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Media
Russia Conducts First Helicopter Drone Test at Arctic Oil Field. The first test of an unmanned helicopter was held at the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye oil and gas condensate field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, the northernmost onshore oil field in Russia. The chopper covered 130 km and delivered a 150-kg load. Experts believe the testing was a success. "The helicopter displayed high technical capabilities in polar conditions. The second stage of testing at the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye field is scheduled for December: both developers and oil producers are ready to test the drone in the Arctic winter environment," reports the Gazprom Neft press service. The Arctic
 Arctic Race Heats up as Russia Launches Flagship Nuclear-Powered Icebreaker. Russia's new nuclear-powered icebreaker, the Arktika, took its maiden voyage out of St. Petersburg on Tuesday for a two-week journey to the northern port of Murmansk.The move comes as leaders of the US, Russia and China have turned their focus to Arctic Ocean, its shipping lanes and its natural resources. It may include as much as 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and 30 percent of its natural gas, in addition to fisheries and other resources. New York Post
NAU Global Change Ecologist Leads NASA Satellite Study of Rapid Greening Across Arctic Tundra. As Arctic summers warm, Earth's northern landscapes are changing. Using satellite images to track global tundra ecosystems over decades, a team of researchers finds the region has become greener as warmer air and soil temperatures lead to increased plant growth. "The Arctic tundra is one of the coldest biomes on Earth, and it's also one of the most rapidly warming," said Logan Berner, assistant research professor with Northern Arizona University's School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), who led the research in collaboration with scientists at eight other institutions in the United States, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom. "This Arctic greening we see is really a bellwether of global climatic change-it's this biome-scale response to rising air temperatures." NAU News
 Scientists Examine Arctic Salmon Numbers' Rollercoaster Ride. The Arctic Salmon Project is designed to study salmon in the far north of the NWT and Nunavut over a two-decade span. The study involves harvesters submitting heads of fish to scientists. By this time last year, around 1,800 salmon heads had been received from the communities of Aklavik, Sachs Harbour, and Ulukhaktok. This year, you can count the samples on two hands. Cabin Radio
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Future Events
 United States Air Force Arctic Strategy: Perspectives and Insights, 12:00 pm EDT on October 5, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by the Polar Institute of the Wilson Center and the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. The Air Force Arctic Strategy was released in July 2020.  According to the Department of the Air Force, "The strategy outlines the Department's unique regional role and efforts to optimize Air and Space capabilities throughout the region in support of the National Defense Strategy." We are honored to host a group of distinguished military leaders for a facilitated round table discussion regarding the Air Force Arctic Strategy to include contextual perspectives about the new Arctic, the Arctic in context of Great Power Competition, and the role and importance of the Air Force in Alaska and the Arctic.
 Arctic Circle VIRTUAL: Dialogue with US Senator Lisa Murkowski, 9:30 am EDT on October 6, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by Arctic Circle. In this Dialogue, which takes place only four weeks from the Presidential election, Senator Murkowski will discuss the importance of the election for the Arctic. Participants will be able to send in their questions and comments, both before and during the event, to be addressed in the Dialogue. Arctic Circle's own Chairman and former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will moderate this event.
** New this week ** IARPC Public Webinar Series: MOSAiC Expedition Overview, 2:00 pm EDT/ 10:00 am AKDT on October 8, 2020. The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) will host a public webinar providing an overview of the MOSAiC expedition. Throughout October, IARPC Collaborations will be holding a "MOSAiC Month" focused on the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. This is the first webinar in that series. All are welcome to attend.
2021 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 26-28, 2021 (virtual). The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for over twenty 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. Each day of the conference highlights important Alaskan marine ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska (Tuesday), Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands (Wednesday), and the Arctic (Thursday). Research topics discussed range from ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, to local traditional knowledge. Since its inception, NPRB has been a proud sponsor and one of the leading organizers of AMSS.
Arctic Frontiers 2021, February 1-4, 2021 (virtual). Arctic Frontiers started out in 2006 assembling the first global scientific conference on economic, societal and environmental sustainable growth in the north. In February 2021, we will arrange the 15th conference with the theme "Building Bridges". The conference has a pan arctic perspective and builds new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry in the Arctic.
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.
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.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, May 8-9, 2021 (Toyko, Japan). The Japanese and Icelandic organizers of this ministerial continue to plan for an in-person ministerial, in Tokyo, but have moved the dates from November 21-22, 2020 to May 8-9, 2021 because of Covid-19. Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. 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. ASM3 will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
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