Hearings to examine the posture of the Department of the Army in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2022 and the Future Years Defense Program; with the possibility of a closed session immediately following the open session.

Markup: H.R. 2225 – National Science Foundation for the Future Act; H.R. 3593 – Department of Energy Science for the Future Act.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week announced the establishment of the “Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.” But the center doesn’t physically exist yet. It doesn’t have any staff. And it might be located far from the Arctic. A Defense Department spokesman said three cities are under consideration for housing the Ted Stevens Center: Anchorage, Colorado Springs and Washington, D.C.

House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Members Congresswoman Deborah Ross (D-NC) and Subcommittee on Research and Technology Ranking Member Michael Waltz (R-FL) were joined by Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) to introduce legislation establishing a national strategy for science and technology. H.R. 3858, the National Science and Technology Strategy Act of 2021 directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to develop a comprehensive national science and technology strategy every four years and conduct a quadrennial review for U.S. science and technology. The bill creates a whole-of-government planning process for research and development, ensuring better coordination between federal agencies and a more strategic approach to U.S. research and development goals. Additionally, the bill requires the President to submit an annual report to Congress on national research priorities and activities, as well as global trends in science and technology, including potential threats to U.S. scientific leadership.

This weekend kicked off the Qaġruq Whaling Festival in Point Hope, where each year, people come from around the region for a three-day feast to celebrate the annual subsistence haul of the whaling season. Point Hope captain Rex Rock Sr. said this year’s whaling season kicked off in early spring.

Human activities affect ecosystems both directly and indirectly through anthropogenic climate change. The effects are however not evenly distributed across the globe. The northern hemisphere is warming faster than its southern counterpart, and the marine ecosystems respond accordingly. Researchers from every corner of the world have joined forces and analyzed long-term monitoring data from 66 seabird species, spanning a period of more than 50 years. The study, published in Science on 28 May 2021, reveals that the asymmetry in sea temperature changes is reflected in the breeding success of seabirds.

For the first time, a Regional Conference on Permafrost will be combined with the bi-annual 19th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering. This conference is hosted by the US Permafrost Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the International Permafrost Association, the Permafrost Young Researchers Network, and the University of Colorado Boulder. A complete list of planned sessions is available here.

Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2022. 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.