The Arctic Scientist Profiles: Arctic Security Researcher Troy Bouffard Strives for Real-World Relevance in His Work
Dr. Troy Bouffard visited Bodø in Northern Norway for the Arctic Council's Arctic Emergency Management conference. He presented his work on wildland fires under the title: "Arctic Wildland Fire and Mitigation: Understanding, Implementation, and Future Directions."
Bodø, Northern Norway (High North News): Dr. Troy Bouffard, Assistant Professor of Arctic Security at the University of Alaska, strives to make his research meaningful and relevant to the real world. "If I wanted my research to matter, I had to find out how Arctic security was connected to national security," he says to HNN.
"Scientists want their science to matter, but oftentimes don't know how to make that happen," says Dr. Troy Bouffard to High North News.
"Tons of science is happening without a direct path to application. And many do not know how to make their science important for operational purposes. They don't speak the same language. But I know these languages."
Bouffard is an assistant professor of Arctic Security at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, director of the Center for Arctic Security and Resilience (CASR), Arctic Council EPPR project member, and former Arctic Advisor to US Senator Lisa Murkowski.
HNN meets with the researcher at the Arctic Council's Arctic Emergency Management Conference in Bodø, Northern Norway, where he presented his work on Arctic wildland fires and mitigation as part of the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response Working Group (EPPR) of the Arctic Council.
Bouffard ended up in Alaska through his military service, which spiked a life-long interest in the Arctic. After retiring from the military, he settled in the USA's Far North, working on Arctic security and policy for 21 years and still counting.
"The military brought me there, and then I decided to never leave," says Bouffard, explaining that he saw a major gap in research on Arctic security from the operational side and decided to create his dream job.
Research and policy symbiosis
The researcher holds a master's in Arctic policy and a PhD in Arctic defense and security, but started out as a staff member in Alaska state legislature, "wanting to learn about the state," he says, adding that the work in politics was miserable and that he left as soon as he felt he had learned enough.
Bouffard's understanding of the inner workings of politics has enabled him to disseminate his research and influence Arctic policy.
"I realized that I was at an institute that was the most published and cited academically for Arctic sciences. But we didn't know how to share that or make it meaningful for the nation."
As the Arctic gained more significance politically, the institute saw increasing visits from the nation's authorities. However, when every researcher believes their research is the most important and must be the national security priority, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle.
"National security guides all decision-making domestically and internationally. So I have made almost all of my focus areas, research, and courses, based on a very solid understanding of how emerging Arctic security-related issues can be connected to national security. Because if you want it to matter, you have to do that," he says.
Adding Arctic language to our National Security Strategy was a level up.
The Arctic in the US National Security Strategy
Bouffard says he is proud to have been part of the work to get the Arctic included in the US National Security Strategy of 2022.
"Adding Arctic language to our National Security Strategy, our most important document, for the first time ever in October 2022 was a level up," he says.
Before this Arctic language was added to the strategy, Bouffard says it was frustrating to not see any response from Congress on significant Arctic matters.
"During COVID, I made it my number one goal to bug everyone to get that language. I knew it would change everything and it did," he explains, adding:
"This made other departments follow suit and that has really helped us. It also made the US a better partner and leader in the Arctic with other nations."
Soon after, Bouffard was appointed the Arctic Advisor to US Senator Lisa Murkowski (R), who he says is the default leader on all things Arctic nationally and even internationally. He advised the senator on Arctic matters for a year through the fellowship, providing the Arctic perspective for every policy area.
Arctic science is no longer a single entity.
Russian control over the Northern Sea Route
Bouffard explains that some of his most significant research work entails explaining what the Northern Sea Route (NSR) means to Russia and the rest of the world.
"Russia is trying to do something with the NSR which has not been done anywhere else in the world, which is to try to control access to the surface waters of the entire NSR all the way out to the exclusive economic zone boundary, 200 nautical miles off the coastline," says Bouffard.
"The norm is that the nation state has reasonable control within 12 nautical miles, but beyond that, they have no control. A state cannot dictate access to the surface waters beyond 12 nautical miles, but Russia is trying to have control out to 200 nautical miles."
He explains that Russia is utilizing Article 234 in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which has a short paragraph about ice-covered waters, to argue that they legally should be able to control the waters beyond 12 nautical miles.
Article 234 in UNCLOS on 'ice-covered areas'
"Coastal States have the right to adopt and enforce non-discriminatory laws and regulations for the prevention, reduction and control of marine pollution from vessels in ice-covered areas within the limits of the exclusive economic zone, where particularly severe climatic conditions and the presence of ice-covering such areas for most of the year create obstructions or exceptional hazards to navigation, and pollution of the marine environment could cause major harm to or irreversible disturbance of the ecological balance. Such laws and regulations shall have due regard to navigation and the protection and preservation of the marine environment based on the best available scientific evidence."
"Russia is dictating that you must have permission to come to those waters, which is the definition of internal waters. The US says that we are not accepting that and I have done a lot of work myself and with others to come up with ways to fight this legally."
Bouffard says he has enjoyed working on building a strong case for the United States, for international law and operational law purposes, and seeing that his research is directly influential on national policy.
"I find myself researching very real-world issues all the time and I like that approach to things," the researcher states.
"Some things move very fast in the policy and strategy world, but miserably slow in the research world. It's all about figuring out how to make it work."
"If I have to figure out how to fix something by next week, I like that, that's my comfort area," says the researcher, adding that that kind of pressure is not usually the norm in the research world.
"But everyone's got a different purpose. Moving quickly at the speed of relevance can increase the potential to make a mistake, which can hurt as an academic and advisor."
High North News met Dr. Troy Bouffard in Bodø at the Arctic Council's Arctic Emergency Management Conference.
Debunking Arctic myths
Bouffard says much of his early work consisted of debunking Arctic myths, especially two persistent narratives.
One was the race for Arctic resources, particularly after Russia planted its flag on the North Pole seabed in 2007, and surveys saying that the Arctic ice is melting, making abounding oil and gas resources available.
"The media painted it as 'first come, first served,' but that is not how it works. At least 90% of the Arctic oil and gas lies behind sovereign boundaries. There is no 'free-for-all,' that is flat out wrong," says Bouffard.
The other myth was how global shipping was going to change and that everyone would go the shorter route through the Arctic.
"That is not possible. That is not how global shipping enterprises work and sea ice will ruin this in the real world."
The fracture with Russia
When asked about the challenges ahead for Arctic science, Bouffard emphasizes the continued devastation of the Ukraine War on Arctic science. Following the full-scale attack, all Arctic science cooperation with the country was lost.
"Arctic science is no longer a single entity," he says and continues:
"We had it good. Everything we produced together was the final version of the most authoritative thing. There was no competition on whose science was better and that is not the case anymore."
China is loving this.
After mass firings and cuts in funding for US Arctic research with the administration, many worry that China will fill the void left by the US.
"We should absolutely be worried about China, yes. When there is a gap, something is going to fill it and we're not going to be happy when it's China every single time," says Bouffard, adding that it's difficult to understand the reasoning behind some of the choices made by the new administration.
The researcher expresses worry about the cuts in general, saying that money gets things done that cannot be defined or quantified, and that it will have exponentially damaging effects on the US' relationships.
"If we aren't providing the money, then who is? China is loving this," says Bouffard.
"I will, however, have faith in our system and that it will survive and self-correct as the longest-standing democracy on the planet so that I can focus on my work."
