Arctic Update Header
December 10, 2015
 
The State Department and NASA, in cooperation with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Council for Environmental Quality will host this event, streamed online, in coordination with the US Center for COP21. 
Moderator: Christy Goldfuss, Managing Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Speakers: Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; and Dr. Patrick Taylor, Research Scientist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Today's Congressional Action:   
The Senate is expected to consider non-Arctic legislation. The House is expected to consider H.R. 4188, the Coast Guard Authorization Act, and H.R. 3578, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Reform Improvement Act. 

Media  
 
Ikaarvik Project Aims to Connect Arctic Researchers and Inuit Youth. Inuit researchers want Arctic scientists from other parts of Canada to connect with Inuit communities and understand how climate change can affect remote communities. Arctic scholars are gathering this week for the ArcticNet conference in Vancouver. Two people from Nunavut are also attending to talk about the Ikaarvik Project, a program that aims to connect communities in Canada's Far North with scientists who want to do research there. CBC News
 
COP21 Dairy: Climate Science is Ahead of Policy But, Thankfully, the Fear is Behind. All the way across Northern Eurasia and the Northern reaches of the Americas, groves of trees have started to take on an odd appearance. Their trunks are bent at harsh angles, as if strained against the wind. In truth, it is the ground itself that has begun to buckle and sink, a major problem for local communities and wildlife. Roads break, houses must be abandoned to the shifting earth, lakes appear where there were none before. These outlandish events have a rather simple - if chilling - explanation: from Siberia to Canada, the permafrost is beginning to thaw. This event has the potential to release large volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, speeding the progress of climate change well beyond what most current models predict. The Wire
 
Ian Stirling, Polar Bear Scientist, Wins $50k Lifetime Achievement Award. It says something about the impact of a scientist's work that when he goes to talk to school children about his research, they already know the story. You probably do too: Sea ice is melting, and that's hurting polar bears who need the ice to hunt seals. The science demonstrating that relationship to the world was led by a Canadian researcher, Ian Stirling, who today was awarded $50,000, chosen by his fellow scientists for the Weston Family Prize for lifetime achievement in northern research. CBC News
 
Coast Guard Seal Coast Guard to Finalize Icebreaker Acquisition Strategy by Spring; Production by 2020. The Coast Guard intends to develop an acquisition strategy for its heavy endurance icebreaker program by the spring and reach production-related activities by 2020, after President Barack Obama announced in September that the United States should accelerate the icebreaker program to support increased activity in the Arctic. Coast Guard acquisition chief Rear Adm. Mike Haycock said at an American Society of Naval Engineers chapter meeting that his office would begin "aggressive industry outreach" in January to help inform both the acquisition strategy and the physical requirements for the ship. USNI News
 
Greenland Glaciers Melt Rate Hits 9,500 Year Record. The glaciers of Greenland are retreating two to three times faster now than at any time since the last Ice Age ended 9,500 years ago, according to new research. The news comes as indigenous peoples from the northern polar region staged an Arctic Day at the COP21 climate change summit in Paris. The Ecologist
 
Legislative Actionfutureevents  

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

Arctic Encounter Paris (AEP 2015), December 11-12, 2015 (Paris, France) (During the UN Convention on Climate Change - COP21). The Arctic Encounter Paris (AEP) will take place at the French Senate at Luxembourg Palace and the French Military College, �cole Militaire, in Paris, France, on the final days of the monumental United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP21) where thousands of global citizens and government delegates will be gathered to deliberate the world's response to our changing planet in Paris. The AEP is the only Arctic policy and economics side event currently planned to take place during the UN Convention. A reception will take place following the closing panel.

AGU logo
Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, December 14-18, 2015 (San Francisco, California). The 48th meeting of the union brings together nearly 24,000 attendees, and lots of Arctic research results. The scientific program is here. There will be several Arctic-related "Town Hall" meetings, including those sponsored by NASA, DOE, NSF, ISAC, IARPC, and SEARCH.
 
Norway-Russia: Bridging for Partnerships in Business, Education and Research, January 12, 2016 (Bodo, Norway). The conference will be devoted to an opening of new academic semester and an upcoming 25 years cooperation between University of Nordland and Baltic State Technical University (St. Petersburg). On the second day the educational project's results "Arctic Bridge: Cooperation on PhD Education and Research Training in the field of Management in Extractive Industries in the High North" will be presented.
 
"Arctic Matters" day at the National Academy of Sciences, January 14th, 2016 (Washington, DC, USA) This symposium is part of an ongoing initiative of the National Academies of Science Polar Research Board to expand public understanding of why the dramatic changes affecting the Arctic region ultimately matter to us all.  The agenda features engaging presentations and discussions with top Arctic science and policy experts, and displays and interactive exhibits that illustrate Arctic change and its global impacts.  The event is free and open to the public.  There are sponsorship opportunities, and a call for exhibitor applications.  Audience space is limited, so register today; and please encourage your friends, neighbors, and colleagues to participate-as our goal is to reach well beyond the small circle of specialists who typically attend Arctic-themed events in the DC area.   The U.S. Arctic Research Commission is the primary sponsor of this event.
Building upon the preceding Arctic Encounter event in Paris, the third annual Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES) in Seattle, Washington will convene policymakers, industry leaders, and leading experts to confront the leading issues in Arctic policy, innovation, and development. The AES mission is to raise awareness, engage challenges, and develop solutions for the future of a region and a people. The two-day program includes two keynote luncheons, expert plenary sessions, break out sessions, a networking cocktail reception and seated dinner. A closing reception will take place at the conclusion of the program.

2016 Arctic Frontiers, January 24-29, 2015 (Tromso, Norway).The Arctic is a global crossroad between commercial and environmental interests. The region holds substantial natural resources and many actors are investigating ways to utilise these for economic gain. Others view the Arctic as a particularly pristine and vulnerable environment and highlight the need to limit industrial development. Arctic Frontiers 2016 will discuss the balance between resource utilisation and preservation, and between industrial and environmental interests in the Arctic. Envisioning a well-planned, well-governed, and sustainable development in the Arctic, how can improved Arctic stewardship help balance environmental concerns with industrial expansion? How can the industrial footprints from future business activities be minimised? And last, but not least, what role will existing and emerging technologies play in making industrial development profitable and environmentally friendly, securing a sustainable growth scenario for Arctic communities?
 
16th Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 25-29, 2016 (Anchorage, AK, USA)A valuable meeting focusing on research results from the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, and the Arctic Ocean. Good, in-depth, research from Alaska's marine regions. AMSS. The agenda is now up here. 
 
43rd Annual Meeting of the Alaska Anthropological Association, March 2-6, 2016 (Sitka, Alaska, USA). The Alaska Anthropological Association will be holding its 43rd Annual Meeting in Sitka, Alaska.  This year it is being organized by archaeologists and anthropologists of the National Park Service - Alaska Region.

5th Annual Fletcher Opening Arctic Conference, March 12, 2016. The Opening Arctic Conference builds on the Fletcher School's Warming Arctic International Inquiry series, to bring together high-level thought leaders from across disciplines, Fletcher's hallmark. Staged annually, Fletcher's event continues to address the foreign policy, economic, environmental and security implications of the opening Arctic, while dispelling myths.
 
Arctic Science Summit Week Arctic Observing Summit, March 12-18, 2016 (Fairbanks, AK, USA). ASSW is the annual gathering of international organizations that support and facilitate long-term planning in Arctic research. In 2016, ASSW will be held in conjunction with AOS, which brings people together to facilitate the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long-term operation of an international network of Arctic observing systems.

  
14th IATS Seminar, June 19-25, 2016 (Bergen, Norway). The University of Bergen (UiB) is honoured 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 Troms� as partners. The convenor is Professor Hanna Havnevik, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, and Chair of the Network.
 
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.
 
ICETECH 2016, August 15-18, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The Arctic Section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) together with Alaska's Institute of the North (ION) will host the International Conference and Exhibition on Performance of Ships and Structures in Ice (ICETECH 16), the premiere international conference on ships and structures in ice. The conference will take place in Anchorage starting with an opening icebreaker reception on the evening of Monday, August 15, and concluding in the afternoon on Thursday August 18, with a possible workshop on Arctic EER on Friday August 19. 
  
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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