Arctic Update Header
September 8, 2016
 
Today's C ongressional Action:   
The Senate will consider S. 2848, the Water Resources Development Act. The House will consider a number of non-Arctic legislative provisions.
Media   

Apocalypse Tourism? Cruising the Melting Arctic Ocean. On Aug. 16, the Crystal Serenity set out from Seward, Alaska, carrying 1,700 passengers and crew, and escorted by a comparatively minuscule, 1,800-ton icebreaker. She circled west and north around the Alaska Peninsula and through the Bering Strait before heading east into the maze of straits and sounds that constitute the Northwest Passage. For centuries, explorers tried to establish a sea route here between Europe and Asia. Many met with ruin. A few stranded sailors famously ate their boots-and each other. When the Crystal Serenity emerged free and clear of the maze on Sept. 5, there were no accounts of scurvy or cannibalism, only tales of bingeing on themed buffets and grumbles from shutterbugs about the Arctic's monotonous landscape. Bloomberg
 
Medvedev Approves Plan to Implement the Arctic Development Strategy to 2020. The official website of the Russian Government announced that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved a plan to implement the Strategy for Developing the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security, which includes 80 activities in six areas. The strategy itself, which will guide Russia's activity in the Arctic until 2020, was approved by President Putin on February 20, 2013. The Arctic
 
University of Rhode Island Receives Grant for Expedition in Canadian Arctic. The University of Rhode Island has received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct an expedition into the Canadian Arctic's Northwest Passage aboard the country's newest tall ship. The university announced the award Wednesday. The university's Graduate School of Oceanography's Inner Space Center will lead the expedition, which begins next August. The university says students will work alongside ocean scientists to explore the changing Arctic. Teams will be made up of high school, undergraduate and graduate students. CTV
 
russian flag Russian Scientists Developing Drifting Station to Research Arctic Region. Scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) are developing a research station drifting with an ice floe to explore the Arctic region with a unique electromagnetic method, local media reported Wednesday. According to the edition, the technology is based on the use of circular electric dipole, allowing to detect geological anomalies, and it has already been tested to look for hydrocarbons below the surface. The publication added that the station would be used to explore the region for oil, as well as to explore the shelf plate to specify the issue of boundaries between the states there. Sputnik News

Arctic Abstractive Industry. The Arctic is a region that is being dramatically altered through climate change, even as extractive industries and the nations that rely on them frame the Arctic as an alternatively valuable or risky frontier. The essays in this Hot Spots series provide an ethnographic unmasking of some of the normative projects that today's rush for the Arctic entails. They highlight the increasing speed of change in the Arctic; the complex relationship between Arctic inhabitants and their land/seascape; and the possibility of a postdiscursive turn in which managing Arctic risk relies on the shaping of aesthetic experience. Our use of the word abstractive both evokes and departs from extractive. It gestures toward the stakes of rendering embodied knowledge explicit and redistributing calculative capacities from humans to technical systems, thereby instantiating the conditions for control over a valuable and vulnerable North. Cultural Anthropology
Legislative Action futureevents   

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

Hosted by Saint Petersburg State University, the UArctic Congress 2016 will feature Science and Meeting sections, including:
  • Acclaimed keynote speakers and scientific experts presenting research.
  • Parallel sessions on Arctic science, policy, and education topics.
  • Meetings for reps of the Council of UArctic and UArctic Rectors' Forum.
  • Pre-Meetings to foster contacts and enhance networking.
  • Opportunities to promote and market your organization and activities.
  • A UArctic Student Forum with workshops.
  • A Cultural and Social program.
The 2016 UArctic Rectors' Forum and the 19th annual meeting of the Council of UArctic form an integral part of the congress. 

Conference on Water Innovations for Healthy Arctic Homes: September 18-21, 2016, Anchorage, Alaska. This circumpolar conference will bring together engineers, health experts, researchers, community members, policymakers, and innovators to discuss health benefits, challenges and innovations associated with making running water and sewer in remote northern communities safe, affordable and sustainable. Information and an expression of interest in attending can be found here. (The full link is:  http://wihah2016.com/)
 
13th International Conference on Gas in Marine Sediments: September 19-22, 2016 (Tromso, Norway).   GIMS 13  promotes the study of natural gas and release systems on a global scale and  facilitates interdisciplinary and international cooperation. The conference  intends to bring together geologists, biologists, microbiologist, geophysicists, oceanographers, geochemists and scientists from modeling disciplines. The forum will provide a platform for current knowledge and future programs in gas inventories, fluxes and their role within the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Conference is organized by CAGE - Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at UiT The  Arctic University of Norway. Abstract submission deadline is May 30th and registration deadline is June 20th. For more information:  http://gims13.uit.no
 
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, September 23-24, 2016 (Monticello, Virginia, USA). The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons.  The event will reassemble the members of the National Steering Committee and a small but diverse selection of representatives from the five regional workshops, to total about 15 people. The aim will be to identify and synthesize the core threads of the previous workshops and public contributions proffered between workshops. The target output for the workshop will be a final report draft and outline of steps leading to the final report release in June 2016. The Jefferson Institute will manage production of the publication.

Arctic Science Ministerial Side Event, September 27, 2016 (9:00-11:30 am) (Washington, DC).   ARCUS , i n collaboration with partners , is pleased to announce a side-event to the  2016 Arctic Science Ministerial meeting that will be held at the ARCUS office, 1201 New York Ave. NW, 4th floor, in Washington, D.C. 20005. In-person participation (limited space) and online streaming require registration ( here ).

The event  will be a dialogue on one of the four themes of the ministerial: "Arctic Science as a Vehicle for STEM Education and Citizen Empowerment." The event also provides an opportunity to hear from ministerial participants before the closed meetings of the ministerial begin the next day.

Two 1-hour panel discussions by an international group of Arctic leaders, including USARC Chair Fran Ulmer, will explore opportunities for advancing the use of Arctic research and education activities to inform worldwide audiences about the changes happening in the Arctic and to help empower Arctic residents most impacted by the complex dynamics shaping the region.  An introductory plenary by Mark Brzezinski, Executive Director of the U.S. Government's  Arctic Executive Steering Committee  will kick-off the conversation.

Second International Conference on Natural Resources and Integrated Development of Coastal Areas in the Arctic Zone, September 27-29, 2016 (Arkhangelsk, Russia).  The Conference is organized by FASO of Russia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Government of Arkhangelsk region, Arkhangelsk Scientific Center and International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). Conference is aimed at elaboration of research-based practical measures and instruments for realization of human, natural and transport-logistical potential of the Arctic zone, including development of the Northern Sea Route and implementation of models of integrated coastal areas management. For additional information, please email.

National Academies of Sciences..."Scientific Priorities for a Changing Arctic(panel discussion)," September 29, 4:30 to 6:30pm (Washington, DC.   The public is invited to a recap and discussion of the first-ever White House Arctic Science Ministerial taking place, in Washington, DC, on September 28. At that event, ministers of science, chief science advisors, and other senior officials from countries around the world, as well as representatives from indigenous groups, will address the collective actions and innovative collaborations 
NAS logo needed to enhance scientific understanding of the rapidly changing Arctic. This Academies' event and reception provides an opportunity to broaden the conversation to all those interested in the Arctic science and policy. Panelists will include officials from the White House, from the USARC, and others involved in the ministerial discussions.

As an exciting cultural addition to the program, producers of a new large format 3D film about Greenland will share their storytelling strategies and the process of using immersive cinema, virtual reality and the perspectives of climate scientists and usarc logo large extreme athletes to expand public understanding of the Arctic environment. Presenters will represent producing partners Giant Screen Films, Teton Gravity Research, and Golden Gate 3D.  Support for this event is provided by USARC  and the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering, and Medicine. Please register
  here


106th Commission Meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission. September 29-30, 2016 (Washington, DC USA). The U.S. Arctic Research Commission will hold its 106th meeting in Washington, DC, on September 29-30, 2016. The business sessions, open to the public, will convene at 8:30 a.m. at the U.S. Global Change Research Program, 1800 G St. NW., #9100, Conf. Rm. A, Washington, DC 20006. The focus of this meeting will include reports and updates on programs and research projects affecting Alaska and the greater Arctic.

The Alaska State Committee for Research (SCoR) is seeking nominations for inductees to our 2016 Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame. (October 1, 2016).  SCoR invites nominations for innovators demonstrating outstanding science, engineering and technology. Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame was created in 2014 to celebrate and honor outstanding individuals who put Alaska on the map as leaders in innovation and contribute to Alaska's growing culture of innovation.  Documentation is due no later than  October 1, 2016 . Please see here .

The daylong conference at the University of Southern Maine will address challenges and opportunities for Arctic science, business, shipping, security and governance. Speakers will include Sen. Angus S. King (I-Maine) and co-chair of U.S. Senate Arctic Caucus (Invited); Craig Fleener, Special Asst. on Arctic Policy, State of Alaska, Prof. Charles Norchi, Dir. Center for Oceans and Coastal Law, Univ. of Maine School of Law, Ambassador David Balton, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials and Tara Sweeney, Arctic Economic Council Chair and Executive Vice President, External Affairs, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Event sponsored by Pierce Atwood LLP and Univ. of Southern Maine on behalf of the Maine and Alaska Arctic Council Host Committees. 

Arctic Ambitions V: International Business Conference & Trade Show, October 4-5, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). This once-a-year event uniquely focuses on business and investment opportunities flowing from developments in the Arctic. With interest in commercial development in the Arctic growing rapidly, WTC Anchorage initiated the Arctic Ambitions conference five years ago to address issues such as innovation, investment, infrastructure development, transportation, natural resources, and trade. At the event, corporate executives and senior government officials from across the Arctic, and around the world, make presentations and participate in panel discussions. This year's conference also includes a Trade Show and B2B Matchmaking Session. For more information, please contact Greg Wolf ( greg@wtcak.org) or call 907-278-7233.

* New this week *  56th Annual Air & Waste Management Association Conference October 5-7, 2016 (Juneau, AK USA). Come join us at the Pacific Northwest International Section's (PNWIS) annual conference in Juneau and connect with many of the region's top environmental professionals. Catch up on the latest developments in arctic related regulatory policy and law, environmental science and technology, environmental modeling, and other topics over three days of parallel technical sessions. PNWIS is a catalyst for environmental leadership by providing a neutral forum for discussion, education, and networking on technical issues relating to environmental management in the U.S., Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. Exhibitor booths will be on display and you can attend a keynote speech by the Deputy Commissioner of the AK Department of Environmental Conservation, Alice Edwards.


Inuit traditions are a repository of Inuit culture and a primary expression of Inuit identity. The theme for the 2016 Inuit Studies Conference invites Elders, knowledge-bearers, researchers, artists, policy-makers, students and others to engage in conversations about the many ways in which traditions shape understanding, while registering social and cultural change. The institutional hosts of "Inuit Traditions," Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Nunatsiavut Government, invite you to contribute to an exchange of knowledge to be held in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, October 7-10, 2016. Presentations on all aspects of Inuit studies will be welcome.

** New this week **  Arctic Circle Assembly. October 7-9, 2016 (Reykjavík, Iceland).  The Arctic Circle is the largest network of international dialogue and cooperation on the future of the Arctic. It is an open democratic platform with participation from governments, organizations, corporations, universities, think tanks, environmental associations, indigenous communities, concerned citizens, and others interested in the development of the Arctic and its consequences for the future of the globe. It is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization. In addition to the annual Assemblies, the Arctic Circle organizes Forums on specific areas of Arctic cooperation. 

Arctic Technology Conference, October 24-26, 2016 (St. John's, Canada).  Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is the world's foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. The Arctic Technology Conference (ATC) is built upon OTC's successful multidisciplinary approach, with 14 technical societies and organizations working together to deliver the world's most comprehensive Arctic event.

Converging Interests: Maritime & Arctic Security & Safety Conference (MASS16), October 27-28, 2016 (Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada). MASS16 will once again focus on the challenges associated with both northern and maritime environments. The aim of the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador supported international conference is to promote stakeholder collaboration, technological innovation, harsh environment research & development, and world-class education efforts that are contributing to various components of northern development. 
 
The 5th Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) project School and Meeting, November 1-4, 2016 (Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA).The major goals of the meeting are to discuss results of ongoing FAMOS activities, and to plan 2016-2017 coordinated modeling and observing projects, with a special focus on high and very high spatiotemporal resolution processes. You can register here.

** New this week**  Annual Scientific Meeting 2016, December 5-9, 2016 (Winnipeg, MP Canada). ArcticNet   will host its 12th Annual Scientific Meeting.  The ASM2016 will welcome researchers, students, Inuit, Northerners, policy makers and stakeholders to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. As the largest annual Arctic research gathering held in Canada, ArcticNet's ASM is the ideal venue to showcase results from all fields of Arctic research, stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among those with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples.

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.

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