Key questions for future Arctic research

Every ten years, polar researchers from around the world compile the most important Arctic research priorities for the coming decade. This is the fourth time that the International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP) has presented its assessment. Researcher Lisa Winberg von Friesen at the Department of Biology and Environmental Science took part in the work behind the report.

Lisa Winberg von Friesen during an expedition to Greenland.

”It’s challenging to predict what the coming decade will bring and what research priorities will arise, as the Arctic is changing so rapidly. In ten years’ time, summer sea ice will most likely have largely disappeared. At the same time, geopolitical challenges in the Arctic and around the world are adding to the uncertainty”, she says.

Involving local communities

A key conclusion of the report concerns how polar research should be conducted. The global research community needs to become much better at collaborating with Indigenous and local communities in producing knowledge.

“The Arctic plays an important role in the global climate system, but the local perspective is often overlooked, and priorities may differ depending on whose needs, rights and perspectives we’re looking at”, says Lisa Winberg von Friesen.

Broad international collaboration

To address existing knowledge gaps, the researchers recommend broad international collaboration involving multiple research fields and spanning the entire Arctic. An example of this is the Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS), in which Linnaeus University took part in 2021, and which is set to be followed up. The SAS is an initiative that coordinates research expeditions across the Arctic to collect comparable data from different locations, in order to build a complete picture.

“Another very important part of the work is to integrate observational research with modelling more effectively. Those of us who do a lot of sampling in the Arctic are actively working to produce relevant and useful data that other researchers can use to develop models of how the Arctic is changing.”

Where sea meets land

Lisa Winberg von Friesen studies how phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean influence atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. As part of the report work, she was part of a working group focusing on how different parts of the Arctic ecosystem interact. Because researchers often specialise in specific areas, such as the ocean, land, ice or the atmosphere, there is a risk that the bigger picture is lost if the connections between these systems are not studied in their own right, explains Lisa Winberg von Friesen.

“There’s a major gap in our understanding of how different parts of the Arctic are connected and influence one another. This is an area where we can learn a great deal by collaborating across disciplinary boundaries.”

Interactions between sea and land are a key research area at the Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems (EEMiS), where Lisa Winberg von Friesen is a researcher. She sees clearly how collaboration across disciplinary boundaries benefits her research.

“During last year’s expedition to Greenland, I, a biologist, worked with physicists to gain a better understanding of how currents and ice properties affect the ecosystem in the ocean beneath the ice.”

Further information

The full report and further information are available on the ICARP website.

Find out more about the research at the Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS).

Until 7 June, the exhibition Arctic – stories from the edge of the ice is on display on campus in Kalmar and Växjö.