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August 7, 2017
 
As the Symposium is organized jointly by two leading Research Institutes of Russian Academy of Science - Institute of Water Problems and Melnikov Permafrost Institute, particularly the contributions on following research topics are welcome:
  • Observational evidences of change in coupled permafrost-hydrology system.
  • Present state and future projections of local, regional and pan-Arctic hydrology.
  • Modeling studies representing landscape evolution, dynamics of water storage and permafrost degradation.
  • Impacts of permafrost hydrology changes on local communities.
Media   
 
Salmon GMO Salmon Caught in US Regulatory Net, But Canadians Have Eaten 5 Tons. Genetically modified salmon have been approved for sale in the United States, but labeling complications have prevented them from coming to market. In Canada, however, according to a report released Friday by the company AquaBounty, five tons of genetically modified salmon filets have been sold so far. Eric Hallerman, an expert in fisheries and fish genetics at Virginia Tech who is not affiliated with the company, predicts that we will see many more genetically modified fish and other animals on shelves around the world in the future. The Washington Post
 
New Arctic Alaska Marine Atlas Details Ecosystem of the Changing Region. Birds, fish, marine mammals, oil rigs, ships of various sizes and people cross paths in the Arctic waters off Alaska. Now a detailed atlas provides maps that show how the natural world and human activities overlap in the fast-changing marine ecosystems there. "The Ecological Atlas of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas," a project led by Audubon Alaska, holds more than 100 maps that show patterns for everything from the petroleum reserves deep beneath the seas' floors to the birds flying in the skies far above. It details what it calls the "extraordinary productivity and impressive abundance of wildlife" in the three seas, and more. Alaska Dispatch News
 
Greenland Ice Sheet Likely Contains High Levels of Anthropogenic Pollutants. The Greenland ice sheet is likely to be heavily contaminated with various globally emitted pollutants - such as PCBs, mercury, lead, PAHs, etc. - according to new research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. So, despite its image as a relatively pristine environment, Greenland is already heavily contaminated by industrial activity, which means that, as the ice sheet there thaws, surrounding waters are going to experience an influx of dangerous pollutants. Clean Technica
 
Marine Scientists Depart Nome to Study Chukchi Sea Biodiversity. Katrin Iken, professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is leading the team. She and her colleagues will venture north on a 23-day research cruise to investigate marine biodiversity in the Chukchi Sea. During a talk Wednesday at the UAF Northwest Campus, Iken showed a diagram of information collected thus far about a range of Arctic marine species. Red dots meant the species were decreasing in population; green showed they were increasing. Grey dots meant there was too little data. "I find it mind-boggling that, after how many years of research, we still have so many gray dots, where we just don't have enough information," Iken said. KNOM
 
July Registers Fifth Lowest Arctic Sea Ice Extent in Satellite Record. Average sea ice extent for the month of July ended up the fifth lowest since satellite records began in 1979, according to the latest report released by the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Arctic sea ice extent for July averaged 8.21 million square kilometers (3.17 million square miles) and was 1.58 million square kilometers (610,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average, the report said. Radio Canada International  
 
Study Finds Alaska's North Slope Snow-Free Season Increasing. Scientists discover that Alaska's North Slope snow-free season is lengthening due to atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions.  The study, published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological , found that snow is melting earlier in the spring and the snow-in date is occurring later in the fall. Researchers from CIRES and NOAA believe atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions are to blame for the lengthening of the snow-free season on the North Slope leading to issues such as birds laying eggs sooner and iced-over rivers flowing earlier. UPI
Future Events

VII International Conference on Cryopedology, August 21-25, 2017 (Yakutsk, Russia). The conference will be hosted by the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS). Plenary reports will be organized in the hall of the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. The official languages of the conference are English and Russian (with translation). All technical facilities (projectors, computers, video sets) will be available during the conference for presentation of papers. Additional information will be available soon. See the Facebook page  here.
 
2017 University of the Arctic Rectors' Forum and Conference, August 27-29, 2017 (Aberdeen, Scotland).  This conference will also consider how northern scholarship can add to discussions on the North into broader terrains of intellectual engagement. In so doing, it will challenge dominant paradigms of research in both the natural and the social sciences, above all by calling into question the very separation of the world of nature from that of human society which underwrites the distinction between these two branches of scientific inquiry. In its place the conference will seek to forge a new practice of interdisciplinary research, done in collaboration with northern residents and on their terms, which recognizes that every discipline is itself an ongoing conversation, or a way of knowing, rather than a compartment within an overarching, hierarchically organized system of knowledge. Conversations from the North will, then, help to generate a science that is more open-ended, responsive to environmental variation and respectful of the wisdom of inhabitants. 

2017 Arctic Energy Summit, September 18-20, 2017 (Helsinki, Finland). The 2017 Summit will address energy in the Arctic as it relates to:
  • Small and off-grid community energy solutions
  • Oil and gas development
  • Renewable energy
  • Regulation and Financing
  • Transportation and transmission
The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues.

** New this week **  5th Northern Oil and Gas Research Form, October 11-13, 2017 (Anchorage, Alaska USA). The United States is hosting the 5th Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum from 
October 11-13, 2017,  in Anchorage, Alaska. This meeting will feature current research and highlight information needs for management of petroleum activities in the US and Canadian Arctic. Abstracts for poster presentations on research and how research is used in management actions are presently being solicited. Please visit the Forum's website ( here ) for additional details. Deadline for abstract submission is  September 10 . There is no registration fee for the Forum. Please use the website link above for information on registration, agenda, lodging and transportation.

2017 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 13-15, 2017 (Reykjavi­k, Iceland).  The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 50 countries. The Assembly is held every October at the Harpa Conference Center and Concert Hall and 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. 

Polar Law Symposium 2017 and Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit, November 13-16, 2017 (Rovaniemi, Finland). The purpose of the Polar Law Symposium is to examine, in detail, the implications of the challenges faced by the Polar Regions for international law and policy and to make recommendations on appropriate actions by states, policy makers and other international actors to respond to these emerging and re-emerging challenges. The Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit  Conference is integrated with the Polar Law Symposium, which will be organized by the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Center of the University of Lapland.
 
ArcticNet invites the global Arctic research community to Arctic Change 2017! This conference will bring together Arctic researchers and students with Inuit, Northerners and government, industry and NGO stakeholders. The world's foremost Arctic scientists will presen t research  findings and discuss impacts of climate change and modernization. With over 1500 participants expected, Arctic Change 2017 will be one of the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conferences held in Canada. We welcome students and early career researchers to participate in "Student Day" at the start of the Conference. See an excerpt from last year:  ArcticNet ASM2016 .
 
ISAR-5 Fifth International Symposium on Arctic Research, January 15-18, 2018 (Tokyo, Japan).  The fifth ISAR has been planned at the recommendation of the science steering committee of ISAR-4, which was held in Toyama, Japan in April 2015. The fifth ISAR will be devoted to discussions on environmental changes in the Arctic and their regional and global implications, to seek additional international scientific collaboration in this area by gathering, synthesizing and sharing information related to these changes occurring in the Arctic. Special emphasis will be placed on the fields of the social sciences and humanities, which were not included in the previous ISARs.  ISAR-5 will consist of general sessions and special sessions. The general sessions will address the following topics: atmosphere; ocean and sea ice; rivers, lakes, permafrost, and snow cover; ice sheets, glaciers, and ice cores; terrestrial ecosystems; marine ecosystems; geospace; policies and economy; and social and cultural dimensions. Special sessions will be solicited on cross-cutting themes.  

The Effects of Climate Change on the World's Oceans, June 4-8, 2018 (Washington, DC USA). 
The 4th International Symposium will bring together experts from around the world to better understand climate impacts on ocean ecosystems - and how to respond. The event is hosted by a variety of groups including International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
 
POLAR 2018, June 15-27, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland). POLAR2018 is a joint event from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The SCAR meetings, the ASSW and the Open Science Conference will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL under the patronage of the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is organizing POLAR2018.
 
** New this week ** 17th International Congress of Circumpolar Health (ICCH17), August 12-15, 2018 (Copenhagen, Denmark). The ICCH congresses are held every third year in different locations in the circumpolar area and represent the largest scientific meetings worldwide on circumpolar health. The ICCH congresses serve as the primary source of information exchange and scholarly communication in issues relating to circumpolar health. More than 750 participants generally register and participate in each Congress, and more than 400 scientific papers or posters are usually presented.

Arctic Biodiversity Congress, October 9-11, 2018 (Rovaniemi, Finland). The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress is hosted by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, and the Ministry of the Environment, Finland. The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress will build on the success of the first Congress, held in 2014 in Trondheim, Norway, and will bring together scientists, policymakers government officials, Indigenous representatives, Traditional Knowledge holders, industry, non-governmental organizations, and others to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity. 

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