Arctic Update Header
April 25, 2018

MagellanPlus Workshop: Temporal Evolution of Arctic Gas Hydrate and Methane Seepage System, Registration due April 25, 2018 (Tromso, Norway). The workshop aims to bring together a team of scientists from wide-ranging disciplines to develop a comprehensive IODP proposal to quantify the links between large scale geological processes and methane seepage systems in the Fram Strait, the Atlantic-Arctic gateway. The Fram Strait is the only deep-water passage between the Arctic Ocean and the subpolar oceans that has a key role in modulating and recording present and past changes in oceanographic and climate conditions.

International Tundra Experiment 19th Open Science Meeting, April 25-27, 2018 (Stirling, Scotland United Kingdom). Organizers invite registration for the International Tundra Experiment's (ITEX) 19th Open Science Meeting. The main scientific themes of the meeting will include: rates of change and whole-ecosystem processes; plant functional traits/ "functional diversity change;" tundra data synthesis (e.g. including up-scaling); microbial ecology (including plant-soil interactions); ITEX protocol development; and, submitted abstracts.

2018 North by North Festival, April 23-29, 2018 (Anchorage, Alaska USA). The North by North Festival captures the spirit of Alaska and the Arctic - to address our challenges and opportunities with Northern innovation and resilience, to build on a rich history and to ensure a future full of promise. The Festival is for the North, and organized by Northerners, with goals of sustainability, livability and growth. The Festival brings innovators from across Alaska, the nation and other Arctic regions to collaborate and address local and circumpolar challenges. Through knowledge, governance, business, design, film, music, food, literature and art, we celebrate the North.
Media
 
Inuit Worry About Toxic Splash From Rocket Debris in Canada's Arctic Waters. Inuit and politicians in Nunavut are raising concerns that debris from a European rocket being launched today could contain toxic fuel when the space junk falls back to Earth in the High Arctic. It's the 15th launch of its kind over the past decade potentially affecting Baffin Bay, according to one Canadian researcher tracking the mission. CBC News
 
Arctic UAV Adopts Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS Airspace Awareness Application to Provide BVLOS Situational Awareness for Long-Range Arctic Drone Flights. Kongsberg Geospatial, an Ottawa-based geospatial visualisation software company, and Arctic UAV, the leading services provider of UAS in the Canadian Arctic, announced today that the Kongsberg Geospatial IRIS UAS situational awareness application has been adopted by Arctic UAV to enhance their BVLOS operations. Arctic UAV are experts in Arctic logistics for drone operations and deliver large-scale projects using professional certified UAV operators. The company's pilots areTransport Canada licensed and insured, and operate in harsh conditions using a variety of platforms ranging from small fixed-wing and quad-copter drones to large gas-powered rotary wing aircraft. PR Web
 
Watch 15 Years of Arctic Change Captured in Just a Few Minutes. It's hard to imagine the change that the Arctic has experienced in the past few decades. Shrinking sea ice, increased shipping volume, melting permafrost and decimation of habitat have all been well-documented but can also be unfathomable. This video, compiled using thousands of images from NASA satellites, attempts to illustrate the shift. In 2017, the Arctic had the lowest wintertime sea ice extent on record, which goes back to 1979. Sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere reaches its maximum extent in early March after a winter's-worth of darkness and cold air. In 1979, sea ice covered about 6.4 million square miles. The Washington Post
 
Offshore Lease Schedule for Beaufort Draws Flak. Democrats in Congress are sounding the alarm about the Interior Department's efforts to hold an offshore oil lease sale in the Beaufort Sea next year. Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Jared Huffman of California, wrote a letter to Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke Tuesday, urging the department to cease plans to schedule leases in the Beaufort in 2019. Alaska Public Radio
Future Events

2018 Anchorage Arctic Research Day, April 26, 2018 (Anchorage, Alaska USA). This event is held in conjunction with the 2018 North by North Festival. It is organized by the Arctic Research Consortium of the US, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Anchorage Museum, and the Institute of the North. This gathering will include participants from government, corporate, academic, not-for-profit, and Indigenous groups, and will feature oral panel discussions by leading researchers across the natural and social sciences, health, engineering, humanities, the arts, and governance. The day will also feature both formal and informal activities to encourage networking and robust roundtable discussions to encourage collaborations across the boundaries of discipline, organization, and sector.
 
Council on Earth Cryology, May 15-16, 2018 (Moscow, Russian Federation).  Scientific council on Earth cryology of Russian Academy of Sciences  together with Department of Geocryology of Faculty of Geology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute of the Earth Cryosphere, the Tyumen Scientific Senter, Melnikov Permafrost Institute (Yakutsk) of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science holds on May 15 - 16, 2018 an enlarged meeting with participation of the Russian and foreign scientists, engineers and experts:  "Current problems of geocryology." The meeting of Scientific council on Earth Cryology of RAS has the status of the International meeting. The publication of materials in the collection of reports is planned. Submissions ( Submission Form ), offers on cooperation, support of a conference and papers ( Sample of Paper ) to e-mail:  cryoconf18@gmail.com

Alaska National Lab Day, May 30-31, 2018 (Fairbanks, Alaska USA). Research scientists and lab directors from the 17 US Department of Energy national laboratories will co-lead conversations about cutting-edge research important to Alaska and the world. Discussions will focus on the following themes:
-       Addressing the energy field of the future;
-       Defense energy systems in the North;
-       Natural hazards and aerospace/defense;
-       Empowering Alaska's entrepreneurs;
-       Navigating the changing Arctic; and,
-       Developing local and global energy solutions.
 
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), N. Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
  
International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) VIII, June 11-14, 2018 (Stockholm, Sweden).
The international Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) is a forum for earth scientists who study the Arctic. It was founded to help understand the little known Arctic geology and to foster cooperation and collaboration among Arctic researchers. There have been 7 meetings since its  inception in 1991. See here  for more information.
 
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.

5th European Conference on Permafrost, June 23-July 1, 2018 (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, France). In the continuation of the International and Regional conferences convened by the International Permafrost Association, the 5th European Conference on Permafrost (EUCOP 2018) will be held in Chamonix-Mont Blanc, France, 23rd June - 1st July 2018. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level. Conference website: here.

Arctic Observing Summit 2018, June 24-26, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland). The Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) is a high-level biennial summit that provides a platform to address urgent and broadly recognized needs of Arctic observing across all components of the Arctic system. AOS 2018 will be held in Davos, Switzerland ( June 24-26) and will focus on pressing issues in the implementation and support of sustained observations that can be addressed through a business-case lens. To that end, short submissions are requested that address any and all aspects of the overarching theme and sub-themes. Additional information can be found here.
 
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.

UArctic Congress 2018, September 3-7, 2018 (Oulu and Helsinki, Finland).
The UArctic Congress 2018 will bring together key UArctic meetings and a science conference into one single gathering, including business meetings of the Council of UArctic, Rectors' Forum, Student Forum, and Thematic Networks & UArctic Institutes Leadership Team. The Congress is an integral part of the Finland's Arctic Council chairmanship program, and open to the public. The event will highlight the themes and priorities of the Finnish chairmanship, including the goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

15th International Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium, September 10-14, 2018 (Potsdam, Germany). This symposium focuses specifically on remote sensing applications in polar environments, both Arctic and Antarctic. The theme of this year's symposium is, "Polar Regions in Transformation - Climatic Change and Anthropogenic Pressures." 

** New this week ** Scientific Exploration of the Arctic and North Pacific (SEA-NorP), September 25-27, 2018 (Mt. Hood, Oregon USA). This workshop will include discussion of hypotheses that can be tested by scientific drilling in the region, the technology necessary to achieve those goals, ideal sites for drilling based on existing data, and where additional site survey data is needed. The goal of the workshop organizers is that multiple proposals will be initiated at the workshop, both for full cruise legs and for shorter, targeted expeditions around the following themes: ocean gateways, geohazards, volatile cycling, ice histories at transition zones, biosphere and climate.

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. 

2018 Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) Project Annual School and Meeting, October 23-26, 2018 (Bergen, Norway) Major goals of this meeting are to coordinate FAMOS activities, report accomplishments, exchange ideas and hypotheses, enhance international arctic studies collaboration and discuss plans for continuing FAMOS work beyond 2019. Meeting registration form is available at project websites: here and here. For questions and details contact A. Proshutinsky, Mike Steele, and Amelie Bouchat.

USARC header

Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter jmml_blue5_btn.gif

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA 
(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
info@arctic.gov
 
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.