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No Arctic science events are planned for today.
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Arctic Mayors Group Convenes First Meeting, Issues 'Pan-Arctic Cooperation' Declaration. While top diplomats from eight circumpolar nations gathered in Fairbanks last week for national-level meetings related to the biennial
Arctic Council ministerial, 11 local-government officials from around the region got together on the other side of town to share ideas on how they all can better serve their communities. "We want to make sure that we can unify as a voice that can be heard more in the national and international discussions about the Arctic," says Christin Kristofferson, former mayor of the Norwegian community of
Longyearbyen. She served as a moderator and facilitator of the
Arctic Mayors Roundtable meeting held May 11th at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
KUAC
 With Trump Administration Intentions Unclear, Alaskans Might Have to Fill the Void on Arctic Policy. For the rapidly warming Arctic, where people may be anxious about climate change, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week had some soothing words. The Arctic Council, the eight-nation group that the United States chaired until May 11, "has proven to be an indispensable forum in which we can pursue cooperation," Tillerson said in
remarks at the organization's ministerial meeting in Fairbanks just over a week ago. "I want to affirm that the United States will continue to be an active member in this council. The opportunity to chair the council has only strengthened our commitment to continuing its work in the future." ... Former Alaska Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, who chairs the
U.S. Arctic Research Commission but is no longer a State Department adviser now that the U.S. Arctic Council chairmanship is over, sees some mixed signs. On the bright side, the
Arctic Executive Steering Committee, established by Obama in 2015 to coordinate an Arctic strategy, remains operational, Ulmer said. But she worries about budget cuts at the state and federal levels. In particular, pending cuts to the University of Alaska system, well-known for its Arctic research, are "very painful," and shortsighted, said Ulmer, a former university chancellor.
Alaska Dispatch News
State Looks for Help Fighting 'Blob' Oozing Toward Dalton Highway. In a race against time, state transportation officials plan to move a nearly mile-long section of the Dalton Highway so it doesn't get T-boned by a giant mass of frozen debris believed to have been oozing downhill like a glacier for hundreds of years. The goal is avoiding a "catastrophic failure" of the highway if the nearly mile-long mass - a frozen debris lobe of mostly soil, along with ice, trees and other detritus - plows away the road, said Jeff Currey, a materials engineer with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.
Alaska Dispatch News
President Congratulates Arctic Specialists. President of Russia Vladimir Putin congratulated Russia's polar specialists on their professional day."This is the occasion when we pay tribute to the outstanding achievements carried out people with a wide range of different professions, who have dedicated their lives to exploring and developing the Arctic and Antarctica. Many generations of steadfast, courageous and spirited people, scientists, geologists, builders, sailors and pilots, have selflessly served their Fatherland, glorifying our country as a great polar power," the President said in a message published on his official website.
The Arctic
 Contaminants in Animals Give Clues About the Health of the North. An environmental mystery lies in the remote Aleutian chain, the archipelago that stretches to Asia: Why do endangered
Steller sea lions,
birds and marine and
freshwater fish in America's westernmost islands have bodies with elevated levels of mercury, a toxic metal usually associated with industry? That question is being explored by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who are doing regular monitoring of mercury and chemical contaminants in body tissue, blood and hair of animals and fish from the Aleutians and elsewhere. And it came up at a health meeting in Fairbanks in conjunction with a major session of the eight-nation Arctic Council earlier this month.
Alaska Dispatch News
Report: Melting of Arctic Sea Ice Taking Heavy Toll on Marine Species. "Polar bears are even showing up on murre colonies. Now, these are cliff-nesting birds," Kathy Kuletz said. She's a bird researcher with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, referring to one notable example. Kuletz's research is part of a new report on Arctic marine biodiversity published by the
Arctic Council in conjunction with their
ministerial meeting in Fairbanks May 10-11. It describes how melting of the Arctic sea ice also is forcing marine species to shift their ranges further north. It also notes that increasing numbers of southern species are moving into Arctic waters, and it describes an increasing frequency in contagious diseases like avian cholera.
Alaska Public Radio
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Future Events
Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences: People and Places (ICASS IX), June 8-12, 2017 (Umea, Sweden).
ICASS IX's theme is People & Place. Research on social sciences and humanities have a great responsibility to address the challenges for sustainable development in the Arctic, with a specific focus on the many different parts of the Arctic and the people that live there. The multiple Arctics have lately been addressed by many policy makers and researchers. The purpose is often to counteract the stereotypic understanding of the Arctic too often represented by icebergs and polar bears. A focus on people and place highlights the many variances across the region in terms of climate, political systems, demography, infrastructure, history, languages, legal systems, land and water resources etc.
2017 ESSAS Open Science Meeting on Subarctic and Arctic Science, June 11-15, 2017 (Tromsø, Norway). This 3rd Open Science Meeting (OSM) is intended to attract an interdisciplinary group of scholars who will be prepared to discuss their research in the Subarctic, in both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean. The title of the OSM is Moving in, out and across the Subarctic and Arctic marine ecosystems: shifting boundaries of water, ice, flora, fauna, people and institutions. It will document the changes that have occurred, the processes that led to these changes, and how future changes are likely to further affect these marine ecosystems. It will also to 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 they derive from these ecosystems. These include the availability of subsistence foods and the opportunity for commercial fishing. Economic and societal pressures on coastal communities and nations will be sought in relation with the ecosystem changes. To put the present day in a longer perspective, the conference will include a session on the paleoecology of people in Subarctic and Arctic regions that were forced to adjust to the changing temperature and sea-ice conditions in the past.
The Wilson Center-Arctic Circle Forum: The United States and Russia in the Arctic, June 21-22, 2017 (Washington, DC USA). In light of recent world media attention towards Russia and the United States, the Arctic Circle and the Wilson Center will host a Forum on the two countries' complicated yet inherently linked role and relationship in the Arctic. The future of the Arctic will be greatly influenced by the actions of the United States and Russia. What are their policies, their plans and their relations with other states in the Arctic and the Asian and European countries seeking an increasing role in the Arctic? High-level representatives, policymakers and experts will gather in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC, June 21, to address these questions and challenges. This event is co-hosted by Wilson Center and Arctic.
The 2nd Asian Conference on Permafrost, July 2-6, 2017 (Sapporo, Japan). Delegates will participate in state-of-the-art oral and poster presentations in the modern city of Sapporo (host of the 1972 Winter Olympics). Field trips will visit marginal and extrazonal mountain permafrost sites that support unique geo-eco-hydrological features. All aspects of frozen ground research will be covered, from needle ice to deep permafrost, from frozen ground engineering in cities to permafrost on volcanoes, and from links between frozen ground and ancient cultures to present-day outreach. Plan now to enjoy science and engineering, excellent food, and unique field trips in Sapporo.
Co-hosted by U.S. National/Naval Ice Center (NIC) and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC). A biennial symposium originating in 2001 that focuses on U. S. naval operations and national strategic issues in an "ice-free Arctic." This symposium brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic observations, climate change, and maritime operations. Confirmed speakers include USCG Commandant Paul Zukunft
and Alaska's Congressman
Don Young.
As the Symposium is organized jointly by two leading Research Institutes of Russian Academy of Science - Institute of Water Problems and Melnikov Permafrost Institute, particularly the contributions on following research topics are welcome:
- Observational evidences of change in coupled permafrost-hydrology system.
- Present state and future projections of local, regional and pan-Arctic hydrology.
- Modeling studies representing landscape evolution, dynamics of water storages and permafrost degradation.
- Impacts of permafrost hydrology changes on local communities.
VII International Conference on Cryopedology, August 21-25, 2017 (Yaktsk, Russia). The conference will be hosted by the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS). Plenary reports will be organized in the hall of the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. The official languages of the conference are English and Russian (with translation). All technical facilities (projectors, computers, video sets) will be available during the conference for presentation of papers. Additional information will be available soon. See the Facebook page
here.
2017 University of the Arctic Rectors' Forum and Conference, August 27-29, 2017 (Aberdeen, Scotland).
This conference will also consider how northern scholarship can add to discussions on the North into broader terrains of intellectual engagement. In so doing, it will challenge dominant paradigms of research in both the natural and the social sciences, above all by calling into question the very separation of the world of nature from that of human society which underwrites the distinction between these two branches of scientific inquiry. In its place the conference will seek to forge a new practice of interdisciplinary research, done in collaboration with northern residents and on their terms, which recognizes that every discipline is itself an ongoing conversation, or a way of knowing, rather than a compartment within an overarching, hierarchically organized system of knowledge. Conversations from the North will, then, help to generate a science that is more open-ended, responsive to environmental variation and respectful of the wisdom of inhabitants.
- Small and off-grid community energy solutions
- Oil and gas development
- Renewable energy
- Regulation and Financing
- Transportation and transmission
The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues.
2017 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 13-15, 2017 (Reykjavik, Iceland).
The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 50 countries. The Assembly is held every October at the Harpa Conference Center and Concert Hall and is attended by heads of states and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, 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.
Polar Law Symposium 2017 and Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit, November 13-16, 2017 (Rovaniemi, Finland).
The purpose of the Polar Law Symposium is to examine, in detail, the implications of the challenges faced by the Polar Regions for international law and policy and to make recommendations on appropriate actions by states, policy makers and other international actors to respond to these emerging and re-emerging challenges. The Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit
Conference is integrated with the Polar Law Symposium, which will be organized by the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Center of the University of Lapland.
ISAR-5 Fifth International Symposium on Arctic Research, January 15-18, 2017 (Tokyo, Japan).
The fifth ISAR has been planned at the recommendation of the science steering committee of ISAR-4, which was held in Toyama, Japan in April 2015. The fifth ISAR will be devoted to discussions on environmental changes in the Arctic and their regional and global implications, to seek additional international scientific collaboration in this area by gathering, synthesizing and sharing information related to these changes occurring in the Arctic. Special emphasis will be placed on the fields of the social sciences and humanities, which were not included in the previous ISARs.
ISAR-5 will consist of general sessions and special sessions. The general sessions will address the following topics: atmosphere; ocean and sea ice; rivers, lakes, permafrost, and snow cover; ice sheets, glaciers, and ice cores; terrestrial ecosystems; marine ecosystems; geospace; policies and economy; and social and cultural dimensions. Special sessions will be solicited on cross-cutting themes.
POLAR 2018, June 15-27, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland).
POLAR2018 is a joint event from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The SCAR meetings, the ASSW and the Open Science Conference will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL under the patronage of the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is organizing POLAR2018.
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