The spring 2014 annual reindeer festival in Yar-Sale, a rural town on the Yamal Peninsula in Western Siberia, was a grim affair. A rainstorm followed by a deep freeze the previous November had turned the normally snow-covered tundra into an ice shield. Reindeer could not paw through the thick ice to access lichen, their primary food source. In a region where winter temperatures can plunge below –50° Celsius, that ground remained frozen months later. Tens of thousands of reindeer had already died of starvation. Thousands more were on the brink of death.

The Government of Finland has prolonged the work of the Sami Truth and Reconciliation Commission saying the process needs more time to be properly executed. “The commission’s work is unique and takes time to implement properly,” the government said in a statement on Nov. 23. 

Collaborating to better understand how to operate in the Arctic environment was the goal of an international gathering addressing polar oceanography and operations held in Newport, Oct. 23-25. The “Under the Ice Workshop,” and “2025 Ship to Shore High Latitude Experiment Planning Session,” engaged and united engineers, scientists, and operators from international defense and research organizations who are supporting the International Cooperative Engagement Program for Polar Research, also known as ICE-PPR.

Leipzig/Köln/Bremen. The Collaborative Research Centre “Arctic Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and Surface Processes and Feedback Mechanism (AC)³” is to enter its third funding phase. This was announced today (24 November 2023) by the German Research Foundation (DFG). From January 2024, the research network, which also includes the Universities of Bremen and Cologne, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), will continue its ground-breaking work for another four years. The overall aim is to make fundamental and significant advances in our understanding of Arctic amplification and improve the reliability of models used to predict the dramatic warming of the Arctic.

At the end of the last Ice Age, many iconic species became extinct—including the steppe bison, the wooly rhinoceros, the Irish elk, and the dire wolf. However, one Ice Age relict, perfectly adapted to the harsh climate of the tundra environment, has survived until the present day. Muskox escaped the destiny of its Ice Age compatriots and appears to be thriving in the world of today.

The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee and the U.S. Global Change Research Program hosts this webinar about the Alaska chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Led by the U.S. Global Change Research Program and written by over 500 experts, NCA5 describes the observed and projected impacts of climate change on a range of sectors and ten regions of the U.S. In this webinar, speakers will provide an overview of the key findings of the Alaska chapter, and then will answer questions from participants. This webinar will be recorded. 

This year lecture will be presented by Dr. April Counceller (Alutiiq, of the Sun’aq Tribe), Director of the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska. The lecture will take place at 2 p.m. at the Kerby Room (CE-340) of the Natural History Museum building. For 28 years, the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak, Alaska has been a leader in tribal research and museum practice. Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq tribal organizations and researchers began sponsoring community-based archaeology programs beginning in the 1980s, in response to past archaeological practices that tended to exclude Indigenous perspectives, priorities, and epistemologies. Alutiiq/Sugpiaq research methodologies have continued and expanded into cultural and linguistic studies through projects led by the Alutiiq Museum. Alutiiq scholars have made notable impacts on museum best practices, theory, and public policy while establishing priorities based on community needs. Dr. Counceller will highlight several studies and projects that helped establish the Alutiiq Museum as a leading research museum nationally.

The Fulbright Arctic Initiative (FAI) brings together a network of professionals, practitioners, and researchers from Arctic Council member countries to address key research and policy related questions through a diverse, multi-dimensional, cooperative framework including monthly webinars, thematic group collaboration, three in-person meetings, and an individual exchange experience. Application deadline: March 1, 2024

For more than 100 years AGU has been opening science—opening pathways to discovery, opening greater awareness to address climate change, opening greater collaborations to lead to solutions and opening the fields and professions of science to a whole new age of justice equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. This year, as AGU convenes >25,000 attendees from 100+ countries in San Francisco for AGU23, the theme is: Wide. Open. Science.

The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS), has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for thirty 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.

The Arctic Frontiers annual conference aims to connect different expertise and perspectives from areas such as policy, science, and business. It is an arena for networking and knowledge exchange.

Arctic360’s Annual Event brings together Northern and Indigenous governments, institutions, and corporations; global finance; state leaders; mining, innovation, and other industry leaders; and Arctic experts from Canada and around the circumpolar North to advance the conversation and foster action for building a sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous Arctic region.

The 52nd International Arctic Workshop will be held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The International Arctic Workshop is a friendly, informal, and relaxed conference open to all students and professionals interested in the Arctic. Originally started at INSTAAR at the University of Colorado - Boulder, the Arctic Workshop alternates between INSTAAR and an international host. This year, University of Massachusetts with the department of Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences & Climate System Research center will be hosting. The event website will be available in August.

Abstract deadline: February 25, 2024

The 7th biennial AOS as part of Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2024. The AOS draws a wide range of participants from across the spectrum of Arctic observing – Indigenous experts, operational agency representatives, scientists, and others – from around the world. Much of the summit is organized around discussions led by working groups on particular themes (Regional to global observing, Data sharing, System implementation/SAON ROADS, Observing System Benefits). In addition to plenary and working group sessions, this year we will include additional breakout sessions. 

As the largest Arctic policy and business conference in North America, with partners and convenings worldwide, the Arctic Encounter continues to gather leading voices from around the world. The Arctic Encounter is eager to welcome 1,000+ participants to Alaska for a world-class arts and cultural experience, including policy debates, dialogue with international leaders, business executives, Indigenous peoples, scientists, students, defense leaders, diplomats, policymakers, and more.

Nordland Research Institute and NORD University host this event. The congress includes high-level plenary sessions, several parallel sessions, network activities, and social and cultural events. Researchers, policymakers, businesses, and students exchange knowledge and connect across the Arctic. IASSA and UArctic will also hold their General Assemblies.

The 12^th International Conference on Permafrost will consider “Integrating Perspectives of Permafrost Thaw, Change, and Adaptation.” Event partners include the Canadian Permafrost Association, IPA, and Yukon University.

In lead up to its 35th anniversary in 2025, the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is coordinating a multi-year planning process for the Fourth International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP IV) that will engage Arctic researchers, policymakers, residents, and stakeholders from around the world to collegially discuss the state of Arctic science, the place the Arctic occupies in global affairs and systems, to consider the most urgent knowledge gaps and research priorities that lie before us and to explore avenues to address these research needs. This event is hosted by a consortium of US institutions, including the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Northern Iowa, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Alaska Pacific University. ICARP I, II, and III focused the attention of the world’s researchers toward the value of strategic international coordination in accelerating progress in addressing critical challenges. ICARP IV will build upon this concept by striving to achieve consensus and build collaborations among the leading scientific, academic, environmental, Indigenous and political organizations currently concerned with Arctic issues.