Outreach Activities

Science Tuesday

General Public

LTER personnel have given  Science talks to Alaskan Native communities at Anaktuvuk Pass, Kaktovik, and Barrow. 

Alex Huryn and John Hobbie (2012) published

“Land of Extremes”, a book intended for tourists as well as scientists on the natural history of northern Alaska, including the Toolik area. 

PIs have additional records of outreach to their local communities, newspapers, and magazines.  Blogs about science for public consumption have also been written and published online. Two notable online publications are Natalie Boelman’s 15 Jun 2011 The New York Times blog, “ Eavesdropping on Arctic Birds” and Mark Urban and Linda Deegan’s 5 Feb 2016 The New York Times Op-Ed“T-Shirt Weather in the Arctic” . Check out the Arctic LTER news section for any addition articles.

Agency

Research done at Toolik Lake is directly relevant to problems of managing the huge expanse of publicly owned, wild land on the North Slope.  We provide regular briefings, visits to their offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Barrow, as well as providing tours of our research sites at Toolik Lake.  We work particularly closely with these agencies in association with the annual permitting process for our research and present at local conferences upon request.  For Example:

  • The Alaska Fish and Game office has used our data and advice to set angling policies and fish catch regulations. 
  • Our contacts with the North Slope Borough have increased in frequency as our research increasingly involves helicopter travel through areas where subsistence hunting takes place. 
  • Invited representatives of these agencies occasionally speak at our weekly “Toolik Talking Shop” seminars, helping to make this a two-way channel of communication.

National and International Research Planning and Organization

ARC LTER scientists serve on a wide range of advisory boards and panels.  In the past 5 years this has included participation in:
SEARCH (the Study of Environmental Arctic Change)
ISAC (International Study of Arctic Change)
The National Academy of Sciences Polar Research Board
US Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (BERAC). 

We continue to serve as Advisory Committee members of Toolik Field Station (operated by the University of Alaska), and from 2011-2014 ARC LTER PI Gus Shaver served on the LTER Network Executive Committee.