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No Arctic-science events are scheduled for today.
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Media
 US Department of Energy Announces Establishment of Office of Arctic Energy. Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette joined Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski in announcing the reestablishment of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Arctic Energy Office (AEO), which will be located on the campus of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. The AEO will drive coordination and collaboration on DOE's many activities in the Arctic region including: international cooperation on Arctic issues, research on methane hydrates, and development of advanced micro grids and nuclear power systems, such as small modular reactors. Reestablishing the office fulfills Secretary Brouillette's commitment to do so by the close of this fiscal year. Department of Energy
Little Ice Age Triggered by Arctic Sea Ice. "We decided to put together different strands of evidence to try to reconstruct spatially and temporally what the sea ice was during the past one and a half thousand years, and then just see what we found," said Dr. Martin Miles, a researcher in the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the NORCE Norwegian Research Centre and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. Dr. Miles and colleagues pulled together records from marine sediment cores drilled from the ocean floor from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic to get a detailed look at sea ice throughout the region over the last 1,400 years. Sci-News
 Researchers Use Sparing Methods to Study Polar Bears and Atlantic Walruses in Russian Arctic National Park. For the first time, researchers conducted hydro-biological studies of walruses' diet in their rookeries at Russian Arctic National Park. Biologists also examined six polar bears on Novaya Zemlya. During the expedition, the researchers worked on the protected archipelagoes of Franz Josef Land (the park's northern cluster) and Novaya Zemlya (the park's southern cluster). Their goal was to continue studying marine mammals in the Russian Arctic, determine their current state and introduce new methods of studying animals in the protected area). The Arctic
Invasive Shrimp-Sucking Parasite Continues Northward Pacific Expansion. Researchers have identified an invasive blood-sucking parasite on mud shrimp in the waters of British Columbia's Calvert Island. The discovery represents the northern-most record of the parasite on the West Coast and is likely an indication of its ability to spread without human transport. Orthione griffenis, a cough drop-sized crustacean native to Asia and Russia, has decimated mud shrimp populations in California and Washington over the past 30 years, causing the collapse of delicate mudflat ecosystems anchored by the shrimp. Science Daily
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Future Events
United States Coast Guard Capabilities for Safeguarding National Interests and Promoting Economic Security in the Arctic, 2:30 pm EDT on September 22, 2020 (streamed and in Washington, DC USA). US Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, chairman of the Subcommittee on Security of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene this hearing. This hearing will examine how the United States Coast Guard (USCG) 2019 Arctic Strategic Outlook is being resourced through acquisition plans, training exercises, and infrastructure investments and the importance of USCG presence in the Arctic as commercial sea traffic increases. The hearing will also address the security implications of Chinese and Russian interests in the Arctic and the current state of the USCG's icebreaking.
Arctic Research Infrastructure and Capabilities in North America, 1:30 pm EDT on September 23, 2020 (virtual). Research stations in Alaska, Canada and Greenland provide critical science and information about Arctic climate and environment in North America. Scientists continue to call for increased monitoring and research capabilities in the region. Hosted by the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, this panel aims to assess the existing gaps and opportunities for research capabilities and aspirations in the North American Arctic. Panelists will provide overviews of current research infrastructure in their countries. Moreover, they will highlight reasons for close, international cooperation between North American research institutions.
The discussion will be introduced by Mike Sfraga (Polar Institute) and moderated by Sherri Goodman (Polar Institute) and John Farrell (USARC). Panelists include:
 United States Air Force Arctic Strategy: Perspectives and Insights, 12:00 pm EDT on October 5, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by the Polar Institute of the Wilson Center and the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. The Air Force Arctic Strategy was released in July 2020.  According to the Department of the Air Force, "The strategy outlines the Department's unique regional role and efforts to optimize Air and Space capabilities throughout the region in support of the National Defense Strategy." We are honored to host a group of distinguished military leaders for a facilitated round table discussion regarding the Air Force Arctic Strategy to include contextual perspectives about the new Arctic, the Arctic in context of Great Power Competition, and the role and importance of the Air Force in Alaska and the Arctic.
 Arctic Circle VIRTUAL: Dialogue with US Senator Lisa Murkowski, 9:30 am EDT on October 6, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by Arctic Circle. In this Dialogue, which takes place only four weeks from the Presidential election, Senator Murkowski will discuss the importance of the election for the Arctic. Participants will be able to send in their questions and comments, both before and during the event, to be addressed in the Dialogue. Arctic Circle's own Chairman and former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will moderate this event.
2021 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 26-28, 2021 (virtual). The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for over twenty years to discuss the latest marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Over 700 people attend this 4-day long conference held annually during the month of January. Each day of the conference highlights important Alaskan marine ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska (Tuesday), Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands (Wednesday), and the Arctic (Thursday). Research topics discussed range from ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, to local traditional knowledge. Since its inception, NPRB has been a proud sponsor and one of the leading organizers of AMSS.
Arctic Frontiers 2021, February 1-4, 2021 (virtual). Arctic Frontiers started out in 2006 assembling the first global scientific conference on economic, societal and environmental sustainable growth in the north. In February 2021, we will arrange the 15th conference with the theme "Building Bridges". The conference has a pan arctic perspective and builds new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry in the Arctic.
Arctic Science Summit Week, March 20-26, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal). The Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Local Organizing Committee will host the Arctic Science Summit Week 2021. The Conference is organized by FCT, Ciência Viva, AIR Center, the Portuguese Arctic Community and by IASC and partners. Framed by the overarching theme for the Science Conference "The Arctic: Regional Changes, Global Impacts," Lisbon invites International experts on the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples to discuss the "New Arctic" and also its impacts and interactions to and with the lower latitudes.
2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses, May 3-6, 2021 (Hanko, Finland). Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2021. This symposium will bring together molecular microbial ecologists specializing in different organism groups to share our latest results and discuss methodological problems, as well as future prospects in the field, including practical international collaborations. The environmental focus will be on cryospheric environments including sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost, but excellent research in other polar environments is also invited. The methods to be discussed will focus on 'omics' techniques, ranging from single cells to metagenomes, but research using additional methods is encouraged as well.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, May 8-9, 2021 (Toyko, Japan). The Japanese and Icelandic organizers of this ministerial continue to plan for an in-person ministerial, in Tokyo, but have moved the dates from November 21-22, 2020 to May 8-9, 2021 because of Covid-19. Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. Considering the need for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and repair measures, the relevance of an international Arctic Science Ministerial has never been greater. It is necessary to strengthen scientific cooperation and collaboration among both Arctic and non-Arctic States in order to develop our understanding of the rapid changes impacting the Arctic. The First Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM1) was hosted by the United States in 2016, and two years later, the Second Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM2) was co-hosted by Germany, Finland, and the European Commission. ASM3 will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
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