Arctic Update Header
October 2, 2019
 
No Arctic-science events are scheduled for today.
Media

URI Oceanographers to Join Largest Arctic Scientific Expedition. Few regions on Earth have warmed as much as the Arctic over recent decades, but because of its near inaccessibility in winter, scientists lack year-round observations from the area. To gain new insights from this epicenter of global warming, four University of Rhode Island scientists from the Graduate School of Oceanography will soon join the largest Arctic science expedition in history. It's called the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate. The $150 million expedition will have 600 participants from 19 countries. At the center of the expedition is the research icebreaker Polarstern. The Westerly Sun
 
Winter Storms are Speeding up the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice. Arctic sea ice is already disappearing rapidly but our research shows winter storms are now further accelerating sea ice loss. The research is based on data we gathered during an expedition on a small Norwegian research vessel, the Lance, that was left to drift in the Arctic sea ice for five months in 2015. The Conversation
 
UActic logo Alaska Pacific University Joins the University of the Arctic. Alaska Pacific University (APU) has been accepted as a member of the University of the Arctic (UArctic), the international network of research and educational organizations concerned with issues affecting the Circumpolar North. The membership approval came during the UArctic Council meeting held in Stockholm, Sweden, Sept. 18-20. More than 130 participants attended, representing member institutions in 14 countries, many located in the North. "Alaska Pacific University's membership in the UArctic is a great opportunity to forge stronger academic and research collaborations to help address critical issues Alaska shares with other Arctic communities and countries," said Dr. Robert Onders, president of APU.  Anchorage Press
Future Events
       
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: [email protected]with courtesy email to:   
jtroe2@alaska.edu and [email protected]
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.

USARC header

Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter jmml_blue5_btn.gif

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA 
(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
[email protected]
 
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.