• Protecting the arctic environment and conserving its biological resources
• Assuring that natural resource management and economic development are environmentally sustainable
• Strengthening institutions for international cooperation
• Involving the region's indigenous people in decisions that affect them

Announcements of Opportunity released to the broad arctic science community by CIFAR in 1997 (1-year projects) and 1998 (2-year projects) called for proposals on "Health of the Bering Sea/Western Arctic Ecosystem" within two major scientific areas-"Natural variability of the Bering Sea/Western Arctic ecosystem" and "Anthropogenic influences on the Bering Sea/Western Arctic ecosystem."

In FY 2001, CIFAR released a third announcement of opportunity for the continuation of the Arctic Research Initiative, again with two research foci. The first was on climate variability and change in the Arctic, emphasizing the transport of freshwater, heat and nutrients to and from the Arctic, and a better understanding of the Arctic Oscillation. The second focus was on the productivity of the Bering Sea, the natural processes regulating productivity and the flow of energy through food webs supporting commercial, subsistence and protected or endangered species.

From this Announcement of Opportunity, a total of 12 two-year projects were funded for just over $1M for the first year, with seven projects funded through CIFAR and the remainder funded directly by NOAA.

In FY 2003, a fourth Announcement of Opportunity addressed a joint U.S.-Russia research cruise, part of the Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic (RUSALCA).