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Media
 Contracts for April 23, 2019 (Icebreaker). VT Halter Marine Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $745,940,860 fixed-price incentive-firm contract for the detail design and construction of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Polar Security Cutter (PSC) (formerly the Heavy Polar Ice Breaker). The PSC program is a multiple year Department of Homeland Security Level 1 investment and a USCG major system acquisition to acquire up to three multi-mission PSCs to recapitalize the USCG fleet of heavy icebreakers which have exhausted their design service life. The PSC's mission will be to ensure continued access to both polar regions and support the country's economic, commercial, maritime, and national security needs.
Department of Defense
Russian Scientists Explain Difference Between Ice Thawing in Eurasian American Arctic. A group of scientists with support from experts of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) described a mechanism, which explains why in the 21st century ice in the Eurasian Arctic thaws quicker than in the American part, the university's press service said on Wednesday. "Based on results of four expeditions in the Arctic Ocean and on satellite data, a group of Russian scientists with participation of MIPT experts described the ocean's seasonal memory mechanism," the press service said.
TASS
 New Denali Weather Stations Let You Check Real-Time Conditions on North America's Tallest Peak. It's just before noon on a late April morning. Much of Southcentral Alaska grumbles beneath a crusty veneer of yet another late-season snowfall obliterating the promise of an early spring. At least it's not 15 below, with gusts up to 10 mph. That was the weather Tuesday at 14,200 feet on the frigid flanks of Denali, according to data now available with the click of a mouse from North America's tallest peak thanks to a combination of high-elevation technology and old-fashioned mountaineering skills.
Anchorage Daily News
How Some Teachers in Alaska Are Tacking the Subject of Climate Change. Parts of Alaska are warming twice as fast as the global average. But teaching about climate change can be tricky in a state with a strong oil and gas industry. Ari Shapiro, Host: Now on this Earth Day, we're going to hear from teachers in Alaska where temperatures are warming at a rate twice as fast as the global average.
National Public Radio
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Future Events
 The 6th Annual Arctic Encounter Seattle, April 25-26, 2019 (Seattle, WA, USA). The sixth annual Arctic Encounter Seattle will engage the topic of innovation in the Arctic, specifically disruptive business and investment models, energy and power, climate research, national security, new economic and trade models, and popular media and awareness movements impacting the Far North. The two-day Arctic Encounter Seattle will include an opening reception, two continental breakfasts, two keynote luncheons, a networking reception with Alaskan glacier ice cocktails, and a seated three course dinner including keynotes and live musical entertainment from the Far North. The Arctic Encounter is the largest annual Arctic policy and business conference convening in the United States, with partnerships and convening efforts worldwide. Registration is now open. Additional information is available here.
** New this week **
Wait, Wait, is the Arctic Doomed? April 28, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). What's actually happening in the Arctic? Is it as hopeless as news reports say? DC Science Comedy and taste of science DC are going to find out! Styled after the beloved NPR show, "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!", test your knowledge with a panel of the smartest Arctic scientists that D.C. has to offer! Comedian hosts
Kasha Patel and
Haywood Turnipseed will guide our guests (
Kelly Brunt,
Kimberely Miner, and
John Farrell) and audience through a minefield of news, fake news, clearly made up stories not even resembling news, and of course, limericks!
NB: paraphrased from one of the organizers...
"The concept behind this show is to reinforce the immediacy and scale of the highlighted challenge, while simultaneously using humor and conversations with scientists who are working on this issue to counter the idea that the world is ending and we're utterly helpless in the face of it. The ultimate message of this and other shows like it (at
Taste of Science
) is always hopeful and positive, and includes a call to action to the audience to stay informed and to recognize ways in which their individual choices matter."
North x North Festival, May 1-5, 2019 (Anchorage, Alaska USA).
The third annual North x North Summit & Festival celebrates connection and culture across the North. The event features five days of conversations, workshops, exhibitions, performances, presentations, music, dance, installations, food, film and experiences highlighting Northern people, landscapes and cultures.
The Summit (May 1-2), which is open to registered participants, focuses on resilience and research, with a special emphasis on gender and Indigenizing. The Festival (May 3-5) is open to the general public and features activities and conversations around climate, gender, innovation, food, indigenizing and earthquakes.
2019 Bering Strait Regional Energy Summit, May 7-9, 2019 (Nome, Alaska USA).
This event is hosted by the Kawerak Energy Program. Regional residents, stakeholders and partner organizations are invited to come together to learn about energy resources. Attendees will share experiences with energy in their communities, gain knowledge about new energy technologies and funding sources, and help to develop creative ideas for decreasing the cost of energy in the Bering Strait Region by developing efficient, affordable, and sustainable energy projects. For more information or to receive a registration form by fax, please send an email to
[email protected]
or call
(907) 443-4253
. To receive travel funding, all registration forms must be received by April 19, 2019.
Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium, May 7-10, 2019 (Anchorage, Alaska USA). This symposium provides a forum to discuss ways to facilitate effective cooperative research, a platform for scientific talks on the application and results of cooperative research, and opportunity to evaluate how such research might be best envisioned, applied and implemented. The symposium involves participants from a variety of relevant marine industries, address these issues through facilitated discussion, identify best practices, and articulate a set of case studies for effective collaboration. The symposium also includes scientists from a wide range of sectors, including state and federal agencies, universities, research institutes and industry science. This event is sponsored by Alaska Sea Grant College Program.
US Arctic Research Commission meeting, May 8, 2019 (Anchorage, Alaska USA)
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Commissioners Mayer, Ulmer, and Greene
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The 111th meeting of the USARC will be held in the Captain Cook's Endeavor Room from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The commission will debut its new, biennial "Report on the Goals and Objectives for Arctic Research 2019-2020 for the US Arctic Research Program Plan" and will hear presentations on Arctic research
from invited speakers. Additionally, Chair of the US Arctic Research Commission Fran Ulmer will provide a public presentation on the Commission's goals report. A detailed agenda is available at this link.
Arctic and Boreal Carbon: Key Findings from the State of the Carbon Cycle Report, May 14, 2019 (Silver Spring, Maryland USA or via webinar). This is seminar 10 in the Series: From Science to Solutions: The State of the Carbon Cycle, the 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2). The speaker is Dr. Ted Schuur from the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Schuur will present on changing factors that control terrestrial carbon storage in unmanaged arctic and boreal ecosystems. Surface air temperature change is amplified in high-latitude regions, as seen in the Arctic where temperature rise is about 2.5 times faster than that for the whole Earth. Permafrost temperatures have been increasing over the last 40 years.
Understanding Northern Latitude Vegetation Greening and Browning: Proceedings of a Workshop, May 14, 2019 (Webinar). The Polar Research Board, in collaboration with the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, convened a workshop in December 2018 to discuss vegetation greening and browning in tundra and boreal ecosystems. Studies have often documented large-scale greening trends (i.e. increased plant productivity and measured "greenness") but they have also identified areas of browning (decreased productivity) or shifts between greening and browning over varying spatial extents and time periods. This public webinar that will summarize the recently released Workshop Proceedings (
downloadable here).
Synoptic Arctic Survey - International Planning and Coordination Workshop, May 15-16, 2019 (Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA). An open coordination and planning workshop will be held to continue planning the Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS). The SAS is a developing international program envisioned to mount a coordinated, multi-nation, oceanographic field based effort on a Pan Arctic scale over two summer seasons (2020-2021). The key objective is to achieve a quasi-synoptic baseline understanding of the fundamental structure and function of the linked Arctic carbon-ecosystem-physical systems that will permit detection of ongoing and future changes. More information and the international science plan is available
here. More info on participating in this workshop is available
here.
Update: Application Deadline for Early Career Travel Support Extended to April 30.
Arctic Science Summit Week, May 22-30, 2019 (Arkhangelsk, Russia). The Arctic Science Summit Week 2019 will take place in Northern (Arctic) Federal University and Northern State Medical University, Russia, Arkhangelsk. Under the auspices of International Arctic Science Committee, participants from more than 23 countries and regions will be involved.
Resilience in Rapidly Changing Arctic Systems, proposals close June 14, 2019. This joint Belmont Forum CRA calls for co-developed and co-implemented proposals from integrated teams of natural and social scientists, and stakeholders to address key areas of arctic resilience understanding and action. This collaboration of academic and non-academic knowledge systems constitutes a transdisciplinary approach that will advance not only understanding of the fundamentals of arctic resilience but also spur action, inform decision-making, and translate into solutions for resilience. The term "stakeholder" is used here in its broadest possible sense, allowing for co-development of projects with partners from, but not limited to, civil society, government, industry, NGOs, and Indigenous organizations.
Mark your calendars to attend IDA-8, which some have called one of the best Arctic gatherings around. Historically, this biennial symposium was co-hosted by U.S. National/Naval Ice Center (NIC) and the US Arctic Research Commission (USARC). In 2019, these partners will join forces with the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, and the Patuxent Defense Forum (run by the Patuxent Partnership), and St. Mary's College of Maryland as co-hosts. The now 2-day symposium will be held in the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater, in Washington, DC. The event will focus on a broad cross-section of naval and maritime operations and issues in an ice-diminishing Arctic. The symposium brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic governance, geopolitics, marine operations, infrastructure, science, and environmental observations, from the local, regional, and pan-Arctic scale. Information on prior symposia, including lists of speakers, video clips, and copies of presentations, is available here. Attendance is free, and registration is now open, here
.
The event will be webcast live, and video recorded.
2019 Sea Ice Symposium, August 18-23, 2019 (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada). IGS co-hosts a sea ice symposium every 5 years. The Centre for Earth Observation Science (University of Manitoba) is excited to be hosting the first IGS event to be held in Canada. The symposium will include oral and poster sessions, and will provide a friendly and intellectually stimulating environment to facilitate face-to-face interactions and networking. Additional activities will include an opening reception, a banquet dinner and a mid-symposium afternoon excursion.
EU Arctic Forum, October 3-4, 2019 (
Umeå, Sweden).
The European Commission, the European External Action Service, and the Government of Sweden will jointly organize a high-level EU Arctic Forum
.
The EU Arctic Forum will bring together key Arctic players and stakeholders to assess recent developments in the region and to discuss the new challenges ahead.
The EU Arctic Forum will include several keynote addresses and two high-level panel sessions on the morning of 3 October. Foreign ministers from EU member states as well as the Arctic Council will be invited to participate.
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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.
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