University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

R/V Sikuliaq is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, as part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. Sikuliaq is used by scientists in the U.S. and by the international oceanographic community through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). This Ship Operations proposal requests funding necessary to support NSF-funded R/V Sikuliaq operations in CY2018, which currently amount to 153 days out of a total of 190 operational days at sea. These NSF-funded ship days are in support of 10 research projects for CY2018.community 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 twelve cruises planned for CY2018 supported by this Ship Operations proposal provide an excellent opportunity to display Sikuliaq's capability in oceanographic observation, collection, and measurement of samples and data accomplished on a global scale through operation of this state-of-the-art vessel. 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. During 2018, Sikuliaq will support ten NSF-sponsored research cruises in the eastern Pacific and Arctic Oceans to conduct research in physical oceanography, marine ecology, marine chemistry, and ocean observing. NSF sponsored research (including Ocean Observing Initiative research) will account for 71% (176 days) of Sikuliaq's work this year. The remainder of the work will be supported by the Navy (41 days, 17%), and the North Pacific Research Board (28 days, 11%). Each program contributes its own unique intellectual and technical merit, which are supported by Sikuliaq operations. The proposed work constitutes strongly collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional use of the shared-use research and education infrastructure. CY2018 will be Sikuliaq's first season working in Arctic waters under the Polar Code regulations, which will provide a good test of the vessel's capabilities to support missions in the Arctic while adhering to the strict Polar Code rules. 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. 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.