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** New this week ** Annual Meeting: 48th Annual Meeting of the Alaska Anthropological Association, March 1-5, 2021 (virtual). The Alaska Anthropological Association will be holding its 48th Annual Meeting. The theme of this year's conference is Fostering a Culture of Equity through the Removal of Boundaries. The virtual format of the conference affords the opportunity to offer both research-driven presentations as well as social events that encourage conversations and connections. The boundary-less conference format also offers a significant opportunity to better serve underrepresented communities as well as colleagues from all over the world.
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Media
Testing Waters of East Siberian Arctic Ocean Suggests Origin of Elevated Methane is Reservoir Located in Laptev Sea. An international team of researchers has found evidence implicating a deep underground reservoir as the source of high levels of methane in the waters of the East Siberian Arctic Ocean. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes testing three isotopic forms of dissolved methane in the waters. Phys.org
 Russian Researchers: Average Arctic Temperature Could Increase 20 Degrees C by Century's End. According to the Russian Marchuk Institute of Numerical Mathematic, climate gas emissions are leading to a continued rapid temperature increase in the northernmost part of the planet. By the end of the century, average temperatures in the central parts of the Arctic could be 20 °С higher than what is considered normal for the region. The Barents Observer
How Arctic Sea Ducks Develop Herd Immunity From Avian Cholera. Herd immunity, when a threshold proportion of a population becomes immune to a disease-causing organism, reducing or stopping further transmission, is very much in the news. Avian cholera much less so. But there is an intersection between these two subjects that appears to have played out over eight summers between 2005 and 2012 at the largest colony of Arctic-nesting sea ducks, specifically Northern common eiders, in the Canadian Arctic. Phys.org
 Most Soot Polluting Arctic Comes from North India, Can Make Its Ice Melt. Last year, a study found 75% of aerosol absorption over the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas comes from black carbon, or soot. It was alarming that pollutants from the plains were reaching the mountains. Also last year, the Arctic sea ice shrunk to its lowest in eight years and nearly half of what it was just four decades ago. Every decade, it is losing 13% of its ice. Scientists have now found what links the two-an 8,500-km expressway that takes soot straight from the heart of north India over central Asia to the icy expanse of the Arctic in just seven days. Times of India
US Army's Biometric Wearables Study to Examine Stress of Arctic Environment on Soldiers. Boston-based biometric wearables company WHOOP and the United States Army Paratroopers of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, "Spartan Brigade", have announced a new study that will examine the effects of stress and the resilience of soldiers in an Arctic environment.The study will use real-time physiological data which will be gathered from 1,000 Spartan Brigade paratroopers wearing the WHOOP Strap 3.0 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to study how they train, fight, and manage stress in extreme military conditions, and in the process create a blueprint for future studies. Find Biometrics
Tundra Vegetation Shows Similar Patterns Along Microclimates From Arctic to Sub-Antarctic. Researchers are in the search for generalisable rules and patterns in nature. Biogeographer Julia Kemppinen together with her colleagues tested if plant functional traits show similar patterns along microclimatic gradients across far-apart regions from the high-Arctic Svalbard to the sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Kemppinen and her colleagues found surprisingly identical patterns.It is widely known that global vegetation patterns and plant properties follow major differences in climate. Yet, it has remained a mystery how well the same rules can be applied at very local scales. Phys.org
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Future Events
Simon Stephenson's retirement party. 3:00 to 4:00 EST on March 12, 2021 (virtual). Come celebrate our colleague and friend Simon Stephenson as he retires from federal service. As Section Head for Arctic Sciences at , Simon led international and inter-agency engagement in  support of the broad research goals of the Arctic Sciences Section. He provided the vision and has been the engine behind Collaborations for the past decade. We welcome an opportunity to honor these and his many other contributions to Arctic research. Old friends near and far are invited to share stories, raise a toast, and join in the celebration of Simon who has positively impacted so many.
 ALCOM's Arctic Senior Leader Summit, 2021, March 10-11, 2021 (virtual). In support of U.S. Northern Command's Arctic mission, please consider joining Lt General David Krumm, USAF, Commander Alaska Command, Alaska NORAD Region and 11th Air Force and a host of Defense and Security Leaders for Arctic Senior Leader Summit 2021 (ASLS 21) 10-11 March 2021. This event is oriented to addressing senior leader strategic views on the developing range of security and defense matters affecting the Arctic region. Due to the on-going complications of in-person meetings as a result of COVID 19, Arctic Senior Summit 2021 will be conducted via video conference. Day 1 of ASLS 2021 is focused on plenary presentations and follow-on strategic discussions. Day 2 ASLS 2021 is a planned tabletop exercise. Further details and registration to be provided soon via ASLS 21 planning team at the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. Please see: https://arcticdomainawarenesscenter.org/Events for more details or email ADAC center leadership at https://arcticdomainawarenesscenter.org/Team.
Arctic Domain Awareness Center's (ADAC) Arctic Challenges, Innovations, and Commerce Expo (Arctic CICE) Conference, March 16-17, 2020 (virtual). The Arctic Domain Awareness Center's (ADAC) Arctic Challenges, Innovations, and Commerce Expo (Arctic CICE) seeks to explore the networks, resources, and infrastructure needed to enable the commercial entrance of Arctic-related products and technologies into the Arctic domain. This expo will use an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to foster conversations around Arctic-centered business pressure points, state-of-the-Arctic-focused R&D, gap analysis of investment and innovation, and the future of business in the region. Participants will be exposed to the latest hardware, software, and people-ware emerging to advance domain awareness, risk mitigation, exploration, Arctic operations, and overall, Arctic security.
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.
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| | Dr. Lilian Alessa (credit: IDGA) |
the USSOCOM J5 Donovan Strategy and Innovation Group, will host a Disruptive Speaker Series, led by Dr. Lilian "Doc" Alessa, entitled, "A Turmoil of Shadows: The Hidden Facets of Arctic Threats and the Role of USSOCOM in Ensuring Stability." The presentation will address the roles that the SOF Enterprise, as a force multiplier, could be responsible for in the emerging Arctic operational environment. While SOF maintains a standard of being able to operate in any conditions anywhere in the world, the Arctic is emerging as a more nuanced and complex theater. Advancing Collaboration in Canada-US Regional Security II, March 25-26, 2021 (virtual). The Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) and the North American and Arctic Defense and Security Network (NAADSN) will host this event as a follow up meeting on the Advancing Collaboration in Canada-U.S. Arctic Regional Security (ACCUSARS) conference in September 2020.The purpose of ACCUSARS II is to create a subset Strategic Foresight Assessment (SFA) for the North American Arctic, by specifically focusing on Alaska and Western Canada.
 One Health, One Future, April 6-11, 2021 (virtual). This is expected to be the largest circumpolar One Health conference held in the United States in 2021, with participation anticipated from across the Arctic region. The event is part of the United States contribution to One Arctic, One Health, an Arctic Council project now in its sixth year of operation. The project aims to develop a circumpolar network of One Health experts that can share knowledge, conduct exercises, and spur collaborative investigations of One Health phenomena.
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 (Tokyo, 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.
Department of Homeland Security S&T OUP Centers of Excellence Summit, May 18-21, 2021 (virtual). DHS S&T's Centers of Excellence (COE) Summit is set and focused on Homeland Security Challenges: Evolving Threats & Dynamic Solutions. This event is a special opportunity for COE researchers to connect and network with DHS components, federal, state, and local stakeholders, as well as industry partners to present current and emerging solutions to threats and challenges faced by DHS. Attendees can visit the Innovation Showcase, where COE and vendor partners showcase research breakthroughs, new products and tools to assist operational decision-makers and dynamic solutions to secure our Homeland.
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External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site ( www.arctic.gov) do not constitute endorsement by the US Arctic Research Commission of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the USARC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this newsletter and the USARC Web site.
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