The first Open Science Meeting (OSM) for the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) was held October 27-30, 2003 in Seattle, Washington at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.

The SEARCH Open Science Meeting was an international, interdisciplinary, and multi-agency endeavor with a very broad representation of students, countries, disciplines, and research. More than 440 participants presented information and contributed to discussions on the status of environmental changes in the Arctic.

The primary goal of the SEARCH Open Science Meeting was to provide an international forum for presentation and discussion of research that addresses the basic premise of SEARCH — that there exists a complex of interrelated pan-Arctic changes occurring across terrestrial, oceanic, atmospheric and human systems. The meeting was intended to inspire scientists from a large range of disciplines to contribute to SEARCH either through linking their ongoing work to this program or through the design of new projects.

The Open Science Meeting was organized by three major themes of Changes and Impacts, Feedbacks, and Drivers/Causes, with a focus on identifying unresolved scientific issues and future research opportunities. The meeting included an integrated combination of invited keynote talks, parallel science sessions with contributed papers, moderated panel discussions and poster sessions.

An organizing committee established by ARCUS worked with the SEARCH Science Steering Committee, the Interagency Working Group (IWG) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) to insure significant involvement from a diverse international and interdisciplinary community. The sponsoring agencies and organizing committee invited participation in the SEARCH effort, particularly from students and colleagues outside of the U.S.

Sponsors and Organizers

The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS), in collaboration with the SEARCH Open Science Meeting organizing committee, coordinated the conference on behalf of the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs and the other meeting sponsors.

Meeting Organizers
The organizing committee established by ARCUS was selected to insure significant involvement and representation from the SEARCH Science Steering Committee, the Interagency Working Group (IWG), the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the broader arctic community.

Organizing Committee

wabdalat [at] hq.nasa.gov (Waleed Abdalati), NASA
john.calder [at] noaa.gov (John Calder), NOAA
glhunt [at] uci.edu (George Hunt, Jr.), University of California, Irvine
manda [at] cires.colorado.edu (Amanda Lynch), University of Colorado, Boulder
morison [at] apl.washington.edu (James Morison), Chair, SEARCH Science Steering Committee
craign [at] forwild.umass.edu (Craig Nicolson), University of Massachusetts
overland [at] pmel.noaa.gov (James Overland), Chair, Organizing Committee
nswanber [at] nsf.gov (Neil Swanberg), NSF
warnick [at] arcus.org (Wendy Warnick), ARCUS
webber [at] msu.edu (Patrick Webber), IASC

The SEARCH Open Science Meeting is sponsored by:

NSF Office of Polar Programs

The SEARCH Open Science Meeting is sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs, along with the other agencies participating in the SEARCH Interagency Working Group (IWG) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC).

SEARCH IWG Member Organizations

Department of Interior
Department of Energy
Department of Defense
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Science Foundation
Smithsonian Institution
U.S. Department of Agriculture

IASC Member Organizations

Canada - Canadian Polar Commission
China - Chinese Antarctic Administration
Denmark - The Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland
Finland - The Academy of Finland
France - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Germany - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Iceland - The Icelandic Research Council
Italy - National Research Council of Italy
Japan - Science Council of Japan, National Committee on Antarctic Research
The Netherlands - The Netherlands Marine Research Foundation
Norway - Norwegian Research Council, The Norwegian National Committee on Polar Research
Poland- Polish Academy of Sciences, Committee on Polar Research
Russia- The Russian Academy of Sciences, the Arctic Research Commission
South Korea - Korea Arctic Science Committee, KORDI
Sweden - The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Switzerland - Swiss Committee on Polar Research
United Kingdom - The National Arctic Research Forum
USA - The National Academy of Sciences