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June 10, 2020



Media

White House Memorandum on Safeguarding US National Interests in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions. To help protect our national interests in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and to retain a strong Arctic security presence alongside our allies and partners, the United States requires a ready, capable, and available fleet of polar security icebreakers that is operationally tested and fully deployable by Fiscal Year 2029.  Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I [President Trump] hereby direct the following... The White House
 
Healy, Coast Guard Trump Memo Demands New Fleet of Arctic Icebreakers to be Ready by 2029. U.S. President Trump ordered a review of the country's requirements for icebreaking capabilities in the Arctic and Antarctic, with the goal of getting a fleet in place by 2029, according to a memo released Tuesday. The memo was directed at the Defense, State, Commerce and Homeland Security departments, as well as the Office of Management and Budget. Defense News
 
The Arctic May Become Pilot Region for Green Economy. "The entire world and our country in particular are experiencing reformatting of the economy and social systems. The new reality will clearly demand approaches that involve digital planning and integrated development, including even closer attention to the environment. In that case the Arctic may become a pilot region for all these innovations: a change in economic priorities and the use of more environmentally friendly economic systems. The Arctic means mega projects, which will make it easier and more efficient to test new approaches," said Dmitry Fishkin, Director for the Arctic at the Far East Investment Promotion and Export Support Agency in an online meeting The Arctic as a Center for Attracting Green Investments held by a discussion club under the Project Office for the Development of the Arctic. The Arctic
 
'Unprecedented' Siberian Oil Spill Reaches Arctic Glacial Lake. A massive fuel spill in northern Siberia has reached an Arctic glacial lake after seeping through floating barriers installed to stop the leak, regional officials said Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency last Wednesday, several days after 21,000 metric tons of diesel leaked from a collapsed fuel tank outside the city of Norilsk. Massive concentrations of pollution were recorded in a nearby river, a phenomenon that local environmental officials said was due to the floating dams being ineffective or installed too late. The Moscow Times
Future Events
 
ICESAT-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek, June 15-19, 2020 (Virtual). ICESat-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek is a 5-day hackweek to be held at the University of Washington. Participants will learn about technologies used to access and process ICESat-2 data with a focus on the cryosphere. Mornings will consist of interactive lectures, and afternoon sessions will involve facilitated exploration of datasets and hands-on software development.

3rd Arctic Science Ministerial Research Community Workshops, June 15, 2020 (virtual) . Organizers invite participation in an online workshop to discuss topics and ideas that participants think are important for policy makers and the Arctic Science Ministers to better understand and prioritize at the Third Arctic Science Ministerial  (ASM3) Bringing together States, Arctic Indigenous participants, and international organizations, ASM3 aims to take action on coordinated Arctic observing, research, and education in an open and transparent format which includes all Arctic stakeholders.

Alaska Electric Vehicle Workshop, June 16-17, 2020 (Virtual) The first virtual Alaska Electric Vehicle Workshop co-hosted by the  Alaska Center for Energy and Power  and the  U.S. Arctic Research Commission is to be held  June 16-17, 2020 (9 am to 1 pm AKDT) .   The goal of the workshop is to connect stakeholders and help develop a clearer vision of electric vehicle research and policy priorities for Alaska and the Arctic.  Local, national, and international speakers will engage with each other, as well as audience members, on topics including vehicle charging behavior,
 cold weather performance, electrical grid impacts and policy opportunities.  Registration and workshop details can be found at  here

Arctic Science Storytelling Webinar With Film Michael Snyder, June 24, 2020 (Virtual). Great stories can change the world, and you have one to tell! Join the Migration in Harmony NSF-Research Coordination Network and our collaborator, award-winning filmmaker Mike Snyder, in this virtual workshop to learn how you should think about your research topics and experiences in the context of a story, how to develop photographer and videographer partnerships, and how to pitch your work to different outlets. The event is hosted by Migration in Harmony. Migration in Harmony: An Interdisciplinary Network in Littoral Species, Settlements, and Cultures on the Move (MiH-RCN) is an international, cross-disciplinary network of Arctic migration researchers funded by the National Science Foundation.

Arctic Circle Assembly, October 8-11, 2020 (Reykjavi­k, Iceland). The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. It 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. 

3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, November 21-22, 2020 (Toyko, Japan). Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. While the reasons for these changes in climate largely stem from activities outside of the Arctic, the Arctic is warming at a rate of nearly double the global average. 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. The Third Arctic Science Ministerial will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.

AGU Fall Meeting, December 7-11, 2020 (San Francisco, California USA). Fall Meeting is the largest gathering of Earth and space scientists in the world. More information will be available at the link.

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.

Save the Date: 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.
 

2021 Regional Conference on Permafrost/ 19th International Conference Cold Regions Engineering, July 11-16, 2021 (Boulder, Colorado USA). 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.

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