Call open until 31st March for European-based research groups for transnational access to four North-American sites in the INTERACT network

Call open until 31st March for European-based research groups for transnational access to four North-American sites in the INTERACT network

Two Canadian and two U.S. partners in INTERACT (International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic) open a call for transnational access for European-based research groups. The access is available to the following research stations: The CEN Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik Research Station and the Kluane Lake Research Station in Canada, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Toolik Field Station and the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska, U.S. The access to the Canadian stations is supported by CEN and AINA, and the access to the Alaskan stations is supported by the U.S. NSF.

The support includes access to station facilities and support for travel and freight costs. The research should be conducted in 2015.

Eligibility:

Research groups where the group leader and majority of the group members are from EU Member State or Associated State are eligible to apply for access.

How to apply:

E-mail your research proposal (link to application instructions) and CV by 31st March, 2015, to INTERACT Transnational Access Coordinator Hannele Savela (hannele.savela(at)oulu.fi). The evaluation of the proposals will be conducted by the INTERACT Transnational Access Board in consultation with the field stations. The evaluation will be based on scientific merit, feasibility and appropriateness. The applicants will be notified about the grant decisions by 15th May, 2015.

CEN Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik Research Station:

Centre d'études nordiques (Centre for Northern Studies, CEN) offers one annual grant for research at the CEN Hudson Bay field station at Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik. The grant of 5000 € in maximum includes open access to station facilities and should be used for travel, daily or weekly accommodation rates at the station, and meals.  The station is located on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay at the maritime limit of James Bay. The station surroundings are defined by the terrestrial boundary between taiga and tundra. Discontinuous or scattered permafrost occurs throughout the region and is degrading rapidly. Current research conducted at the station include work on biodiversity and dynamics of northern aquatic ecosystems, impacts of thawing permafrost in the context of global warming, wetland paleoecology, restoration of vegetation in degraded sites, and research on mercury dynamics in relation to air, precipitation and snow.

Kluane Lake Research Station:

Arctic Institute of North America (AINA) at University of Calgary offers one annual grant for research at the Kluane Lake Research Station.  The grant of 5000 € in maximum includes open access to station facilities and should be used for travel, daily or weekly accommodation rates at the station, and meals.  The station is located near the Alaska Highway, 220 km northwest of Whitehorse, Yukon, on the south shore of Kluane Lake. The extreme elevation difference between Kluane Lake and the crest of the St. Elias Mountains establishes a strong gradient in environmental attributes and results in a remarkable diversity of research opportunities within a small geographical area. During its existence since 1961, the station has fostered research projects spanning the disciplines of glaciology, geomorphology, geology, biology, botany, zoology, hydrology, limnology, climatology, high-altitude physiology, anthropology and archaeology.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Toolik Field Station:

Altogether 30 person-days of access is available for qualified applicants to conduct research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Toolik Field Station. The support includes use of the station facilities, accommodation and max. $9000 for travel and freight costs related to the visit. The station is located 210 km south of Deadhorse and 600 km north of Fairbanks in arctic Alaska. The field station is situated north of Gates of the Arctic National Park; the location allows scientists to access the Brooks Range, the arctic foothills and the Alaskan arctic coastal plain. Current research at the station includes the structure and function of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the effects of climate change in the region, the feedbacks to global climate change through gas and hydrological fluxes, adaptations of plants and animals to the Arctic, and population-level changes in phenologies and distributions.

Barrow Environmental Observatory:

Altogether 30 person-days of access is available for qualified applicants to conduct research on or near the Barrow Environmental Observatory. The support includes use of the station facilities, accommodation and max. $9000 for travel and freight costs related to the visit. Barrow is located at the northern tip of Alaska (USA) on the Arctic Coastal Plain on the coast of Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The adjacent Barrow Environmental Observatory comprises tundra, lakes, and wetlands reserved for scientific research including long-term environmental monitoring and habitat manipulation experiments. The extensive research history in the area and current research activities include foci on climate and atmospheric chemistry, ecosystem dynamics, plant/animal interactions and phenology studies, various experimental studies, coastal erosion and land-ocean connections.

More information:

You can find the application instructions and descriptions of the stations and their facilities from the INTERACT website and from the following contact persons.

Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik; CEN Scientific Coordinator Dr.  Christine Barnard, christine.barnard(at) cen.ulaval.ca

Kluane Lake Research Station; AINA Executive Director Dr. Maribeth S. Murray, murraym(at)ucalgary.ca

Toolik Field Station; Associate Science Director Dr. Syndonia Bret-Harte, msbretharte(at)alaska.edu

Barrow Environmental Observatory; Dr. Craig Tweedie, ctweedie(at)utep.edu

INTERACT Transnational Access; WP4 Coordinator Dr. Hannele Savela, hannele.savela(at)oulu.fi

 

best regards,

Hannele Savela 

 

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Hannele Savela, PhD

Coordinator, UArctic Reseach Area/INTERACT WP4

Thule Institute

P.O.Box 7300, FI-90014 University of Oulu

FINLAND

gsm +358 40 829 4285

www.eu-interact.org/, www.oulu.fi/thule

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