Arctic study targets Prudhoe Bay effects

Nov. 5, 2013
An examination of the effects of oil industry installations around Prudhoe Bay is one of two studies of Arctic sustainability selected for funding by a joint program of the National Science Foundation, US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and international partners.

An examination of the effects of oil industry installations around Prudhoe Bay is one of two studies of Arctic sustainability selected for funding by a joint program of the National Science Foundation, US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and international partners.

The NSF Arctic Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (ArcSEES) program has funded six projects that support interdisciplinary science important to understanding sustainability of the Arctic.

One of the two new studies “will measure and assess long-term cumulative impacts of increases in the oil and gas industry infrastructure in the Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska, with the goal of reducing the impacts of future development in the region,” according to a BOEM statement. Principal investigator will be Donald Walker, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The other new study will “examine the vulnerability and resilience of the walrus population off Alaska’s North Slope,” the statement said. Principal investigator will be Nicole Misarti, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Projects funded by the ArcSEES program are located at 12 institutions and include collaborative investigators from the US, France, Canada, Russia, Finland, Germany, and the UK.