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OPPORTUNITIES IN ARCTIC RESEARCH REPORT

Dear Colleague:

The report to the National Science Foundation (NSF) on "Opportunities in Arctic Research" is now available on the ARCUS Web site http://www.arcus.org.

These recommendations were developed during a community workshop held in Arlington, Virginia, on 3-4 September 1998. Twenty-eight scientists representing a wide spectrum of arctic research interests identified
critical research questions and support requirements. The discussion and subsequent recommendations are described in "Opportunities in Arctic Research: Final Report". The report, which was reviewed in draft form by
the workshop participants and the core organizing group, was prepared by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) through support from the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement
OPP-9727899 and was submitted to NSF in October 1998.

The NSF invited the arctic research community to engage in this effort in order to aid the Foundation's planning process and ability to respond rapidly to the budget increases in the FY99 Congressional appropriation.
(See http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/rdwwwpg.htm for information on the federal research budget and
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/forum/colwell/rc80903.htm for the opening remarks delivered by the Director of NSF at the Arctic Opportunities workshop).

The final report from the workshop was prepared under a stringent deadline because the results of these deliberations were important for discussions and planning processes initiated at the beginning of the federal fiscal
year (October 1998).

The report outlines current opportunities in arctic research and challenges in arctic research support needs. A distinctive feature of this report is that it attempts to balance inputs and perspectives provided by the physical, biological and social science communities. While it takes into account earlier planning exercises in arctic research, it also includes some ideas that have not been explicitly articulated previously, such as defining NSF's possible role in contaminant studies, the importance of long-term observations and monitoring as a foundation for basic research in the Arctic, and the significance of the Arctic in high atmosphere studies. The report also stresses the need for integrated research approaches to study change in the Arctic and to improve our understanding of the links between physical and biological phenomena and soceoeconomic changes.

Community discussion on these recommendations will continue to be very important and we encourage you to contact us with your thoughts on the issues discussed in this report. The report is available on the ARCUS Web
site at http://www.arcus.org in html or pdf format.

Sincerely,

Peter Schlosser <peters@ldeo.columbia.edu>, workshop co-chair
John Walsh, <walsh@atmos.uiuc.edu>, workshop co-chair
Tom Pyle, <tpyle@nsf.gov>, Arctic Section Head, Office of Polar Programs,
National Science Foundation

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