Toolik Field Station (TFS) is one of the major research platforms for U.S. arctic research, and has been in increasing demand in recent years. Planning for long-term development at TFS has been guided by a long-range plan produced by the user community in 1995. The need for a current vision for the direction of research requirements for infrastructure, services, and function was a prime recommendation of the December 2003 TFS Steering Committee meeting. Over the last few years, TFS management has heard requests from science users for TFS to move away from the model where acquisition, repair, and maintenance of scientific equipment and the provision of core technical services are done by individual scientific projects to a new model wherein more core services are provided and supported centrally.
To best respond to the issues of whether and how to develop more multi-use core facilities and scientific services, and to establish priorities for implementing them requires input from the scientific user community. Input is also needed to address the need for strategies for protecting the long-term research investment, and for a plan to further develop the science education component of TFS. We propose to convene a focused and relatively small (20-25 invited guests) workshop of arctic researchers working at TFS and other scientists with experience in the development of field research facilities.
The goals of the workshop include the following. 1) Address whether and to what extent TFS should develop multi-use core lab facilities and scientific services, and if so, prioritize what those facilities should be. 2) Address what changes in data management and connectivity would be necessary to enable the science at TFS to achieve a new level of sophistication. 3) Set priorities for the preservation of long-term control areas around the station. 4) Discuss possible expansion of the education program at TFS.
The primary product of this workshop will be a white paper summarizing the recommendations of the workshop, and a prioritized plan for implementing multi-use core facilities at TFS. We envision that this document may be used for planning future upgrades and scientific services at TFS, by station management and funding agencies
