Arctic Update Header
April 23, 2019

Today, no Arctic-science events are scheduled.
Media

A Climate Change Solution Slowly Gains Grounds. At the end of a cul-de-sac called Fresh Way, two bright green structures the size of shipping containers gleam in the warm sunlight, quietly sucking from the air the carbon dioxide that is warming the planet. One structure houses computer monitors and controls. Atop the other, large fans draw air through slabs made of honeycomb-style ceramic cubes. The Washington Post  
 
Coast Guard Seal US Coast Guard Releases Arctic Strategic Outlook. The U.S. Coast Guard has released its newest strategy to address its expanding role in polar regions. Since the release of the Coast Guard Arctic Strategy in 2013, the resurgence of nation-state competition has coincided with dramatic changes in the physical environment of the Arctic. America's two nearest-peer powers, Russia and China, have both declared the region a national priority and made corresponding investments in capability to expand their influence in the region. "Russia and China's persistent challenges to the rules-based international order around the globe cause concern of similar infringement to the continued peaceful stability of the Arctic region," states the Outlook. Maritime Executive
 
A Warming Arctic Could Cost the World Trillions of Dollars. Scientists have long warned that climate change is likely to bring expensive impacts, from rising seas to stronger storms. And a new study comes with a hefty price tag. A warming Arctic is shifting from white to dark as sea ice melts and land-covered snow retreats, and that means it can absorb even more of the sun's heat. Plus, the Arctic's vast permafrost area is thawing, releasing more heat-trapping carbon and methane. National Geographic
 
St. Petersburg State University Pseudohermaphrodite Snails to Help Assess Pollution in Arctic Seas. St. Petersburg State University researcher Ivan Nekhayev discovered that snails found near Wrangel Island and in Chukotka can show signs of pseudohermaphroditism, according to the university's press service. He believes the mutation is linked to the concentration of organotin compounds in the water where the snails live. The press service added that several mollusk species are hermaphrodites (they have both male and female sex organs), while other species seldom change sex.  The Arctic  
 
Faculty Research Fellow Catherine West Presents on Arctic Food Adaptation at SAA Annual Meeting. Catherine West, a Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology and a Faculty Research Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, recently presented a paper titled "Human Behavioral Ecology and the Complexities of Arctic Foodways" at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The paper, which is co-authored by Prof. Ben Fitzhugh (University of Washington), addresses how past and present people adapt to environmental conditions in the Arctic and Subarctic through their eating habits and culinary practices. BU Today
 
[Russia] Senators to Request Walrus Catch Quotas for Chukotka Residents. The Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management will ask the Federal Agency for Fishery to speed up the setting of Pacific walrus catch quotas for Chukotka residents, reports REGNUM. Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko gave such instructions to the committee following a speech by Senator Anna Otke. According to Otke, the catch volumes for the Pacific walrus are not specified in the 2019 order of the Russian Fishery Agency. The Arctic
Future Events

NSF Program Manager Chats: Arctic System Science and Social Sciences-IARPC Public Webinar Series   Wednesday April 24, 2019 (Webinar). To clarify opportunities for funding and to provide a chance to answer questions and receive feedback from the research community, two NSF Program Officers - Colleen Strawhacker and Roberto Delgado - will lead two back-to-back webinars on the Arctic Social Science and Arctic System Science programs at NSF. 

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  energy@kawerak.org  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)
Commissioners Mayer, Ulmer, and Greene

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 will be provided soon 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.

Intersection of Arctic Science and Policy, May 14, 2019 (webinar). Join this discussion with Dr. Brendan Kelly, Executive Director of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change ( SEARCH). He will present a short history of Arctic research policy followed by observations on the science needed to support policy. Input from others on the call is encouraged. Open to all. This discussion is lead up to the  Arctic Futures 2050 conference (September 4-6, 2019 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.).  Registration for the conference is now open. Register for the webinar at:  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/983d26c5e1a37a2f4ac87b605f06faf5. For more information, contact Andrea Fisher,  afisher13@alaska.edu

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.
 
18th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering / 8th Canadian Permafrost Conference, August 18-22, 2019 (Quebec, Canada). Sustainable infrastructure development and permafrost science, in a climate change context, will be the focus of the discussions of this international conference.

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. 

Arctic Futures 2050: Science and Policy for a Changing Arctic, September 4-6, 2019 (Washington, DC USA).  In 2019, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change  (SEARCH) and partners will convene Arctic scientists and decision makers to jointly forecast  Arctic research needed to inform policy in the coming decades. The conference also is intended to foster more effective and iterative collaborations among Arctic scientists and decision makers.

EU Arctic Forum, October 3-4, 2019 ( UmeƄ, 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.

Understanding and Responding to Global Health Security Risks from Microbial Threats in the Arctic , November 6-7, 2019 (Hanover, Germany). The workshop will be planned as a collaboration between the U.S. National Academies Polar Research Board, Board on Life Sciences, and the Board on Global Health as well as the InterAcademy Partnership and the European Academies Science Advisory Council. Additional information about the project and a form to submit nominations (by April 5) can be found here. Contact Lauren Everett ( leverett@nas.edu) with any questions.

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