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September 23, 2019
 
Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic, Sept. 23-25, 2019, (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia USA).  The University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, VA, is hosting a conference and workshop entitled "Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic" from Sept. 23-25, 2019, sponsored by the National Science Foundation Navigating the New Arctic program, with additional support from UVA's Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures, and Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation. The UVA Environmental Resilience Institute's Arctic CoLab is organizing the event, with assistance from the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS).

Media

New Study Shows Arctic Cod Development, Growth, Survival Impacted by Oil Exposure. Today, a team of U.S. and Norwegian scientists published new laboratory research findings that show how an Arctic fish species can be seriously affected by small amounts of crude oil released into surface waters. For Arctic (Polar) cod in its early stages of development, crude oil can be lethal if exposure is high enough. Some exposed Arctic cod eggs die not long after hatching due to toxicity. At lower exposure levels, others experience developmental issues affecting their survival when they become larvae and juveniles. Alaska Native News
 
McCarthy, James Solve Ocean's Troubles and Climate Change Too? The pollution, acidification, and warming plaguing the world's oceans are often seen as intractable as climate change and as important to resolve. But Jane Lubchenco, former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), offers a new perspective, saying we should look to the seas for solutions, not problems...The administrator of the NOAA during the Obama administration and now a professor at Oregon State University spoke at a Monday afternoon panel convened to honor the career of James McCarthy [US Arctic Research Commissioner], the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography who has been at Harvard for 45 years, conducting research on the oceans, and adding his voice to the environmental policy debate. The Harvard Gazette

Scientists Set Out to Drift With Arctic Ice for a Year to Study Climate Change. Just days before the German icebreaker Polarstern sets sail on the largest and most ambitious climate-change research expedition the Arctic has ever seen, an air of quiet pandemonium prevails aboard ship. Crates of scientific equipment - more than a million pounds in all - are stacked on deck and in passageways, scattered seemingly at random among spools of hose, gas cylinders, duffels filled with survival gear and even a spare blade for the ship's twin propellers. The New York Times

Arctic Sea Ice is Close to its Annual Minimum Extent - But That's Just Part of the Picture. As the autumn equinox looms and winter darkness approaches, Arctic sea ice has dwindled to what appears to be one the lowest minimums in the satellite record. "We are basically right now in a dead tie for second place," Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said on Wednesday. Ice extent-defined as the area where there is at least 15 percent ice coverage-dropped to 4.1 million square kilometres on Tuesday, matching minimums set in 2007 and in 2016, according to the Colorado-based NSIDC. Nunatsiaq Online
 
Scotland's First Arctic Policy Framework to be Presented. The Timing is Not Coincidental. The launch will take place at Orkney Islands. The new policy will highlight existing links between Scotland and the Arctic, address challenges and explore opportunities for even greater Scottish-Arctic cooperation. The timing of this Arctic focus in Scotland is not coincidental. The Brexit process in the UK has met strong opposition in Scotland. The referendum showed a strong support for "remain" in all Scottish electoral regions. High North News
 
Iceland's Arctic Fish All Set to Begin Chinese Exports. Icelandic salmon farmer Arctic Fish is all set to begin exporting salmon to China in the coming days, reports BB. The firm, which is 50% owned by Norway Royal Salmon, has been in talks with Chinese authorities, who have given it the green light to begin exports to the country, according to director of business development Sigurdur Petursson. Undercurrent News
 
russian flag Big Growth in Russian Arctic Ports. Practically all the major ports along Russia's northern coast are experiencing a significant increase in goods volumes. In Sabetta, the new port in the Yamal Peninsula, the year-on-year growth for the first 8 months of the year is as big as 100 percent. A total of 18,4 million tons of goods were handled in Sabetta in the period, figures from the Association of Russian Seaports show. Hellenic Shipping News
 
University of Southern Maine (USM) Joins University of the Arctic Cooperative. A public university in Maine is joining a group of international institutions that make up the University of the Arctic. The University of Southern Maine says it was officially accepted into the university after a presentation by its president, Glenn Cummings, on Sept. 18 at Stockholm University in Sweden. USM says membership in the University of the Arctic will afford students and researchers with "greater opportunities for exchanges and collaborations." MGME
Future Events
       
** New this week ** Great Powers, Greenland, and Geostrategic Competition in the Arctic, September 27, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). Hudson Institute will host a discussion on the geostrategic importance of the Arctic. Panelists will include Case Western Reserve University Professor Kathryn Lavelle, Wilson Center Global Fellow Stacy R. Closson, Hudson Senior Fellow Liselotte Odgaard, Greenland Representative Inuuteq Holm Olsen, and U.S. Arctic Research Commission's John Farrell. The panel will be moderated by Hudson's Asia-Pacific Security Chair, Hudson Institute, Patrick Cronin.

** New this week ** Deep Dive: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, October 1, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the leading global body on climate science. On September 25, it will release its first-ever Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. More than 100 scientists from 80 countries assessed the latest scientific knowledge about how climate change is impacting the ocean, coastal, polar, and mountain ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them. The Wilson Center will host this event to hear Ko Barrett, Vice Chair of the IPCC, present the key findings of the report. Following her remarks, speakers will explore the future of sea-level rise and its cascading impacts, and how the international policy community can meaningfully respond to the Special Report.

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.
 
ADAC Funded Solicitation Opportunity. Proposals due October 7, 2019.   The Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) announces a competitive search to address research challenges associated with multiple Arctic response capability gaps and shortfalls in science and technology discerned from a two-part workshop conducted via " Stressing the System...managing a complex Arctic Crisis Arctic-related Incidents of National Significance workshop, (Arctic-IoNS). These workshops were conducted at University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest Campus, Nome Alaska on 18-19 April 2019 and at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 20-22 May 2019.  ADAC principally seeks proposals that can smoothly transition from research to solutions and needed capability for USCG and other DHS Arctic maritime operators.  ADAC anticipates approximately three to five projects in varying funding amounts may be awarded under this solicitation. In order to facilitate suitable alignment to the research questions and associated project length as described in this RFP, ADAC respectfully recommends proposals scoped between approximately $200,000 to $350,000 U.S. dollars. 
 
Proposals  must be submitted in a single PDF (electronic format) to ADAC at the following email address: rakee@alaska.eduwith courtesy email to:   
jtroe2@alaska.edu and ematthews@alaska.edu
If application via electronic submission to email is not feasible, delivery via postal mail or commercial mail to:
 
Arctic Domain Awareness Center
University of Alaska Anchorage
BOC3 Suite 120
Anchorage, AK 99508
 
Deadline for receipt of the application (and validated by email response) is 
5 PM Alaska Daylight Time, Monday, 7 October 2019. For the full RFP and the supporting workshop reports, please visit this site:  https://arcticdomainawarenesscenter.org/Resources.html 
 
** Updated link ** 112th Meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission. October 9, 2019 (Reykjavik, Iceland) . Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Arctic Research Commission will hold its 112th meeting in Reykjavík, Iceland, on October 09, 2019. The business sessions, open to the public, will convene at 10:30 a.m. at the Radisson Blu 1919, Goðafoss meeting room, Pósthússtræti 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland. Here is a link to the draft agenda.
 
2019 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 10-13, 2019 (Reykjaví­k, Iceland). The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. It is attended by heads of states and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, officials, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, indigenous representatives, environmentalists, students, activists and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the future of the Arctic.
 
Large-scale Volcanism in the Arctic: The Role of the Mantle and Tectonics, October 13-18, 2019 (Selfoss, Iceland)The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Chapman Conference will focus on the diversity of Arctic magmatism and tectonics from the Paleozoic to present-day. The conveners are Owen Anfinson, Bernard Coakley, Carmen Gaina, and Grace Shephard. The program will focus on five themes including: Theme I: pre-breakup and rifting;Theme II: seafloor spreading;Theme III: mantle-derived heterogeneity (including plumes and large-igneous provinces);Theme IV: subduction related volcanism, and, Theme V: HALIP and environmental effects.  The website (link above) is open for abstract submission until June 19th and for meeting registration until September 9th. Funding is available for travel support, particularly for early career scientists. Travel support will be awarded on the basis of submitted abstracts and to promote diversity among attendees.
 
IX International Forum "Arctic: Today and the Future," December 5-7, 2019 (St. Petersburg, Russia). The forum will consider Arctic development issues. The forum is supported by the State Commission for the Development of the Arctic, the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Public Chamber of Russia, and various federal ministries and departments government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

ASM2019 Annual Scientific Meeting, December 2-5, 2019 (Halifax, NS Canada). Canada's North is experiencing unprecedented change in its sea and terrestrial ice, permafrost and ecosystems under the triple pressures of climate change, industrialization and modernization. The impacts of these pressures can be seen on food and energy security, shipping, sovereignty, northern community health and well-being, and sustainable development and resource exploitation. All these issues have brought the North to the forefront of national and international agendas. With a focus on networking events, this gathering of  leading Arctic researchers, graduate students, Northern community representatives, government and industry partners and stakeholders from all field s will provide all with  valuable connections where innovative ideas and initiatives  can  develop  in  support of health  and sound  governance in the Arctic.

** New this week **  Greenland Science Week, December 2-5, 2019 (Nuuk, Greenland). The Arctic research conference, Polar Research Day, will be held in Nuuk on December 4, 2019. Alongside the one-day conference, several additional science events are planned and organized, so that the conference, a public outreach day, themed workshops, seminars and networking activities will be part of Greenland Science Week. The event will include opportunities to meet and network with a broad range of researchers, business community, government employees and society in an Arctic context, and the organizers anticipate participants from all disciplines in discussions of Arctic science in relation to Greenland. Greenland Science Week is organized by Ilisimatusarfik, AAU Arctic, Sermersooq Municipality and Greenland Perspective.

American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December 9-13, 2019 (San Francisco, CA). As per usual, there will be a lot of Arctic research presented at this huge gathering. Details to follow...

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