US research official departs as Trump overhauls Arctic policy

An Alaska Native official who helped oversee the federal agency in charge of U.S. arctic research policy has quietly departed her post in recent days, according to a source familiar with the matter and documents seen by Reuters.

The departure of Elizabeth Qaulluq Cravalho, who until earlier this month was a commissioner on the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, or USARC, is the latest sign of turmoil within the Arctic research and policymaking community since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.

Trump has deprioritized climate change-related research in the Arctic, while boosting the U.S. government's focus on military and energy security in the region. He has also resumed his long-standing attempts to wrest Greenland away from Denmark, while making concrete moves to secure access to Arctic critical mineral deposits.

The precise nature of Cravalho's departure was not immediately clear, though one source said she had been dismissed by the administration.