Toolik Field Station, US

The Toolik Field Station operated and managed by the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) with cooperative agreement support from the Division of Polar Programs, Directorate for Geosciences at the US National Science Foundation.

The station provides access to the northern foothills of the Brooks Range in Arctic Alaska, USA. A broad range of research is supported, including freshwater and terrestrial ecology, hydrology, geology, and space physics, as well as laboratories with modern equipment, field experiments, and lots of data, some going back to 1975.

Contribution to POLARIN key research challenges:3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Contact: Station manager Syndonia Bret-Harte: msbretharte[at]alaska.edu

Website�

https://www.uaf.edu/toolik/
https://interact-gis.org/Home/Station/54

Location

Toolik Field 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, and its location allows scientists to access the Brooks Range, the arctic foothills and the arctic coastal plain.

Facilities and services offered

TFS was first established in 1975 to support an aquatic research program. The field station evolved from a 10-person tent camp into a premier arctic research laboratory and science support facility capable of supporting up to 150 researchers.

The field station includes several laboratory trailers and tents, a lecture hall, various dormitory accommodation styles, a kitchen and dining hall, shower and laundry facilities, and a tool shop. TFS is open year-round and provides transportation to and from the station, basic science support, high-speed internet, GIS services, general-use laboratory and field equipment, herbarium, and baseline environmental and meteorological data.

Observatories linked to the station: Arctic LTER, NEON, and AON programmes operate out of TOOLIK; all data are available. The station also operates meteorological stations.

What is included in the Access

Unit of access: User/day

Modalities of Access: in-person access, remote access

One user day covers food, housing, use of lab space, freight from Fairbanks to Toolik Field Station (but not shipping beyond Fairbanks, that has to be budgeted separately in the application for Transnational Access) for persons in residence at Toolik. The typical duration of work is 1-2 weeks. Most projects do not need integration. Those that are using existing experiments must coordinate with the relevant PIs.

Availability for access in the 2024 call

The station is open year around.

The availability for access in the 2024 call is 1.4.2025-30.4.2026.�

Time frame for access preparations

The (soft) deadline for summer reservations for accommodation and local logistics is March 31. However, reservations can also be made after this point, if earlier booking is not possible. �

Users will need to book airline tickets to fly to Fairbanks, then truck reservations to ride from Fairbanks to Toolik Field Station.  It is worth noting that truck reservations can fill up fast, and that trucks only go north and south on some days of the week.  Therefore, it would be best to arrange these reservations by March 31, though it is not impossible to get these reservations later but the most favored dates may not be available.

Permits, licenses and training

Depending on the study design and where the study located, it may be required to get a permit from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the State of Alaska.  Because getting a permit from BLM can be a very slow process, it is best if the research can fall under BLM’s “casual use” designation, which is much faster.�

RI users should consult with Toolik Field Station’s GIS office for help with site selection (a map will be required for the application) and should tailor their study to the casual use requirements, if possible.  Even for a casual use determination, it is still necessary to contact BLM and obtain a casual use letter, so this is also a process that should be started as soon as possible.

All RI users must take Code of Conduct training online (accessed through their myToolik profile), and pass the quiz, prior to arrival at Toolik Field Station (TFS). To drive a station vehicle requires an international driver’s license (unless the user does not have a driver’s license from one of the U.S. states) and to fill out the driving history form. Users must also go through our truck orientation prior to driving. If users desire to use one of the TFS boats, they must take the station’s boat training prior to using the boat and wear a personal floatation device while on the water.  Users planning to do laboratory work should take the station’s online lab safety course.

Medical guidelines

At present, their only requirement is for pre-trip and on-site COVID testing a few days after arrival. It is likely that this requirement will disappear before the next field season.