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** New this week** Alaska Nautical Charting Workshop, March 22, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska USA) The workshop will be held from 8:30am to 5pm in the Anchorage Federal Building Annex Conference Rooms A/B/C, 222 West 8th Avenue. Join the experts from NOAA's Office of Coast Survey for some deep dives into plans for future hydrographic surveys and nautical charts. NOAA cartographers, surveyors, and technology experts want to hear from you, as they plan for the next generation of navigational products and services to support Alaska's vital maritime interests. Email
[email protected] or
[email protected] to RSVP or for more information. Please bring a photo ID to enter this federal facility.
Today's C
ongressional Action:
The House will consider non-Arctic legislation. The Senate will hold a pro forma session today.
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'Environmental Disaster' in Nation's Biggest Oil Reserve Finally Being Cleaned Up.
The federal government is fixing an environmental mess it left decades ago in the nation's largest oil reserve, removing rusting relics from an early era of exploration and providing a small counterweight of new jobs to the huge cutbacks on the North Slope oil patch. The progress was highlighted Tuesday with a ceremonial plugging of a decades-old well in the giant National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The remote site 50 miles southeast of Barrow is accessible by ski plane. Alaska Dispatch News
 Bipartisan Group Breaks the Ice in the Arctic.
Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy got to tour the Arctic on a Connecticut-made submarine named for the Nutmeg State's capital this weekend to educate himself about life under water. "I took this trip in part so that I can be a much better first-hand advocate for the money we need to continue to build," Murphy said Monday. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Democrat returned committed to push funding so the quality of life for submarine sailors is "the gold standard." Roll Call
After Arctic Trip, Senator Calls For Continued Sub Funding.
Back in Washington after an overnight stint on a submarine in the Arctic, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy reaffirmed his commitment to ramped-up production of Virginia class boats, which are designed and built at Electric Boat in Groton. "I can speak with greater first-hand experience now about the importance of keeping a full complement of subs in the water to protect the Arctic," Murphy said Monday. Military.com
Communities, Officials Prep for Giant Cruise Ship Foray Through NW Passage.
The door from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans will open a bit wider this summer. That's because 110 years after Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen finished his three-year transit of the Northwest Passage in 1906, more than 1,700 people plan to travel through the same route this summer, heading east. Nunatisaq Online
 Soviet Scientists Sought to Melt the Arctic.
When the USSR conducted expeditions to the Arctic and the Arctic Ocean during the first half of the 20
th
century, Soviet scientists began proposing radical projects to "improve the climate." Among the first to propose getting rid of ice in the Arctic was Evgeny Gernet, Arctic Ice researcher and former officer in the Tsarist army. He published a brochure in Japan in 1930 in which he said the ice of the Arctic Ocean was not permanent and, if it were to be melted, the climate of the Miocene Epoch (about 23 to 5.3 million years ago) would return to Eurasia. During that period, the shores of Scandinavia were lined with cypress and magnolia trees. Russia & India Report
Climate Change, Health Top Arctic Council Meeting in Alaska.
Climate change and circumpolar health: these were among the top issues discussed by senior arctic officials, meeting this past week in Fairbanks, Alaska during the larger Arctic Science Summit Week, which attracted more than 1,000 scientists, government officials and industry experts.
In Fairbanks, much of the talk between the SAOs and six Indigenous permanent participants focused on the Arctic Council's work on climate change and building resilience to climate change in Arctic communities.
Nunatsiaq Online
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, March 23-25, 2016 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA).
The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The Fairbanks workshop aims to explore recent advances and innovations in indigenous science and scholarship in the circumpolar north and its neighbors. The workshop will bring together indigenous experts and researchers from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds to explore the role and contributions of indigenous frameworks and knowledge systems in advancing fields of science and informing global solutions.
Using an Environmental intelligence Framework to Evaluate the Impacts of Ocean Acidification in the Arctic, March 31, 2016 (Washington, DC, USA).
The intensity and extent of ocean acidification in the Arctic will increase rapidly as atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise making the region a bellwether for the global ocean during the next few decades. The environmental changes brought on by ocean acidification could pose a significant threat to Arctic ecosystems that are already facing challenges from changes in sea ice distribution, warming and increased freshwater discharge. New ways of collecting and integrating critical environmental intelligence will be discussed in the context of developing resilience and adaptation strategies for dealing with ocean acidification.
This event is sponsored by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, March 31-April 2, 2016 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA).
The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The Juneau Workshop, organized in collaboration with University of Alaska Southeast Department of Social Science, aims to explore the contributions and potentials of Arctic social sciences in the emerging synergies that involve humanities, natural sciences, and engineering. The connections we attempt to foster reach mainly into two directions within the recent history of Arctic research.
15th Annual Arctic Health Science Seminar, April 1, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA).
The American Society for Circumpolar Health will host the 15th Annual Arctic Health Science Seminar in Anchorage, Alaska. This event will include the annual meeting of the American Society for Circumpolar Health, the Robert Fortuine Memorial lecture, and the Albrecht Milan Foundation will provide the Albrecht-Milan Emerging Professional Award to one of the Arctic Health Science Seminar presenters. The call for abstracts is open through
Monday February 29, 2016.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, April 14-16, 2016 (Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA).
The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. This workshop will gather a diverse group of scholars to discuss the state-of-the art in Arctic social sciences and develop visioning scenarios for the future of social science research in the Arctic. The core topics will parallel discussions held at other regional workshops (Portland, OR and Providence, RI), which include: social sciences research and climate change; interdisciplinary research in the Arctic; social sciences and humanities in the Arctic, and applied social sciences research.
Alaska Rural Energy Conference, April 26-28, 2016 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The Alaska Rural Energy Conference is a three day event offering a large variety of technical sessions covering new and ongoing energy projects in Alaska, as well as new technologies and needs for Alaska's remote communities. Building on the growing success, the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power have joined forces again to organize and sponsor the 10th annual Alaska Rural Energy Conference.
High North Dialogue 2016: The Blue Future of the Arctic, May 25-26, 2016.
HND is an annual conference hosted by the High North Center at Nord University, engaging a wide audience of researchers and future leaders of the region. It will address the necessary questions to effectively promote dialogue between interested stakeholders on how to sustainably develop the different realities of the many Arctics. PhD and Masters students can also participate in a week long credit awarding graduate course.
14th IATS Seminar, June 19-25, 2016 (Bergen, Norway).
The University of Bergen (UiB) is honored to host the 14th IATS Seminar in Bergen, Norway, from Sunday 19 to Saturday 25 June 2016 in co-operation with the Network for University Co-operation Tibet-Norway, an academic network with the universities of Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø as partners. The convenor is Professor Hanna Havnevik, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, and Chair of the Network.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, September 23-24, 2016 (Monticello, Rhode Island, 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.
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.
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.
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