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Today's C
ongressional Action:
The House and Senate are not in session.
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Media
 Papp Hopes Next President Will Carry on US Arctic Policies.
A year ago, President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to travel above the Arctic Circle. The president's historic three-day visit to Alaska, where he met with Native villagers and saw effects of climate warming first-hand, was a milestone that cemented his deep commitment to the Arctic and the circumpolar north, the State Department's top Arctic official said Thursday.
"When he came back after three days up here, he felt it personally because he had a chance to talk to people," Adm. Robert Papp, the State Department's U.S. Arctic representative, said in a speech to the World Affairs Council of Alaska. "It may not be the No. 1 priority right now, but it's up in the top 10, I assure you. It's going to be a legacy issue for him, as well, as he goes forward."
Alaska Dispatch News
Scientists Use Hunters' Knowledge to Understand a Warming Ecosystem.
Henry Huntington, an Alaska-based independent researcher, sat at a table with a group of elders in 1995 to talk about beluga whales - a threatened Arctic species graced with a perpetually beatific expression. The elders spoke instead of beavers, which, they said, were thriving and damming more streams. Huntington was puzzled. E&E News
 On Trip to Greenland, Sen. King Finds Effect of Climate Change 'Amazing and Scary.'
Maine's U.S. Sen. Angus King returned from a fact-finding trip to Greenland on Thursday determined to push for more icebreakers to clear emerging Arctic trade routes, some of which could be built in Maine. The United States has only one working heavy icebreaker capable of clearing shipping lanes through Arctic waters as the ice sheet there melts, while Russia has at least a dozen, King said. Icebreaking abilities are essential in a warming world, he said. Press Herald
Algae Blooms Are Contributing to Greenland's Staggering Ice Loss.
Rising temperatures can't fully explain the ongoing melting of the Greenland ice sheet. A new project looks at how microorganisms are changing the reflectivity of the ice sheet, helping it warm and melt.
One summer, about four years ago, Martyn Tranter, a biogeochemist at the University of Bristol in the U.K., was working on the margins of the Greenland ice sheet with a group of new students and postdocs when he sat down to take a break. The glacier goggles Tranter usually wore to protect his eyes from the sunlight were broken, so he was wearing his cycling glasses instead. As Tranter looked across the ice surface, eating his sandwich and drinking a cup of tea, he realized the ice in front of him was tinted mauve.
Huffington Post
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Hosted by Saint Petersburg State University, the UArctic Congress 2016 will feature Science and Meeting sections, including:
- Acclaimed keynote speakers and scientific experts presenting research.
- Parallel sessions on Arctic science, policy, and education topics.
- Meetings for reps of the Council of UArctic and UArctic Rectors' Forum.
- Pre-Meetings to foster contacts and enhance networking.
- Opportunities to promote and market your organization and activities.
- A UArctic Student Forum with workshops.
- A Cultural and Social program.
The 2016 UArctic Rectors' Forum and the 19th annual meeting of the Council of UArctic form an integral part of the congress.
Conference on Water Innovations for Healthy Arctic Homes: September 18-21, 2016, Anchorage, Alaska. This circumpolar conference will bring together engineers, health experts, researchers, community members, policymakers, and innovators to discuss health benefits, challenges and innovations associated with making running water and sewer in remote northern communities safe, affordable and sustainable. Information and an expression of interest in attending can be found
here. (The full link is:
http://wihah2016.com/)
13th International Conference on Gas in Marine Sediments: September 19-22, 2016 (Tromso, Norway).
GIMS 13
promotes the study of natural gas and release systems on a global scale and
facilitates interdisciplinary and international cooperation. The conference
intends to bring together geologists, biologists, microbiologist, geophysicists, oceanographers, geochemists and scientists from modeling disciplines. The forum will provide a platform for current knowledge and future programs in gas inventories, fluxes and their role within the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Conference is organized by CAGE - Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at UiT The
Arctic University of Norway. Abstract submission deadline is May 30th and registration deadline is June 20th. For more information:
http://gims13.uit.no
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, September 23-24, 2016 (Monticello, Virginia, USA).
The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The event will reassemble the members of the National Steering Committee and a small but diverse selection of representatives from the five regional workshops, to total about 15 people. The aim will be to identify and synthesize the core threads of the previous workshops and public contributions proffered between workshops. The target output for the workshop will be a final report draft and outline of steps leading to the final report release in June 2016. The Jefferson Institute will manage production of the publication.
The event
will be a dialogue on one of the four themes of the ministerial: "Arctic Science as a Vehicle for STEM Education and Citizen Empowerment." The event also provides an opportunity to hear from ministerial participants before the closed meetings of the ministerial begin the next day.
Two 1-hour panel discussions by an international group of Arctic leaders, including
USARC Chair Fran Ulmer, will explore opportunities for advancing the use of Arctic research and education activities to inform worldwide audiences about the changes happening in the Arctic and to help empower Arctic residents most impacted by the complex dynamics shaping the region.
An introductory plenary by
Mark Brzezinski, Executive Director of the U.S. Government's
Arctic Executive Steering Committee
will kick-off the conversation.
Second International Conference on Natural Resources and Integrated Development of Coastal Areas in the Arctic Zone, September 27-29, 2016 (Arkhangelsk, Russia).
The Conference is organized by FASO of Russia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Government of Arkhangelsk region, Arkhangelsk Scientific Center and International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). Conference is aimed at elaboration of research-based practical measures and instruments for realization of human, natural and transport-logistical potential of the Arctic zone, including development of the Northern Sea Route and implementation of models of integrated coastal areas management. For additional information, please email.
National Academies of Sciences..."Scientific Priorities for a Changing Arctic(panel discussion)," September 29, 4:30 to 6:30pm (Washington, DC.
The public is invited to a
recap and discussion of the first-ever White House Arctic Science Ministerial
taking place, in Washington, DC, on September 28. At that event, ministers of science, chief science advisors, and other senior officials from countries around the world, as well as representatives from indigenous groups, will
address the collective actions and innovative
collaborations needed to enhance scientific understanding of the rapidly changing Arctic. This Academies' event and reception provides an opportunity to broaden the conversation to all those interested in the Arctic science and policy. Panelists will include officials from the White House, from the USARC, and others involved in the ministerial discussions.
As an exciting cultural addition to the program, producers of a new large format 3D film about Greenland will share their storytelling strategies and the process of using immersive cinema, virtual reality and the perspectives of climate scientists and
 extreme athletes to expand public understanding of the Arctic environment. Presenters will represent producing partners Giant Screen Films, Teton Gravity Research, and Golden Gate 3D.
Support for this event is provided by USARC
and the National Academies of Sciences
, Engineering, and Medicine.
Please register
Arctic Ambitions V: International Business Conference & Trade Show, October 4-5, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). This once-a-year event uniquely focuses on business and investment opportunities flowing from developments in the Arctic. With interest in commercial development in the Arctic growing rapidly, WTC Anchorage initiated the Arctic Ambitions conference five years ago to address issues such as innovation, investment, infrastructure development, transportation, natural resources, and trade. At the event, corporate executives and senior government officials from across the Arctic, and around the world, make presentations and participate in panel discussions. This year's conference also includes a Trade Show and B2B Matchmaking Session. For more information, please contact Greg Wolf (
greg@wtcak.org) or call
907-278-7233.
Inuit traditions are a repository of Inuit culture and a primary expression of Inuit identity. The theme for the 2016 Inuit Studies Conference invites Elders, knowledge-bearers, researchers, artists, policy-makers, students and others to engage in conversations about the many ways in which traditions shape understanding, while registering social and cultural change. The institutional hosts of "Inuit Traditions," Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Nunatsiavut Government, invite you to contribute to an exchange of knowledge to be held in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, October 7-10, 2016. Presentations on all aspects of Inuit studies will be welcome.
Arctic Technology Conference, October 24-26, 2016 (St. John's, Canada). Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is the world's foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. The Arctic Technology Conference (ATC) is built upon OTC's successful multidisciplinary approach, with 14 technical societies and organizations working together to deliver the world's most comprehensive Arctic event.
** New this week**
Annual Scientific Meeting 2016, December 5-9, 2016 (Winnipeg, MP Canada).
ArcticNet
will host its 12th Annual Scientific Meeting.
The ASM2016 will welcome researchers, students, Inuit, Northerners, policy makers and stakeholders to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. As the largest annual Arctic research gathering held in Canada, ArcticNet's ASM is the ideal venue to showcase results from all fields of Arctic research, stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among those with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples.
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External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site (
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