NNA Community Newsletter

July 2023 Issue

• New Indigenous Engagement Coordinator Joins the NNA-CO
• 2022 NNA Annual Community Meeting Archive
• AGU Abstract Submission Deadline
• Alaska STEAM Collaboration Newsletter
• Open Position: Polar Research Board Director
• NNA Project Highlight: Remote Sensing of Arctic Sea Ice Using the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network
• Upcoming Events

New Indigenous Engagement Coordinator Joins the NNA-CO

In late June, the NNA-CO welcomed our new Indigenous Engagement Coordinator, Jessica Kaagyugaq Lewis-Nicori. 

Kaagyugaugua, kassatun Jessica Lewis-Nicori, Caputnguarmiungunga, NNA-CO-mi calituunga Indigenous Engagement Coordinator-aulua Alaska Pacific University-m Community Extension Office-aani. Anglillruama Caputnguarmi, nunam arrcaqaullra nallunritaqa. Wildlife Biology and Conservation-amek-llu elitnaullruunga UAF-ami, cali-llu elitnauristengurtellrulua high school science-amek. Taukut eliitellrenka, cali-llu eliiqurallrenka aturluki ikayuutnguciiqua NNA-CO-mun.

Jessica Kaagyugaq Lewis-Nicori is Yup’ik from Chefornak and serves the NNA-CO as the Indigenous Engagement Coordinator. She supports the goals of the Community Extension Office at APU using her background in wildlife biology and conservation, secondary education, and knowledge of ecosystem workings, including the importance of the land, that come with growing up in a small Yup’ik community.

2022 NNA Annual Community Meeting Archive

AGU Abstract Submission Deadline

The AGU Fall Meeting 2023 will take place December 11-15, 2023 in San Francisco, CA and online. Abstract submissions close at 23:59 p.m. ET/03:59 +1 GMT on August 2, 2023. Please consider submitting an abstract to one of these NNA-relevant sessions.



Alaska STEAM Collaboration Newsletter

The AK STEAM Collaboration is a partnership of the Navigating the New Arctic Community Office and University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center in partnership with the Alaska Science Teachers Association. This quarterly newsletter shares Alaska and Arctic-focused opportunities and resources with over 300 educators in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Check out Issue 1 here.

We’d like to feature your classroom activities or opportunities in our upcoming August newsletter! Send us your resources, events, or opportunities to be included in the next newsletter in this submission form. Sign up to receive the quarterly newsletter here. 

Open Position: Polar Research Board Director

The U.S. National Academies have opened a search for a Director to lead the Polar Research Board (PRB) and the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate. This exciting opportunity for an Arctic and/or Antarctic researcher is open to U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents (Green Card holders), plus overseas applicants with a valid visa.

Learn more here.

If you'd like to learn more about the position, particularly the PRB component, and about living and working in the Washington, DC, region, Martin Jeffries (member, PRB) would be happy to talk. Martin can be contacted at jeffriesmo@gmail.com. 

NNA Project Highlight

Remote Sensing of Arctic Sea Ice Using the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network

The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international network of ground-based space weather radars which have operated continuously in the Arctic and Antarctic regions for more than 30 years. These high-frequency (HF) radars use over-the-horizon (OTH) radio wave propagation to detect ionospheric plasma structures across ranges of up to several thousand kilometers. As a byproduct of this technique, the transmitted radar signals frequently reflect from the Earth's surface and can be observed as ground/sea backscatter echoes.

This project analyzes historical and ongoing SuperDARN ground/sea backscatter data for comparison to sea ice measurements obtained from space-based microwave remote sensors. Improvements made in the detection and geolocation of SuperDARN ground/sea backscatter echoes have not only benefited studies of land/sea surface features in radar observations but also increased the quality of global space weather maps of ionospheric plasma convection. As a contributor to the Arctic Observing Network (AON) program, monthly files containing daily maps of ground/sea backscatter occurrence from 7 SuperDARN radars (shaded red in the attached figure) have been delivered to the National Science Foundation's Arctic Data Center and are available in NetCDF-format here.

The PI of this project is Simon Shepherd (Dartmouth College). For more information, please contact Evan Thomas at evan.g.thomas@dartmouth.edu.

Figure caption: (a) Fields of view (FOVs) of the Northern Hemisphere SuperDARN radars in geographic coordinates. Radars for which data have been submitted to the Arctic Data Center are shaded red. (b) Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) 24 km sea ice extent for 01 January 2023 (white pixels) and GMTED2010-derived land surface roughness (yellow-brown pixels), with contributing radar FOVs overlaid in black.

Article submitted by the Remote Sending of Arctic Sea Ice Using the SuperDARN team.

Upcoming Events

Science Storytelling Series - Facilitating Community Stories

• September 14, 2023 | 11am AKT / 1pm MT / 3pm ET

Open Science Webinar: Making Arctic Science Open Science

• September 26, 2023 | 11am AKT / 1pm MT / 3pm ET

Indigenous Evaluation Training

• Fall 2023 (Exact date/time TBD)

AGU AGU Session on “Arctic Education & Outreach - Effective Ways of Engaging Diverse Learners in Arctic Science (ED004)

• December 11-15, 2023 (Exact date/time TBD)

Science Storytelling Series - Creating Virtual Tours with Infiniscope

• January 25, 2024 | 10am AKT / 12pm MT / 2pm ET

2024 NNA Annual Community Meeting

• March 5-7, 2024