** New this week ** Effects of Temperature on Fish Sex Determination: Potential Bioindictators of Global Climate Change, November 1, 2018 (Webinar). This is part of the OneNOAA Science Seminar Series. Sex determination in several fishes such as those from Atheriniform families is strongly dependent on the water temperature experienced during early life (so-called temperature-dependent sex determination or TSD). In recent years, water temperature change due to climate change has been concerning on a world-wide level. Fish that have TSD are expected to be seriously affected (e.g. extreme unbalanced sex ratios). Our recent studies have shown that some Atheriniform species possess a major, if not master, testis determining gene, the Y-chromosome-linked anti-Müllerian hormone (amhy). This discovery now makes it possible to detect mismatches (sex reversals) between genotypic (XX or XY) and phenotypic (ovary or testis) sex and demonstrate effects of temperatures on sex determination in wild populations. Using such high temperature sensitivity in sex determination/differentiation and the Y-chromosome linked gene marker, we have been working to establish Atheriniform fish species as bioindicators for the impacts of global warming/climate change on fish reproduction worldwide.

 

** New this week ** Coastal Wetlands Reduce Disaster Risk, Protect Biodiversity, and Promote Human Health and Well-Being, November 6, 2018 (Webinar). This is part of the OneNOAA Science Seminar Series. There is substantial, growing literature that details positive human health effects, psychological and physiological, of exposure to "nature," including "green" and "blue space," with evidence suggesting that diversity of species or environments may have specific positive human health benefits. These health benefits are important ecosystem services provided by healthy ecosystems. In this presentation, we discuss several critical ecosystem services provided by wetlands including disaster risk reduction, with an emphasis on benefits to human health and well-being. Impacts to human health via damage to ecosystem services from disasters have rarely been considered in disaster planning or mitigation, nor have the health benefits been part of the framework for planning urban greenspaces and land-use. Coastal wetlands can be part of "natural and nature-based" solutions, minimizing the impacts of disasters by buffering coastal communities from storms and erosion and absorbing flood waters. In addition, mental and physical health benefits of experiencing healthy wetlands could offset some stress and disease encounters related to disasters.

 

** New this week ** Northern rock sole recruitment response to winds and temperature in the eastern Bering Sea, November 7, 2018 (Webinar). This seminar is part of NOAA's EcoFOCI bi-annual seminar series focused on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and U.S. Arctic to improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics and applications of that understanding to the management of living marine resources. This webinar will consider issue of creating environment-recruitment models for short and long-term forecasting of rock sole.

** New this week ** Causes for the record low sea-ice extent in the Bering Sea in 2018, November 19, 2018 (Webinar). This seminar is part of NOAA's EcoFOCI bi-annual seminar series focused on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and U.S. Arctic to improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics and applications of that understanding to the management of living marine resources. This webinar will be an in-depth look at the driving factors of a warm Bering Sea including ice arrival, extent, and implications.

** New this week ** Modeled impact of coastal biogeochemical processes and climate variability on ocean acidification in the Bering Sea, November 28, 2019 (Webinar). This seminar is part of NOAA's EcoFOCI bi-annual seminar series focused on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and U.S. Arctic to improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics and applications of that understanding to the management of living marine resources. The webinar will be an examination of spatial and temporal variability of the carbon cycle from 2003-2012 and the connection to ocean acidification.

USARC Commissioner Jacqueline Richter-Menge to deliver the Nye Lecture at the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting. The US Arctic Research Commission (USARC) is pleased to announce that Commissioner Jacqueline Richter-Menge will present this year's Nye Lecture, titled "A Career of Change," at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, DC at 2:50 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2018 in the Marquis room of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, 901 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001.  

ArcticNet: Annual Scientific Meeting 2018, December 10-14, 2018 (Ottawa, ON Canada). Canada's North is experiencing unprecedented change in its sea and terrestrial ice, permafrost and ecosystems under the triple pressures of climate change, industrialization and modernization. The impacts of these pressures can be seen on food and energy security, shipping, sovereignty, northern community health and well-being, and sustainable development and resource exploitation. All these issues have brought the North to the forefront of national and international agendas. Building on the success of its previous Annual Scientific Meetings and International Arctic Change Conferences, the Arctic Network of Centers of Excellence announces the 14th ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting. 

Arctic Futures 2050: Science and Policy for a Changing Arctic, September 4-6, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). In 2019, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change  (SEARCH) and partners will convene Arctic scientists and decision makers to jointly forecast Arctic research needed to inform policy in the coming decades. The conference also is intended to foster more effective and iterative collaborations among Arctic scientists and decision makers.

 

American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, April 3-7, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). The Annual Meeting

of the AAG includes over 8,500 geographers converging from the U.S., Canada, and nearly 60 other countries in a typical year including geographers, GIS specialists, environmental scientists, and other leaders for the latest in research and applications in geography, sustainability, and GIScience.