Did you know Toolik Field Station, now celebrating 50 years, has grown from tents on tundra into the world’s leading Arctic research hub?
March 25, 2025
Toolik Field Station, operated by the University of ƵFairbanks Institute of
Arctic Biology with support from the National Science Foundation, sits in the northern
foothills of the Brooks Range in Arctic Ƶin 2019. Photo by Jason Stuckey/TFS
In 1975, five scientists from the Naval Arctic Research Lab headed south from Prudhoe Bay via the then-new Dalton Highway. They were looking for a deep Arctic lake for their research. Galbraith was too shallow. Toolik was just right.
They pulled off at mile 284, set up a temporary field camp beside the lake, and unknowingly launched what would become a world-class research station—one that has shaped Arctic science for half a century.
Earlier this year, researchers gathered to celebrate the station’s 50th anniversary at the Toolik All Scientists Meeting. Keynote speaker and Toolik co-founder John Hobbie reflected on the early days, even pointing to the exact research site he helped establish in 1975, using his cane as a pointer.
“Our status as a world-class research station adds to the University of Alaska’s long-impactful standing in Arctic research and serves as a resource for Alaskans,” said Syndonia Bret-Harte, Toolik’s science director and professor at UAF’s Institute of Arctic Biology.
A herd of caribou traverses the tundra near Toolik Field Station in August 2024. Photo
by Seth Beaudreault/TFS
What they’re studying
Toolik supports a wide range of long-term and emerging research:
- Tundra vegetation dynamics: Long-running field plots track species composition, shrub expansion and productivity
across seasons.
- Freshwater ecology: Toolik Lake and surrounding streams support studies on nutrient cycling, hydrology
and food webs.
- Animal physiology: Researchers examine Arctic ground squirrels, migratory birds and other species to
understand adaptation in extreme environments.
- Permafrost and soil processes: Ground temperature monitoring, carbon flux studies and microbial research connect
Toolik to broader ecological models.
- Fire ecology: UA scientists use Toolik as a base to study post-fire recovery and its relationship
to permafrost and vegetation.
- Remote sensing and UAV data: Drone surveys and satellite-linked sensors help scale observations while staying grounded in place-based knowledge.
Much of this work contributes to the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, anchored at Toolik since 1987.