Arctic Update Header
August 27, 2015
 
capital Today's C ongressional Action:     
The House and Senate are not in session. 

Media  

Arctic Official: No 'National Imperative' for Icebreakers. Efforts to procure another polar icebreaker for the U.S. Coast Guard have foundered because there isn't a national imperative to do so, a prominent Arctic official told a panel discussing the topic on Tuesday.  Retired Coast Guard Adm. Robert Papp Jr., who serves as U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic, a U.S. State Department post, said when he joined the Coast Guard in 1970, the U.S. had eight heavy icebreaking ships. Now, the nation has one, the Polar Star, which is stationed in Seattle and ventures to the Antarctic every summer for research. Alaska Dispatch News
 
As Arctic Thaws and Pressure From Shipping and Oil Exploration Mounts, Alaskans Drift Into Huge Financial Debate. Melting summer sea ice in the Arctic is attracting new international ship traffic and resource extraction along Alaska's shores, presenting an increased possibility of life-changing economic opportunities for local communities and potentially serious environmental problems in the north. "We have a new ocean opening up on the shores of Alaska that represents an entirely new perspective on global trade and logistics at the same time the oil industry opens up trillions of dollars of resources, natural resources for development," retired Coast Guard Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo said this week at the Alaskan Arctic: A Summit on Shipping and Ports. EE News
 
Drone Exercise Tests Coast Guard's Arctic Rescue Capabilities. Somewhere among ridges of sea ice, more than 20 miles from shore in the Arctic waters off Alaska's northern coast, an orange six-person raft is floating. But instead of a person, the small vessel's passenger is a thermal dummy, designed to emit a human heat signature. In the gray sky 500 feet above, an unmanned aircraft flies a search pattern, scanning the Beaufort Sea for signs of the simulated sinking survivor. Operators of the Puma drone, working from an installation at Oliktok Point and also aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, monitor live feeds from the aircraft's camera and from its infrared sensors. Alaska Dispatch News
 
KellyBrendan New Executive Director: SEARCH. The Science Steering Committee (SSC) of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program announced today the selection of Brendan Kelly, PhD as its new Executive Director. Dr. Kelly will assume the duties of his new role on 21 September 2015. SEARCH is a U.S. program with a mission to provide a foundation of Arctic change science through collaboration with the research community, funding agencies, and other stakeholders. As SEARCH Executive Director, Dr. Kelly will work with the SEARCH SSC to provide leadership and strategic direction to the SEARCH program and to forge strong cooperative relationships between academia, agencies, and stakeholders. SEARCH: Study of Environmental Arctic Change  

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

 

Future Events
 
 
The Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER), August 30-31, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The U.S. Department of State will host a major, invitation only, event to focus the world's attention on climate change and other issues facing the Arctic today and provide an unprecedented opportunity for foreign ministers and key stakeholders to define the region's most crucial challenges; highlight innovative ways in which these challenges can be addressed at the local, national and international levels; and broaden global awareness of the impacts of Arctic climate change.
 
11th Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies (CHAGS XI), September 7-11 (Vienna, Austria). The study of hunter-gatherer societies has become, since the landmark conference "Man and Hunter" in 1966, a major topic of study within the social and human sciences community. While scholarly foci have changed during the last 50 years, the principle goal generated during the initial conference, to establish a unified field of hunter-gatherer studies, is as valid today as it was then. CHAGS XI hopes to explore how research results since 1966 and new research agendas can be applied for present and future study. 

Eighth Polar Law Symposium Alaska 2015, September 23-26, 2015 (Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska , USA).  The Eighth Polar Law Symposium is co-hosted by  A laska Pacific University (APU), the University of Alaska Fairbanks , the University of Alaska Anchorage (through its Justice Center and its Institute of Social and Economic Research ), the University of Washington School of Law , and Vermont Law School , in cooperation with the  Arctic Law Section  of the  Alaska Bar Association . The symposium will be held on both campuses of the University of Alaska. The 2015 theme is:  The Science, Scholarship, and Practice of Polar Law: Strengthening Arctic Peoples and Places.

2015 Arctic Energy Summit, September 28-30, 2015 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The Institute of the North's 2015 Arctic Energy Summit builds on our legacy efforts to address energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic as a lasting frontier.Central to this concept is a focus on providing pathways for affordable energy development in the Arctic and for Arctic communities.
 
The Arctic Circle is the largest global gathering on the Arctic. It is attended by heads of state and governments, ministers, members of parliament, 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. The Arctic Circle highlights issues and concerns, programs, policies and projects; it provides platforms for dynamic dialogue and constructive cooperation. While the plenary sessions are the responsibility of the Arctic Circle, the breakout sessions are organized by various participating partners in their own name and with full authority over the agenda and the choice of speakers.
 
2015 Arctic Science Conference, October 1-3, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The conference theme is "Healthy Estuaries: Sustainability and Resilience." Conference topics include traditional scientific disciplines, science education, arctic social sciences, biomedical research, and artistic interpretation of the evolving North.  Abstract submissions are now being accepted. The deadline is August 1, 2015.
 
The Polar Oceans and Global Climate Change, November 3-6, 2015  (La Jolla, California USA).  The American Polar Society will host this Symposium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. A flyer with a partial list of presenters is available on the Society's website ( americanpolar.org ) and from the Society's Membership Chairman by email.

Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis Meeting, November 3-6, 2015 (Cape Cod, MA, USA). On November 3rd, the 2015 School for young scientists will consider "Regional Oceanography of the Arctic marginal seas" with lectures covering major features of atmospheric, sea ice and oceanographic regimes of the: Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort, East-Siberian, Laptev Sea, Kara, Barents and Nordic seas.  On November 4-6, the meeting portion will summarize project accomplishments for the last 3 years of activities and will focus on the formulation of scientific questions and directions for FAMOS future research (2016-2019) to: (a) improve Arctic modeling, employing very high resolution models; (b) develop and test new arctic monitoring/observing systems and (c) improve predictions of Arctic environmental parameters with reduced uncertainties.

Due North: Next Generation Arctic Research & Leadership, November 5-8, 2015 (Calgary, Alberta, Canada).  The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) will convene an interdisciplinary conference of early career scientists working on Arctic issues. Topics will include:  Arctic Communities, Arctic Sustainable Development, Arctic Wildlife, Ecosystem and Biodiversity, Arctic Food Security, Arctic Landscapes, Climate Change and Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, Policy, Politics and Leadership, Arctic Environment (Data and Techniques), Arctic Resources, and Future of Arctic.
 
Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting, November 17-19, 2015 (Seattle, Washington). The Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting will be 2.5 days and held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle, Washington. The conference will bring together individuals and teams involved in the collection, processing, analysis, and use of observations in the Arctic - from academia, agencies, industry, and other organizations. The meeting will be convened as a combination of plenary talks, parallel science sessions, and a poster session. The agenda and registration information will be forthcoming.
 
In the Spirit of the Rovaniemi Process 2015, November 24-26, 2015 (Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland). When the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, the so-called Rovaniemi Process, was adopted in 1991, it aimed at overcoming divisions and turning the zone of Cold War military tensions into a region of peace and co-operation. In this joint effort focusing on the protection of environment, and later, sustainable development, the Arctic states supported by indigenous organizations laid grounds for institutionalized collaboration and the emergence of Arctic regional identity. The second international conference will bring together decision-makers, scholars, artists, designers and students to address these questions and discuss the Arctic in global, regional and local perspectives.
 
Arctic Science Summit Week Arctic Observing Summit, March 12-18, 2016 (Fairbanks, AK, USA).   ASSW is the annual gathering of international organizations that support and facilitate long-term planning in Arctic research. In 2016, ASSW will be held in conjunction with AOS, which brings people together to facilitate the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long-term operation of an international network of Arctic observing systems.
  
11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016), June 20-24, 2016 (Potsdam, Germany). The Alfred Wegener Institute has teamed up with UP Transfer GmbH and the University of Potsdam to organize a great conference for you, permafrost researchers. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level.
  

USARC header

Find 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
info@arctic.gov
 
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.