Financial costs of conducting science in the Arctic: examples from seabird research

• Main Authors: Mallory, Mark L., Gilchrist, H Grant, Janssen, Michael, Major, Heather L, Merkel, Flemming, Provencher, Jennifer F., Strøm, Hallvard
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2018
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/90676; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2017-0019

Research in remote locations is more expensive than similar activities at sites with easier access, but these costs have rarely been compared. Using examples from seabird research, we show that conducting research in the Arctic is typically eight times more expensive than pursuing similar studies at a southern location. The differences in costs are related principally to the much higher expenses of travel and shipping (typically 4-10X higher for Arctic work), as well as the good practice of meaningful engagement with northern communities (4-25% of project costs). Although there is some variation in costs among Arctic countries, we hope that the consistent pattern of relatively higher Arctic costs allows policy-makers and funding agencies to better plan for research support, especially for this region that is experiencing rapid environmental change. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.