The Special Committee - UNOLS Arctic Marine Research Capabilities Committee (AMRCC)
Federal agencies are working to acquire future icebreaking capability to support U.S. priorities and missions in the Arctic. The scientific community was offered the opportunity to provide input to the federal agencies that may influence the capabilities to be incorporated into any future icebreakers to enable support for Arctic science for the next 30+ years.
The AMRCC was established with support from the federal funding agencies to develop Science Missions and Science Mission Requirements to provide guidance to U.S. federal agencies regarding icebreaker support for Arctic marine research. The Statement of Task for the AMRCC and other related information can be found here.
The Committee brought together scientists, technicians, and operators who have extensive experience at conducting oceanographic science in the Arctic. WHOI’s Dr. Carin Ashjian is the Chair of the AMRCC. Taking this important step ensured that the U.S. government is prepared to move ahead in developing future Arctic icebreaking capability that includes the ability to support oceanographic science that aligns with national priorities and objectives - such has been done by U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy for the past 25 years.
The AMRCC conducted a series of community meetings in conjunction with major science community meetings and also conducted a community survey on the needed scientific capabilities to support Arctic marine research for the next 30 years. The committee completed two reports that incorporate inputs from those meetings, the survey, and the extensive relevant current knowledge and experience of the committee:
- recommendations for core enabling scientific capabilities that the USCG consider for the recently acquired USCGC Storis. (July 2025)
- recommendations for science mission capabilities to be incorporated into new USCG icebreakers including the Arctic Security Cutters (March 2026)
Both reports have been sent to the USCG after review and concurrence by the UNOLS Council.
Current UNOLS AMRCC members are below and can be found here.