The 14th Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region will be a digital conference. Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament, will host the conference together with the Standing Committee (SCPAR). The first Parliamentary Conference concerning Arctic cooperation was held in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1993. One of the main priorities of the Standing Committee was originally to support the establishment of the Arctic Council.

The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee for a webinar and discussion to learn more about the U.S. Arctic Observing Network (US AON). The US AON brings federal agencies, academic researchers, and community partners to better coordinate U.S. observing system efforts. This webinar will include information about the US AON's work, recent accomplishments, and how to get involved.

Free, three-day virtual conference focused on sustainable energy and energy efficiency research featuring guest speakers and panelists from Alaska and around the world. Sponsored by the US Arctic Research Commission with cosponsorship by the Cold Climate Housing Research Center, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power.

They are diligently stoking thousands of bonfires on the ground close to their crops, but the French winemakers are fighting a losing battle. An above-average warm spell at the end of March has been followed by days of extreme frost, destroying the vines with losses amounting to 90 percent above average. The image of the struggle may well be the most depressingly beautiful illustration of the complexities and unpredictability of global climate warming. It is also an agricultural disaster from Bordeaux to Champagne.

Russian-Finnish cooperation in the Arctic, the situation in Ukraine and other issues of the international agenda were in focus of a telephone conversation between Russian and Finnish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Sauli Niinisto, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday. "The leaders exchanged views on a number of issues of the international and regional agenda," it said. "The presidents expressed mutual commitment to further productive cooperation in the North in the context of Russia’s presidency in the Arctic Council in 2021-2023."

Nunavut’s Qikiqtaaluk communities are still concerned about the impact on marine wildlife if production ramps up at the Mary River Mine. The issue was brought up Monday in Iqaluit during the first day of the final public hearings into Baffinland’s Phase 2 expansion proposal. Baffinland is requesting to double its shipping of iron ore from its Milne Inlet port to 12 million tons a year, which would see 176 ships sail through waters near Pond Inlet, Nunavut, a summer home to one of the world’s largest narwhal populations.

As early morning fog lifts off the Baja California coastline, Alushe Camacho steers a small fishing boat through a mangrove-lined estuary, his eyes fixed on the horizon. During most of the year, Camacho hunts grouper, sole, and hammerhead sharks. Today he’s in search of gray whales. After several minutes Camacho spies his target: a heart-shaped cloud of ocean spray erupting from the water. Suddenly an adult whale thrusts its tapered head straight through the surface, pausing for five long seconds before disappearing under the waves.

During a windshield tour of Naval Air Station Pensacola on April 8 in Florida, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks saw firsthand the damage caused by last year's Hurricane Sally to the home of the Navy's Blue Angels. Around the installation, wind had damaged the roofs of historical homes, making some uninhabitable. Trees were felled, windows were broken, and there was flooding and power outages base-wide.

Based in Anchorage, Alaska and reporting to the Managing Director, the US Arctic Marine Biologist provides leadership, strategic direction, coordination and technical support for the US-Arctic’s species work in Alaska. He/she also coordinates with members of the WWF Global Arctic program, other WWF Arctic country offices, and the WWF-US wildlife team. WWF-US is looking for an experienced conservation strategist with sound technical knowledge and proven experience with species conservation in the Arctic.

The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) has released a draft of the Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026 for public review in the Federal Register. The comment period will close on June 11, 2021. The draft plan addresses the most pressing Arctic research needs that require a collaborative approach and that can advance understanding of the Arctic, inform policy and planning decisions, and promote the well-being of Arctic and global communities. Download the plan and learn how to comment at iarpccollaborations.org/draft-plan.html

IARPC has released a draft of the next five-year Arctic Research Plan, which will span from 2022-2026. To provide additional information about the draft plan contents and how the public can comment, IARPC is holding a series of one-hour informational sessions focused on different areas of the plan. A webinar on April 19, 10am AKT / 2pm ET, will focus on Priority Area 2: Arctic Systems Interactions.

This event is hosted by the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. This workshop will be an assessment of the future maritime transportation system of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort sea regions.

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.

DHS S&T's Centers of Excellence (COE) Summit is set and focused on Homeland Security Challenges: Evolving Threats & Dynamic Solutions. This event is a special opportunity for COE researchers to connect and network with DHS components, federal, state, and local stakeholders, as well as industry partners to present current and emerging solutions to threats and challenges faced by DHS. Attendees can visit the Innovation Showcase, where COE and vendor partners showcase research breakthroughs, new products and tools to assist operational decision-makers and dynamic solutions to secure our Homeland.

ADAC will conduct the Center's Program Year 7 Annual meeting to focus on U.S. Coast Guard Project Champions, key stakeholders and the community of Arctic science and technology researchers. Included in the Program Year 7 Annual meeting are planned guest speakers from HQ U.S. Coast Guard, DHS S&T and senior Arctic Research leadership in Washington D.C.

For the first time, a Regional Conference on Permafrost will be combined with the bi-annual 19th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering. This conference is hosted by the US Permafrost Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the International Permafrost Association, the Permafrost Young Researchers Network, and the University of Colorado Boulder. A complete list of planned sessions is available here.

Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2022. 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.