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 Today's Congressional Action:
The House is in session. The Senate is expected to consider a budget resolution which will set the groundwork for considering future federal appropriations. One of the amendments expected to be considered today is a Murkowski amendment to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to the construction of Arctic polar icebreakers.
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Media
Birding and Conservation Groups Call on Canada, US to Preserve Boreal Forest. Birding and conservation groups launched a campaign last week calling on the Canadian and U.S. governments to preserve at least half of the boreal forest. "The importance of boreal forest habitat for birds will only increase in the future; climate change has already begun pushing bird ranges further north, making the boreal forest an important refuge -- a 'Noah's Ark' for birds," Jeff Wells, senior scientist for the Boreal Songbird Initiative and International Boreal Conservation Campaign, said in a news release. Alaska Dispatch News
Russia's Arctic Push. Russia has been ramping up its military presence in the Arctic, reopening abandoned Soviet-era bases, boosting its troop presence, building new facilities, and refurbishing infrastructure and air fields across a region that stretches from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland to the seas off Alaska. The push reflects a new emphasis under President Vladimir Putin on the Arctic as a region of strategic importance that is also rich in oil and gas reserves. The push comes as melting sea ice opens up those Arctic energy resources, prompting a scramble by Russia and other Arctic nations -- Denmark, Canada, the United States, and Norway - to stake competing territorial claims. Radio Free Europe
The Belmont Forum Announces Collaborative Research Awards for the Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability International Opportunity. Planning for a resilient future in the rapidly changing Arctic requires a co-developed process that is informed by many disciplines and types of knowledge, understanding of the interrelated systems, scalable solutions, and community-relevant decision-making tools. The Belmont Forum Arctic Call brought together funders from both Arctic and Arctic-interested nations to leverage existing investments and spur new multi-national partnerships to advance and innovate sustainability science theory and approaches. Efforts supported by this international call will unite the expertise of natural science, social science, and stakeholders to build collaborative teams, synthesize available information, and develop research capacity to address one or more key themes in resilience in the Arctic: the interactions of the natural and living environment; the built environment and infrastructures; natural resource management and development; and governance. Belmont Forum
[Canadian] NDP Calls for Ban on Microbeads, Also Found in Arctic. Days after calling for an emergency debate on climate change and the Arctic in the House of Commons, the New Democratic Party's environment critic, Megan Leslie, made a motion March 24 for a ban on microbeads, which have been found in the Great Lakes. If you live in Canada's Arctic or anywhere in the circumpolar world, you might ask: so what does this motion have to do with us? There's actually a direct link to the Arctic: these plastic microbeads, first patented for use in cleansers in 1972, are now ending up in Arctic sea ice, where they act like magnets and attract other contaminants. Nunatsiaq Online
 More Than Half of Bering Strait Women Report Experiencing Violence in Their Lifetime. A recent study reveals that 51 percent of women in the Nome Census area have experienced intimate partner violence, sexual violence - or both - during their lifetimes. Andre Rosay leads the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center team that conducted the study, which was supported by Kawerak Wellness and the Bering Sea Women's Group. Rosay says the study is the first of it's kind in the Bering Strait region - going beyond Nome to include 15 neighboring communities. Alaska Public Radio
Whitehorse Gardening Conference Aims For Return of Local Agriculture. Gardeners from small northern communities are in Whitehorse talking about growing food and increasing food security. Delegates from communities in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and northern British Columbia say that Canada's North needs a new food system - one that is less centralized and less dependent on shipping. The "Bringing Growers and Gardeners Together" conference is organized by the Arctic Institute of Community-Based Research in Whitehorse. CBC News
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| Legislative Action No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday. |
| Future Events Arctic Policy at PCAST, March 27, 2015, Washington, DC (National Academy of Sciences 2101 Constitution Ave., NW). USARC's Fran Ulmer, and others will speak on Arctic policy to President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Other speakers include Beth Kerttula, Director of the National Ocean Council, Brendan Kelly, Director, Conservation Research and Chief Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Mayor Reggie Joule, NWAB, Alaska. Online registration to attend in person is here. Live webcast begins 9:00 am EST. Arctic presentations begin at 10:50 am.
Coast and Ocean Film Festival, March 28, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA) In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, the Alaska Ocean Observing System and Alaska Geographic are co-hosting a Coast & Ocean Film Festival at the Bear Tooth on Saturday, March 28th! The festival will showcase fantastic short films that highlight an array of ocean-related topics. This event promotes ocean conservation, raises awareness about issues facing marine habitats, and celebrates Alaska's unique coast and ocean environments!
is held in collaboration with the Swedish
Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS) and the Swedish Research Council (Formas and VR). The US delegation will be led by Drs. Patricia Matrai (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences) and Peter Minnett (RSMAS, U. Miami), as workshop co-organizers with Dr. Caroline Leck (Stockholm U.). This workshop will bring together those with research and operational/ logistical interests in the Arctic and will discuss a baseline for establishing a new, longer-term collaborative relationship among U.S. and Swedish scientists for Oden-based research in the Arctic Ocean.
Reforming Offshore Energy Leasing in the US Arctic, April 1, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). Join Resources for the Future (RFF) and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment for an RFF First Wednesday Seminar, where leading experts will examine offshore oil and gas leasing reform in the US Arctic. Panelists will explore how these new regulations and strategies meet the need for integrated Arctic management and what work remains to be done to design a regulatory approach that appropriately balances resource development, environmental protection, and community livelihoods. The conversation will cover recommendations put forth in the National Petroleum Council's Arctic study (to be released at the end of March) and lessons for the Arctic from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.
Leadership, Diplomacy and Science: Resolving the Arctic Paradox" April 13-14, 2015, (Medford, MA, USA). The 4th annual Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy International Inquiry on the Warming Arctic will convene high-level decision makers from diplomatic and security circles, cutting-edge energy and science researchers, and social, environmental and business stakeholders to investigate solutions to the Arctic Paradox and promote a sustainable future for Arctic inhabitants within a "High North, Low Tension" policy framework. Special appearance: the North American debut of the Arctic Circle Assembly's panel "Rising Stars: Young Arctic Energy Researchers". For more information: [email protected]
Arctic States Symposium, April 17-19, 2015 (Charlottesville, VA, USA).
ARCTIC STATES, a three-day symposium at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, brings together an international consortium of leading designers and colleagues from allied disciplines to posit the role of design in the rapidly transforming region, and generate critical discussions by sharing recent work that will trace, critique and speculate on its past, present, and future.
Arctic Science Summit Week, April 23-30, 2015 (Toyama, Japan). The Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is the annual gathering of the international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating Arctic research. The purpose of the summit is to provide opportunities for coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all areas of Arctic science. The summit attracts scientists, students, policy makers and other professionals from all over the world.
The Polar Geography and Cryosphere, April 21-25, 2015 (Chicago, IL, USA). The Polar Geography and Cryosphere Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers will host its annual meeting in Chicago to consider: current topics in human-environment interactions; current topics in politics, resource geographies, and extractive industries; current topics in Antarctic research; advances in cryosphere research; high latitude environments in a changing climate; an mountain ice and snow.
The House of Sweden Conference, May 19-20, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). A two day conference focusing on changes, adaptations and opportunities for a changing Arctic. The conference will be divided into separate, but intertwined thematic segments - policy, science, climate change and green technologies. The conference is organized by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and is aimed at Arctic oriented policy-makers, researchers, business representatives and NGO's in the lead-up to the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
The European Union and Arctic (2015 EU-Arctic Conference), May 29, 2015 (Dundee, UK). The School of Law, University of Dundee, UK and the K. G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, University of Tromsø, Norway are pleased to announce the registration open for "The European Union and the Arctic" (2015 EU-Arctic Conference). This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from relevant disciplines such as international law, international relations, political science and marine biology, NGOs, representatives from EU institutions and international organizations to discuss the EU's potential contribution to enhance Arctic governance. A roadmap for increasing the effectiveness of the EU's action in the Arctic will be drawn at the end of the conference. 6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 14-16, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). Program in development...check back soon. To see the programs from prior symposia, click here.
2015 ESSAS Annual Science Meeting, June 15-17, 2015 (Seattle, WA, USA). This symposium, to be held at the University of Washington, is intended for interdisciplinary scholars who will be prepared to discuss their research in the sub-arctic North Atlantic, sub-arctic North Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean that bears on the issue of how changes in sea ice are likely to affect these marine ecosystems. The symposium will also consider the people who depend upon these ecosystems and how they may be able to cope with the changes in the ecosystem goods and services that are coming. These goods and services include the availability of transportation corridors, the availability of subsistence foods, and the opportunity for commercial fishing. To put the present day in a longer perspective, the symposium will include a session on the paleo-ecology of people in sub-arctic and arctic regions that were forced to adjust to changing sea-ice conditions in the past.
Polar Law Symposium (8th) will be held in Alaska (
Sept. 23-24, UAF; Sept. 25-26, UAA). It's sponsored by UAF, UAA (and ISER), UAA Justice Center, UW Law School. Abstracts due 3/15/15. This year's conference 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 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.
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