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May 6, 2015

  

Council for Chemical Research Annual Meeting, May 4-6, 2015 (Alexandria, Virginia, USA). As the world changes, industries must adapt or die. Sometimes there are disruptive events that rapidly change the landscape in which they operate - these can come from innovations in products that displace existing markets, but they can also come from changes in resources that require new methods of manufacturing. The chemical enterprise is not immune to such effects - it can be disruptive and change the way people live and it can be disrupted by changes in the world's political and socioeconomic landscapes. The meeting will explore questions like how shale gas will alter the strategy and research needs for both commodity chemical and energy production and how climate change might impact research priorities and resource availability. John Farrell, the executive director of the US Arctic Research Commission, and others will present on "Disruption Due to Climate Change."

 

  

Today's Congressional Action:   

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The Senate is expected to consider non-Arctic legislation. The House is not session.

 

 

Media  

 

Low Pollock Years Linked to Ice Retreat. The years 2002 through 2005 were bad for Bering Sea pollock. The biomass plunged during those years. In a presentation in Washington, D.C., a NOAA fisheries biologist said today ongoing research points to two suspects: ice and fat, in league with each other. NOAA biologist Ed Farley of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center says the low pollock years were warm, resulting little Bering Sea ice by May. The ice rebounded in 2007-2012, and so did the pollock. Alaska Public Radio

 

May 2015 TV Highlights: Frontier Scientists Debut. May showcases a new series - FRONTIER SCIENTISTS - a featuring a range of research being conducted in the Last Frontier. The series follows scientists around Alaska as they explore the mysteries of this vast state. Some of the episodes include: capturing the migratory patterns of birds; the role of supercomputers in research; volcanoes and volcanic activity; the lives and times of arctic squirrels; mapping Arctic waters. The series starts May 6 at 9 p.m. right after NOVA and runs every Wednesday night through much of the summer. Alaska Public Radio

 

Arctic Council-From Looking Out to Looking In. Last Friday, the ninth ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council conference took place in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. The Canadian hosts recapped their two-year chairmanship before passing the torch to their Arctic neighbor, the United States, which will chair the leading intergovernmental organization in the circumpolar north. As the first entry in a two-part series on the Iqaluit ministerial, I'll first look back to compare this year's ministerial meeting with the previous one in Kiruna, Sweden, in 2013. In my second entry, I'll consider what the American chairmanship promises to hold over the next two years. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Melting Arctic Ice Changing Weather Patterns, Scientists Say. Scientists are warning of an increasing environmental chain reaction as the melting of Arctic ice hits a new record this year. This winter, the ice at the top of the northern hemisphere reached its peak thickness near the end of February, weeks ahead of normal. "The peak was Feb. 25, the normal peak is mid-March," said Jeff Key who specializes in satellite research with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). CBC News

 

Return of The Blob. Nicholas Bond, a climatologist for Washington state and a research scientist at the University of Washington's Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean, came up with the 1950s sci-fi movie inspired nickname The Blob for the huge, evolving mass of warm ocean water. "I started seeing this very unusually warm water in a semicircular patch about a year ago," Bond says. Alaska Public Radio

 

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No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

 

Future Events

 

Arctic Spring- Arctic Matters: A Smithsonian Festival of the North, May 8-10, 2015 (Washington, DC). The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History will host an educational weekend event celebrating Arctic peoples, cultures, and science. The event coincides with the launch of the United States' 2015-2017 chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the international governmental body coordinating Arctic policy.  When the US last chaired the Arctic Council (1998-2000), the Arctic was considered to be at the edge of the world's concerns. Now it is front and center in terms of environmental change and geopolitical importance. Arctic Spring will feature educational programs including a symposium, science displays and interactives, family events, artifacts and art, cultural and musical performances, and films. Activities will occur throughout the museum over a three-day period. Museum scientists, cultural experts, Arctic residents, government agencies, artists and photographers will present research findings and engage visitors in exploring what is known and still needs to be known about the Arctic, its lands, ocean, animals, cultures, and peoples.

The US Arctic Research Commission is a cosponsor of this event.
 

Neighbors in the North: Canada, the United States, and the Arctic Council, May 14, 2015 (Bellingham, Washington, USA). The Border Policy Research Institute, the Center for Canadian American Studies, the Consulate General of Canada, and Western Washington University host this event to consider what it means for the Arctic and the US when the chairmanship of the Arctic Council passes from Canada to the United States. 

 

Effects of Oil on Wildlife, May 18-22, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). This event is co-sponsored by International Bird Rescue and "Aiuka," which is a Brazilian conservation organization.  The event will focus on polar wildlife issues and integrating wildlife into oil response, etc.  Alaska Clean Seas is also a sponsor.  North Slope Borough will also be a part of this meeting. 

 

The House of Sweden Conference, May 19-20, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). A two day conference focusing on changes, adaptations and opportunities for a changing Arctic. The conference will be divided into separate, but intertwined thematic segments - policy, science, climate change and green technologies. The conference is organized by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and is aimed at Arctic oriented policy-makers, researchers, business representatives and NGO's in the lead-up to the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Chair of the US Arctic Research Commission Fran Ulmer is scheduled to participate on a panel discussing the Next Steps of Arctic Cooperation.
 

The European Union and Arctic (2015 EU-Arctic Conference), May 29, 2015 (Dundee, UK). The School of Law, University of Dundee, UK and the K. G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, University of Troms�, Norway are pleased to announce the registration open for "The European Union and the Arctic" (2015 EU-Arctic Conference). This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from relevant disciplines such as international law, international relations, political science and marine biology, NGOs, representatives from EU institutions and international organizations to discuss the EU's potential contribution to enhance Arctic governance. A roadmap for increasing the effectiveness of the EU's action in the Arctic will be drawn at the end of the conference. 

 

Polar Research Board Spring Meeting, June 2-3, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). The Polar Research Board is a part of the Division on Earth and Life Studies of the National Academies.  The Polar Research Board will host its spring meeting in Washington, D.C.  Please see the link for the agenda.

 

7th International Conference on Arctic Margins, June 2-5, 2015 (Trondheim, Norway).  The next meeting, the 7th International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM VII), previously announced to be arranged in St. Petersburg, will be held in Norway.  ICAM VII is hosted by the Geological Survey of Norway. The International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) was founded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, formerly the Minerals Management Service, in 1991 with the underlying two-point theme of 1) Arctic understanding, 2) international cooperation in Arctic research. To these ends, ICAM has provided a successful forum for the exchange of information, collaboration in research, and presentation of results. ICAM is organized, hosted, and conducted by scientists for scientists which makes it a unique forum.

 

16th International Congress on Circumpolar Health: Focus on Future Health and Wellbeing, June 8-12, 2015 (Oulu, Finland). The congress will focus on human health and well-being in the Arctic and northern areas. It is open for everyone interested in Arctic issues, especially scientists, researchers, health care professionals, policy analysts, government agency representatives and community leaders. The congress is organized by the Thule Institute, University of Oulu in collaboration with the International Union of Circumpolar Health (IUCH), the Nordic Society for Circumpolar Health, the Society of Arctic Health and Biology, and the Rokua Health & Spa. The InternationaI Congress on Circumpolar Health (ICCH) series are arranged every three years in Arctic countries or countries related to Arctic issues. First congress of the series was arranged in 1967, and it was previously hosted by Oulu in 1971.

  

52nd Annual Conference of the Animal Behavior Society, June 10-14, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The Animal Behavior Society was founded in 1964 to promote the study of animal behavior in the broadest sense, including studies using descriptive and experimental methods under natural and controlled conditions. Current members' research activities span the invertebrates and vertebrates, both in the field and in the laboratory, and include experimental psychology, behavioral ecology, neuroscience, zoology, biology, applied ethology, and human ethology as well as many other specialized areas.

 

2015 ESSAS Annual Science Meeting, June 15-17, 2015 (Seattle, WA, USA). This symposium, to be held at the University of Washington, is intended for interdisciplinary scholars who will be prepared to discuss their research in the sub-arctic North Atlantic, sub-arctic North Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean that bears on the issue of how changes in sea ice are likely to affect these marine ecosystems. The symposium will also consider the people who depend upon these ecosystems and how they may be able to cope with the changes in the ecosystem goods and services that are coming. These goods and services include the availability of transportation corridors, the availability of subsistence foods, and the opportunity for commercial fishing. To put the present day in a longer perspective, the symposium will include a session on the paleo-ecology of people in sub-arctic and arctic regions that were forced to adjust to changing sea-ice conditions in the past.

  

6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 14-16, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). This biennial symposium, co-hosted by the US National Ice Center and the US Arctic Research Commission, brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic observations, climate change, and maritime operations. Past symposia expanded the discussion to include the impact of an ice-diminishing arctic on other nations and their maritime operations including commercial transportation, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, fisheries, and oceanographic research. The continuing reduction in Arctic sea ice extent remains a central focus. 

 

Polar Law Symposium (8th) will be held in Alaska (Sept. 23-24, UAF; Sept. 25-26, UAA). It's sponsored by UAF, UAA (and ISER), UAA Justice Center, UW Law School. Abstracts due 3/15/15. This year's conference theme is, "The Science, Scholarship, and Practice of Polar Law: Strengthening Arctic Peoples and Places."

2015 Arctic Energy Summit, September 28-30, 2015 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA).The Institute of the North's 2015 Arctic Energy Summit builds on our legacy efforts to address energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic as a lasting frontier.Central to this concept is a focus on providing pathways for affordable energy development in the Arctic and for Arctic communities.

 
The Polar Oceans and Global Climate Change, November 3-6, 2015 (La Jolla, California USA.)  The American Polar Society will host this Symposium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  A flyer with a partial list of presenters is available on the Society's website (americanpolar.org) and from the Society's Membership Chairman by email.

Due North: Next Generation Arctic Research & Leadership, November 5-8, 2015 (Calgary, Alberta, Canada). The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) will convene an interdisciplinary conference of early career scientists working on Arctic issues. The organizers have issued a call for abstracts, due 5/31/15, on the following topics, full descriptions of where are available here, Arctic Communities, Arctic Sustainable Development, Arctic Wildlife, Ecosystem and Biodiversity, Arctic Food Security, Arctic Landscapes, Climate Change and Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, Policy, Politics and Leadership, Arctic Environment (Data and Techniques), Arctic Resources, and Future of Arctic.

  

11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016), June 20-24, 2016 (Potsdam, Germany). The Alfred Wegener Institute has teamed up with UP Transfer GmbH and the University of Potsdam to organize a great conference for you, permafrost researchers. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level.

  

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