The University of Alaska was chosen to host the inaugural Department of Interior regional climate center. The climate center will be the first in a network of eight centers to be built regionally across the United States in an effort to develop a federally supported network to investigate climate change and its effects on the country. Each of the centers will be partnered with an organization that can help to leverage the science capabilities of that particular center, as well as to work in partnership with scientists and local people of the area.

“With rapidly melting arctic sea ice and permafrost, and threats to the survival of Native Alaska coastal communities, Alaska is ground zero for climate change,” said Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar in a spring announcement. “We must put science to work to help us adjust to the impacts of climate change on Alaska’s resources and peoples.”

The center will be run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and located in Anchorage to ensure access by all state and federal agencies as well as university experts from all of the University of Alaska campuses.

In fall 2009, Carol Diebel took the helm at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. Diebel was formerly the director of natural environment at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, where she led the museum’s natural history research, curatorial and collections team.

“This museum serves very diverse audiences, including visitors from around the world, an international research community, artists, teachers and the local community,” says Diebel, who sees the museum as a natural place to connect science, art, culture and education. “The multi-faceted nature of our collections and our university connections provide excellent resources and opportunities to serve those audiences.”
Since her appointment, she has conducted extensive surveys to learn more about perceptions of the museum and to help guide the museum’s future direction, particularly the public programs and exhibits. Diebel hopes to continue building on the museum’s existing relationships and to expand community outreach.

Though the two museums are a world apart, the University of Alaska Museum of the North and Te Papa share many similarities. The research collections for both museums represent the natural and cultural heritage of their entire regions, encompassing natural history, Native cultures, regional histories and fine art. Both museums are major visitor attractions for their communities, with their collections serving as the foundations for the museums’ exhibits and public programs. Te Papa also fosters very strong relationships with the native Maori community. The opportunity to work with the Alaska Native community is one of the things that made the position in Fairbanks appealing to Diebel, who sees the museum as a natural gathering place to share knowledge and honor local traditions.

Diebel will serve a joint appointment with UAF’s School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences as professor of marine biology. She succeedes Aldona Jonaitis, who had served as
museum director since 1993.

Progress is underway in bringing online the 2.5 petabyte data storage facility and high performance computer resources at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center to support the Pacific Area Climate Monitoring and Analysis Network, or PACMAN. The project, funded through the National Science Foundation to UAF and the University of Hawaii under the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, will investigate the impact of climate change on freshwater resources available to communities in Alaska and Hawaii.

“PACMAN builds on, supports and integrates research from several disciplines, from chemistry to conservation biology, to geographic information systems and social-ecological modeling,” says principal investigator Buck Sharpton. “This project will significantly enhance the abilities of Alaskan and Hawaiian communities to understand, plan for and respond to changing climate conditions.”

One aspect of the research will focus on measuring and understanding processes of global weather systems that influence the amount and location of rainfall. Because these systems are the main source of freshwater deposits, it’s important to understand how their paths might change, and to build predictive models of where more or less water will be available in the future.

A broader goal of PACMAN is to incorporate capabilities that are relevant to addressing other studies of climate impact on North Pacific ecosystems, such as the integration of existing models of ocean circulation, fresh water flow into the Bering Sea, rate of melting sea ice and other factors.

In April, the PACMAN supercomputer was opened for pioneer testing. Several new users gained access to the system to perform their first tasks, set up software and began performance analysis. The system is scheduled to become available for widespread use by researchers at UAF and the University of Hawaii in June. It will provide the computational power and storage resources needed to make significant scientific progress in the targeted research areas.

“An army marches on its stomach,” said Napoleon Bonaparte.

Arctic scientists can relate: Long hours, arduous terrain, nasty weather, insatiable insects, and often heavy equipment make food a critical element to getting science done.

Toolik Field Station, located on Alaska’s North Slope and operated by the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is a major site for national and international research in the North American Arctic. Established in 1975, much of what is known about the structure and function of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Arctic and the effects of climate change and feedbacks to global climate has emerged from the long-term, process-based ecological research projects at Toolik Field Station.

As the number of scientists who call Toolik home during weeks- and months-long stints of arctic research has continued to increase, so too has the need for their logistical support. The current kitchen and dining facility, constructed from a used 1960s-era single-wide mobile home and 2x4 wood framing, is not winter-worthy and seats only 45 of Toolik’s 125 summer residents. From October to April, a smaller, winter-capable facility accommodates only 16 people.

In May 2010, Toolik commenced site preparations for construction of a new 6,000-square foot, 100-seat kitchen and dining facility capable of year-round use. The $5 million in project funding is provided by the National Science Foundation from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.
Scientist productivity will surely increase with the improved environment in which they can enjoy Toolik’s famous food.

CH2M Hill Polar Services is managing the project, and Johnson River Enterprises of North Pole, Alaska, will build the facility. Construction is expected to be complete by mid-October 2010. The facility will be the first new construction at Toolik Field Station since a dormitory was completed in 2004.