University of Alaska Fairbanks / Sikuliaq Ship Operations - CY2025-2028

The overarching intellectual and technical merit of R/V Sikuliaq is in supporting the advancement of NSF peer-reviewed oceanographic research and education programs. In particular, the eleven science cruises planned for CY2024 supported by this Ship Operations proposal provide an excellent opportunity to display Sikuliaq’s capability in oceanographic and marine geophysics observation, collection, and measurement of samples and data accomplished on a global scale through operation of this state-of-the-art vessel.

Since the 1960’s, UAF-operated ships have played a critical role in the exploration of our ocean planet and continue to contribute significantly to advancing ocean research in the nation. The seagoing operations proposed here enable transformative scientific research in physical and biological processes in the natural environment upon which human well-being depends.

The intellectual and technical merit of this proposal is further amplified by the combined intellectual and technical merit of research projects undertaken by scientists onboard. Sikuliaq will support NSF-sponsored research cruises in the eastern Pacific and Arctic Oceans to conduct research and instruction in physical oceanography, marine ecology, marine chemistry, and ocean observing.

2025 will be Sikuliaq’s ninth field season working in Arctic waters under the Polar Code regulations, which are a good test of the vessel’s capabilities to support missions in the Arctic while adhering to the more strict Polar Code rules. R/V Sikuliaq crew and marine technicians will continue to take advantage of lessons learned from these cruises to refine the ship’s processes and procedures developed and implemented over the course of the ship’s first several years of operations.

The proposed work constitutes strongly collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional use of the shared-use research and education infrastructure. As a charter member of UNOLS, UAF is actively involved in coordinating research vessel operations with scientists and funding agencies so shipboard capabilities can best meet the current and anticipated research needs of the entire community.

The spectrum of research projects enabled by UAF's operation of Sikuliaq achieves far-reaching broader impacts through the operation and maintenance of infrastructure. This effort is critical to the advancement of training and learning, scientific and technological understanding, and informing policy makers. UAF's proposed operation of Sikuliaq enables institutional programs from across the nation and internationally to directly implement NSF's mission to promote advancement of science, engineering and education for the benefit of the nation.

As a shared-use resource for ocean scientists, Sikuliaq similarly contributes to the education, training and outreach missions of those scientists and their home institutions. Finally, as part of the broader impacts in operating Sikuliaq, we regularly engage with Alaska Native communities and subsistence hunters (e.g., the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission) to ensure the productive coordination between these groups, the scientific community, and R/V Sikuliaq.

With this goal of working cooperatively with the subsistence hunters, CFOS created the Community and Environmental Compliance Standard Operating Procedures (CECSOP) which provides guidance to scientists that intend to use Sikuliaq to conduct research in western and northern Alaska. Researchers and coastal community members use the process described in CECSOP to discuss research cruise plans and avoid conflicts between scientific research activities and subsistence hunting or other cultural practices.

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.