What Motivates This Article? From October 2000 through September 2002, I served as scientific program officer on an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) appointment with the Office of Naval Research, where I worked with the High Latitude Dynamics Program. Detailed half time to the Office of Polar Programs at the National Science Foundation, I effectively held positions at both agencies. This unusual interagency split enabled me to participate in coordinating the funding of Arctic oceanographic research efforts by both agencies and to assist with related program developments internal to each agency. It allowed me to become familiar with the internal priorities and workings of two agencies that have, for the past half-century, provided the bulk of basic research funding for the US oceanographic community. Further, it allowed me to significantly expand the scope of my own research.

Muench, R.D. 2005. Commentary: Why you really should consider taking on an “IPA”. Oceanography 18(3):14–16, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2005.28.

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