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September 30, 2019
 
No Arctic-science events are scheduled for today.

Say goodbye to USG Fiscal Year 2019.
Media

China's Research Vessel Returns to Qingdao After Completing Arctic Expedition. China's oceanographic research vessel, Xiangyanghong 01, has returned to Qingdao, a coastal city in the eastern province of Shandong, after completing the country's 10th Arctic research expedition, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. Carrying a team of scientists, the vessel spent 49 days at sea and sailed more than 10,300 nautical miles, reaching 76.02 degrees north latitude. It is the first time that the vessel has conducted research in Arctic waters. Global Times 

Edmonton Researchers Make Arctic Expedition in Search of Endangered Species. The chair of NAIT's Biological Sciences Technology program, Dave Critchley, is sharing his story of a journey many wouldn't dare take: an expedition to Canada's northern-most Arctic island in search of a rare species, that could 'very well' be extinct. Risking their lives in temperatures below -40 C, the group travelled over 3000 kilometers in May of this year to get to Ellesmere Island. Global News
 
'We Know They Aren't Feeding': Fears for Polar Bears Over Shrinking Arctic Ice. The loss of  Arctic ice from glaciers, polar land and sea is declining faster than many scientists expected, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) report on oceans and the cryosphere said this week. That's bad news for polar bear populations, a top expert involved in field studies on the endangered animals has told the Guardian. This year's annual minimum of the Arctic sea ice tied with the second-lowest extent on record, a mere 1.6m sq miles, and badly affected polar bear populations that live and hunt on the north slope of Alaska, plus those that live on the ice floes in the Bering Sea. The Guardian
 
As Arctic Ice Melts, Will the Navy Return to Adak? Amid the wind, waves, and rain, a strange ship roared through Kuluk Bay toward the shores of Adak. It looked out of place, speeding past misty green mountains of the western Aleutian Island, a cross between a speedboat and an industrial fishing barge. With alarming speed, it lurched from the shore onto the beach, kicking up dark swirls of sand and sea spray. Its cargo trickled down of a ramp: Humvees, U.S. Marines, a compact green bulldozer. Everything you would need in an invasion. KUCB
Future Events
       
** 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.

** New this week ** Narwhal: A Tusk with a Twist, October 28, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). After over a dozen years chasing the elusive and mysterious Narwhal in its Arctic habitat, conducting laboratory analysis, and applying a traditional study of Inuit and Greenlandic culture, Martin Nweeia, a dentist in Connecticut and lecturer at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and assistant professor at Case School of Dental Medicine, solved one of science's greatest riddles: the function of the narwhal's unicorn-like tusk. Join the National Museum of Natural History as Nweeia reveals his findings and what we can learn about the evolutionary history of the narwhal and its tooth, and asks us to consider adaptation of northern regions, animals, and peoples in a rapidly warming Arctic.
 
** New this week **  Greenland Science Week, December 1-5, 2019 (Nuuk, Greenland). Greenland Science Week builds bridges between science and the Greenlandic society, business community and government, and creates a networking and cooperation platform for the Greenlandic and international science community around research in the Arctic.

** New this week **  1st Southern Hemisphere Conference on Permafrost: Permafrost at Altitude and Latitude, December 4-14, 2019 (Queenstown, New Zealand). This conference will operate in a new format, with three-day field excursions offered before and after the conference session days. This will allow participants to make a roundtrip from Christchurch to Queenstown, with visits to glaciers and glacial lakes, the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area and Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, cultural points of interest, and scenic spots to discuss glacial and periglacial landscape development. 

** Updated link **   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.

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