President Biden on Monday nominated an Alaska scientist to be the nation’s first Arctic ambassador-at-large.
Mike Sfraga, the chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, was named as the choice to fill the ambassador position.
The nomination makes good on a White House pledge made in August, when it announced the creation of the position.
Sfraga has a long list of Arctic-related affiliations and accomplishments, including past positions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he earned a PhD in geography and Northern studies. At UAF, he was a vice chancellor, associate vice president and associate dean, as well as serving in various faculty positions. He was the founding director of the Polar Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., served in a leadership position at the National Science Foundation and currently serves as a science adviser to the Finnish Institute for International Affairs.
While the position of ambassador-at-large is new, two people have performed the general functions in the recent past. Admiral Robert Papp, the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, served as the State Department’s special representative to the Arctic during the Obama administration, including the years in which the U.S. chaired the eight-nation Arctic Council. The Trump administration left the position vacant until 2020, when it appointed Jim DeHart, a career diplomat. DeHart left the State Department last year for a position in academia.
Because neither were officially ambassadors, Papp and DeHart were not subject to Senate confirmation. In Papp’s case, confirmation was seen as a potential obstacle; the Senate was Republican-controlled at the time and was holding up confirmations of several Obama appointees.
This time around, Sfraga’s confirmation will be boosted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski. For the Alaska Republican and her colleague on the Senate’s Arctic Caucus, independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, having an ambassador devoted to Arctic issues was a high priority.
In a statement, Murkowski hailed Monday’s announcement.
“This places the U.S. one step closer to having dedicated, high-level diplomatic representation in the Arctic, which will allow us to advance a range of U.S. policy priorities at a crucial time,” Murkowski said in a statement. She called him a “true Arctic expert” who won’t need to learn on the job. “His experience is unmatched — serving as Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, Founding Director of the Polar Institute and the Wilson Center, and as an affiliate professor at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, among other positions. I will urge my Senate colleagues to move quickly to advance and confirm his nomination.”
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