adapt to change, and how these changes will have broad, international impacts.

TFS supports the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research program (LTER), projects in the Arctic Observatory Network program (AON), NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), the Earthscope Transportable Array, and is a core site for the National Ecological Observatory Network program (NEON). TFS is a founding partner in the EU-sponsored International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic (INTERACT), which links field stations around the circumpolar Arctic, and a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS).

At least 1433 peer-reviewed journal articles, 176 books or book chapters and 207 dissertations and theses have been published on research based at TFS since 1975. Educational opportunities are offered for graduate and undergraduate students and scientific outreach is facilitated through visits from journalists, artist, writers, and educators.

This cooperative agreement provides funding to the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to operate TFS in support of research year-round. The infrastructure to enable research includes baseline measurements at the station available publicly, maps and spatial analyses, data collection for researchers according to their instructions, and access to laboratory, dorm and cafeteria services.

TFS is a remote station that must provide communication, power, water, and water treatment. Best practices for field station management are used. The user community is engaged through workshops, surveys, and advisory committees to provide input on the operation of the station for continuous improvement.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.