The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Russian Federation currently leads the Arctic Council, and the European Union has issued a long-term strategy for the development of the Arctic. What key areas of development are possible in the region? What the priorities of the Arctic Council states are. What the Arctic may offer to the world. Representatives of states, big business, NGOs and academia will speak during the session. Political and regulatory development, the balance between economic and environmental development in the region, responsible finance and shipping, mining, soot issues and climate change, and the future of local populations will be addressed. Former chair of the US Arctic Research Commission Fran Ulmer will be a panelist.

The small Akiak village near Bethel is switching on its new broadband and high-speed internet connection through the OneWeb Low Earth Orbiting Satellite, or LEOS, system. The system will be fully operating on Nov. 15 but a successful test of the connection was carried out Sept. 14 and village residents are now using the system.

Geographically speaking, it would be almost impossible for this bird to get any more lost. A rogue eagle popped up Wednesday in eastern Canada — about 4,700 miles away from home. For months, the Steller’s sea eagle has been tantalizing North American birders with its odd eastward trek. “It’s almost as far away from your origin as you can be,” said Andrew Farnsworth, a senior researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “It’s mind-boggling.”

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 provided the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) the authority to assess, plan, and establish a new Department of Defense (DOD) Regional Center, specifically oriented to the Arctic. Following a period of analysis on the merits of creating such a center, the Secretary announced the establishment of the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies (Stevens Center or TSC) on 9 June 2021. As part of that announcement, SecDef Llyod Austin elaborated these key details: “The center will support the U.S. Interim National Security Strategic Guidance direction to work with like-minded partners and across the interagency to pool our collective strength and advance shared interests,” Austin said. “It will address the need for U.S. engagement and international cooperation to strengthen the rules-based order in the region and tackle shared challenges such as climate change.” This article is by former US Arctic Research Commissioner Major General Randy “Church” Kee, USAF, retired.

The North Pacific Research Board, in partnership with the North Slope Borough/ Shell Baseline Studies Program, announces a Request for Proposals offering a total of $2.2 million to support the Synthesis Phase of the Arctic Integrated Ecosystem Research Program (IERP) and the Assessment Phase of a future IERP that will continue integrated ecosystem research in the Bering and Chukchi seas, centered in the North Bering Sea.

Russia’s ambition to remain the Arctic superpower is propelling its all-out effort to guard its economic interests there with broad territorial claims over waterways and a continued military build-up in a region the United States often ignored, an expert on Arctic defense and security said Wednesday. Troy Bouffard, director of the Arctic Security and Defense Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said President Vladimir Putin “really changed [Russia’s] approach to international development” and sees the Arctic playing a vital role in Moscow’s return as a great power.

Majestic, increasingly hungry and at risk of disappearing, the polar bear is dependent on something melting away on our warming planet: sea ice. In the harsh and unforgiving Arctic, where frigid cold is not just a way of life but a necessity, the polar bear stands out. But where it lives, where it hunts, where it eats—it's disappearing underfoot in the crucial summertime.

The European Commission and the European External Action Service will organize a high-level EU Arctic Forum and the Annual Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Dialogue. The EU Arctic Forum will bring together key Arctic players and stakeholders to assess recent developments in the region and discuss challenges ahead. The event will provide a strategic outlook for the updated EU Arctic policy and delve into topics that are of particular significance for the Arctic’s inhabitants.

During 2021, scientists from ADF&G, USFWS, and UAF joined the latest NOAA surface trawl survey. This survey monitored marine life; including salmon and other ocean-going fishes, seabirds, shrimp, and zooplankton in the northern Bering Sea. These surveys help improve understanding of the current status of the regional ecosystem in order to prepare communities, researchers, and fisheries for changes in our marine resources.

Jim Murphy is a research biologist with the Salmon Ocean Ecology and Bycatch Analysis group at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Juneau, AK. 

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Museums in and of the North are leading the way in creative conversations about how museums and collections can generate new narratives with old objects. Join us for a virtual roundtable discussion with Arctic museum curators and scholars speaking about museums as engines of Indigenous cultural renewal, community knowledge, decolonial efforts, creative innovation, and more.

The New England Arctic Network (NEAN) will host its 2021 meeting at the University of New England in Portland, Maine. Additional information will be published soon. 

The Wilson Center's Polar Institute is pleased to co-sponsor the 14th Polar Law Symposium, which will be a hybrid event co-hosted by the Polar Cooperation Research Centre (Kobe University, Japan), Polar Law Institute (University of Akureyri, Iceland), Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law – Arctic Centre (University of Lapland, Finland), University of the Arctic and its Arctic Law Thematic Network (Finland).

Hosted entirely online the ArcticNet Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting 2021 (ASM2021) is a hub for Arctic research in Canada. The ASM2021 brings together researchers from the natural, health, and social sciences to meet the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing Arctic region, shaped by climate change and modernization. This conference will push the boundaries of our collective understanding of the Arctic and strengthen our ability to address the Arctic issues of today and tomorrow.

The National Academies’ Polar Research Board is convening the following session at the Fall AGU meeting.

Arctic Symposium 2022 continues momentum in Arctic defense and security collaboration established in prior ALCOM-hosted events. AAS22 seeks to address the challenges faced by the U.S. military and our allies and partners in understanding and responding to our respective national interests. AAS22 is planned and organized by the Arctic Domain Awareness Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in support and in compliance to guidance from Alaskan Command (ALCOM) Staff and Commander. More information available soon.

The participants in the forum will focus on improving the living standards in the Arctic region, preserving its unique ecological potential, ensuring sustainable socioeconomic development in polar territories, and strengthening international cooperation to this end. The IAF is a unique space for constructive cooperation with international and regional organizations and an opportunity to focus on Russian and international priorities, including climate change, the environment, economic cooperation in the Arctic, sustainable development of transport infrastructure, and human capital development.

Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2022. 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.