Date

ARCTIC RESEARCH SUPPORT AND LOGISTICS SURVEY

Dear Colleagues,

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) recently formed the
Arctic Research Support and Logistics Working Group (RSLWG), supported by
the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (NSF-OPP), to carry
on and expand upon the work of ARCUS' former Logistics Working Group (LWG),
sponsored by the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and NSF. One of the first
activities of the new working group is a survey of the research community's
recommendations for arctic research support and logistics needs.

We need your help identifying research support and logistics priorities on
behalf of the arctic research community. Please take a few minutes to review
the short on-line survey at http://www.arcus.org/RSLWG/fr_rslwg_survey.html,
complete the ten questions, and submit the survey to ARCUS. The survey also
is available in email format and as a PDF file that can be printed, filled
out by hand, and faxed or mailed to ARCUS. Please let your colleagues know
about the survey and encourage them to submit recommendations.

The task of the newly composed working group is to represent the arctic
research community in providing long-term expertise and advice on arctic
logistics and science support issues for the NSF-OPP. Recommendations will
be developed by working with the research community to consider science
needs that require innovative research support and logistics, as well as by
identifying new science opportunities emerging from the availability of
expanded research support and logistics capabilities. Information about the
working group's tasks and membership is available on the ARCUS web site at
http://www.arcus.org/rslwg. A timeline of initial activities is attached
below.

The arctic logistics survey initiated by ARCUS five years ago formed the
basis for the set of recommendations to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission
and NSF contained in the 1997 report "Logistics Recommendations for an
Improved U.S. Arctic Research Capability", available at
http://www.arcus.org/Logistics/Logistics.html. Subsequently, many of the
recommendations contained in the 1997 report have begun to be implemented
and the budget for arctic logistics and research support has increased
significantly.

By once again joining together as a scientific community and making our
needs known, we can help improve planning, coordination, and implementation
for arctic logistics and research support.

Sincerely, on behalf of the RSLWG members,

Peter Schlosser, co-chair, peters [at] ldeo.columbia.edu,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Terry Tucker, co-chair, wtucker [at] hanover-crrel.army.mil
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Timeline for RSLWG activities

22 March 2000 Research Support and Logistics Web site posted

22 March 2000 Community Survey initiated

8 May 2000 First survey responses collated and summarized

18 May 2000 Community meeting on Arctic Research Support and Logistics
in Washington DC.

10 July 2000 First community survey process complete.

Summer 2000 Meeting of the Research Support and Logistics Working Group

October 2000 First draft of the next edition of "Logistics
Recommendations for an Improved U.S. Arctic Research
Capability posted for community review".

December 2000 Publication of the next edition of "Logistics
Recommendations for an Improved U.S. Arctic Research
Capability".

January 2001 First draft of the implementation plan posted for community
review.


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