|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Building Arctic Empathy through Virtual Reality, 2 pm EDT August 12, 2020 (Virtual). Learn how virtual reality and immersive learning can build empathy, connection, & commitment to conservation in Arctic research. Research shows that immersive media drives empathy, creates connection, and motivates positive social behaviors like no other platform. Join Emmy and Webby award winning immersive technology pioneer Wesley Della Volla as he presents ways you can use shared, synchronized immersive reality to integrate live presentations with a tangible connection with Arctic science research, traditional knowledge, and Arctic landscapes and ecosystems using the devices you already have. Migration In Harmony is an international, cross-disciplinary network of Arctic migration researchers funded by NSF. Learn more and sign up at migrationharmony.org.
Alaska's Arctic and New Great Power Competition, 8:00 am AKDT on August 12, 2020 (Virtual). The Arctic Policy Study Group will host this event. Through increased economic and military activity, Russia and China continue to assert interest and presence in the Arctic. How then does the U.S. respond and what implications does that response have for Alaska's Arctic region? Please join Commonwealth North and our collaborators the Arctic Domain Awareness Center and The Polar Institute at The Wilson Center for a discussion about the implications of the New Great Power Competition for Alaska's Arctic.
|
Media
 Small Arctic Lakes Reveal Increased Concentrations of Pollutants. An analysis of data on the quality of water and concentrations of a range of elements in small lakes in the Arctic has been presented by the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and University оf Tyumen (UTMN). The lakes were on the Kola Peninsula (European Russia), the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area (west Siberia), and the Norilsk Region (east Siberia). According to scientists, aquatic systems are collectors of environmental pollutants and they reflect changes in the geochemical cycles of elements. The Arctic
Greenhouse in Arctic Canada Could Teach Scientists How to Grow Food in Outer Space. The Canadian Space Agency says growing food in the North is similar to growing food in space - that's why it's joined forces with a community greenhouse project in Gjoa Haven to do research. The Naurvik greenhouse is a hydroponic sea can station where community technicians have been growing vegetables since last fall. Now the federal space agency is hiring trainers to work with the Nunavut community to develop a curriculum for space-related food research in the North. Radio Canada International
 Climate Variability May Alter Pollutants in Some Sub-Arctic Birds. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Emory University have discovered that some bird species in the sub-Arctic tend to ingest larger amounts of pollutants than others during periods of climate variation. The study, which was published in the journal Chemosphere, examined the eggs of two similar bird species that live very close to each other along the coasts of the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) and the common murre (Uria aalge). Mirage News
Russian Scientists to Develop Cheap, Environmentally Friendly Arctic Generator. Scientists from Tomsk State University have found a way to make cheaper and safer Arctic oil-prospecting devices. They suggest renouncing plasma-forming fuel inside magnetohydrodynamic generators, (MHD generators) which are used as the main energy source in Arctic oil prospecting devices and replacing this fuel with pyrotechnic fuel. Due to dwindling ground-based hydrocarbon resources, oil production on the continental shelf is acquiring special significance. The Arctic
|
|
Future Events
** New this week ** Whale Acoustics Webinar From the Gulf of Alaska, 2 pm EDT August 18, 2020 (Virtual). Learn how high school students use long-term acoustic recordings to monitor marine mammals and anthropogenic activities in the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic in this webinar. Presented by students from the Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska, this webinar will highlight the important contributions to marine mammal research through an internship and technology training program, called SeaTech. This webinar is a good opportunity for anyone interested in the Arctic, marine mammals, acoustics, or exploring collaborative approaches to science-based education and outreach. Migration In Harmony is a network of Arctic migration researchers funded by the National Science Foundation. Learn more and sign up.
** POSTPONED ** Arctic Circle Assembly, October 8-11, 2020 (Reykjavik, Iceland). The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. It is attended by heads of states and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, officials, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, indigenous representatives, environmentalists, students, activists and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the future of the Arctic.
Arctic Science Summit Week, March 20-26, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal). The Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Local Organizing Committee will host the Arctic Science Summit Week 2021. The Conference is organized by FCT, Ciência Viva, AIR Center, the Portuguese Arctic Community and by IASC and partners. Framed by the overarching theme for the Science Conference "The Arctic: Regional Changes, Global Impacts," Lisbon invites International experts on the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples to discuss the "New Arctic" and also its impacts and interactions to and with the lower latitudes.
Save the Date: 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses, May 3-6, 2021 (Hanko, Finland). Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2021. This symposium will bring together molecular microbial ecologists specializing in different organism groups to share our latest results and discuss methodological problems, as well as future prospects in the field, including practical international collaborations. The environmental focus will be on cryospheric environments including sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost, but excellent research in other polar environments is also invited. The methods to be discussed will focus on 'omics' techniques, ranging from single cells to metagenomes, but research using additional methods is encouraged as well.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, May 8-9, 2021 (Toyko, Japan). The Japanese and Icelandic organizers of this ministerial continue to plan for an in-person ministerial, in Tokyo, but have moved the dates from November 21-22, 2020 to May 8-9, 2021 because of Covid-19. Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. Considering the need for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and repair measures, the relevance of an international Arctic Science Ministerial has never been greater. It is necessary to strengthen scientific cooperation and collaboration among both Arctic and non-Arctic States in order to develop our understanding of the rapid changes impacting the Arctic. The First Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM1) was hosted by the United States in 2016, and two years later, the Second Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM2) was co-hosted by Germany, Finland, and the European Commission. ASM3 will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
|
|
  
4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA
External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site ( www.arctic.gov) do not constitute endorsement by the US Arctic Research Commission of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the USARC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this newsletter and the USARC Web site.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
