Logo
End

About

Witness the Arctic provides information on current arctic research efforts and findings, significant research initiatives, national policy affecting arctic research, international activities, and profiles of institutions with major arctic research efforts. Witness serves an audience of arctic scientists, educators, agency personnel, and policy makers. Witness was published biannually in hardcopy from 1995-2008 (archives are available below) and is currently published online 3-4 times annually, depending on newsworthy events.

Subscribe to Witness the Arctic

Download Witness the Arctic

application/pdf icon
Winter 2013 PDF (2.7 MB)
Witness the Arctic Volume 17 Issue 1

Archives

With the Spring 2009 issue, ARCUS changed the format of Witness the Arctic. To provide more frequent updates and reduce printing and mailing costs and associated environmental impacts, the newsletter is now distributed online in three or four shorter issues per year, depending on newsworthy events.

Contact

If you have a question or an idea for a Witness article, contact Betsy Turner-Bogren at betsy [at] arcus [dot] org.

Subscribe to the Witness the Arctic RSS Feed RSS Feed

Distribution Date: 5 March 2013

Witness the Arctic | Volume 17, Number 1 - Winter 2013

Articles

Interagency Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)

SEARCH
SEARCH Updates
A SEARCH AGU Town Hall was held at the AGU fall meeting to provide a forum for open exchange on SEARCH activities and future priorities. Specific topics included the new SEARCH five-year goals and the Arctic Observing Network (AON). Approximately 80 members of the arctic science community attended...
{Read More}

Arctic Social Sciences Program

Witness the Arctic | 2013 | ArticFigure 1: Demographic patterns in knole | Image
Demographics of True and False Arctic Facts
In a recent survey of the U.S. general public, a team of researchers led by Lawrence Hamilton at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute investigated the correlation between climate beliefs and the assimilation of science information. This research, funded in part by NSF, found complex...
{Read More}
Excavation of house on theWitness the Arctic | 2013 | Article | Image
Recovered Artifacts Indicate Prehistoric Trade Across Bering Strait
Researchers working at Cape Espenberg, Alaska recently recovered cast metal objects apparently derived from eastern Asia. These objects, the first such items to be recovered in a prehistoric Alaskan context, were recovered during summer of 2011, which was the third and final field season of the NSF...
{Read More}

National Science Foundation News

NSF
Impact of FY 2013 Sequestration Order on NSF Awards
On 27 February 2013, NSF Director Subra Suresh issued Notice Number 133 entitled "Important Notice to Presidents of Universities and Colleges and Heads of other National Science Foundation Awardee Organizations" regarding the impact of a FY 2013 Sequestration Order on NSF Awards. The text of this...
{Read More}
NSF
NSF’s Polar Cyberinfrastructure Program Initiative
Marco Tedesco, recently appointed Polar Cyberinfrastructure Program Director at NSF's Division of Polar Programs, aims to lay the foundation of an infrastructure that will be as revolutionary for polar science as the coming of water and electric power was for our cities.The Polar...
{Read More}
National Science Foundation
Community Updates from NSF Arctic Town Hall Meetings
Arctic Sciences (ARC) Division Director Simon Stephenson and Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director Hedy Edmonds led a Town Hall meeting on 5 December 2012 during the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco. The Town Hall provided a forum for open exchange on NSF activities and...
{Read More}

Interagency News

Arctic terrestrial ecosystem
Administration Releases Five-Year Arctic Research Plan
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced release of the five-year Arctic Research Plan, which was developed by the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC). The announcement, as posted by Brendan P. Kelly and Simon N. Stephenson on 19 February 2013, follows:...
{Read More}
Photo Courtesy Jackie Richter-Menge.
The Arctic Report Card: Past and Present
The Arctic Report Card is an annually updated, peer-reviewed source for concise environmental information on the current state of the Arctic relative to historical records. It is intended for a wide audience including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers, and the general public. Support...
{Read More}

U.S. Arctic Research Commission

USARC Commissioner Benton
Recent Presidential Appointments to USARC
The Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 established the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC), which is headed by seven Commissioners appointed by the President. The Commission includes four members from academic or research institutions; two members from private industry undertaking...
{Read More}
U.S. Arctic Research Commission logo
USARC Resources and Reports
The U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC), an independent federal agency created by the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984, is charged with recommending arctic research policy to the President and Congress and reporting to Congress on the progress of the Executive Branch in reaching goals set...
{Read More}

Polar Research Board

Figure 1 Arctic sea ice extent, March and September 2012
Polar Research Board Releases Report on Seasonal to Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice
In November 2012, the Polar Research Board (PRB) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences issued the report, Seasonal to Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice: Challenges and Strategies, which explores major challenges in sea ice prediction, and identifies methods, observations, and technologies...
{Read More}

International News

AOS 2013 logo
International Arctic Observing Summit to Convene Spring 2013
The Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) is a high-level summit that aims to provide community-driven and science-based guidance for the design, implementation, coordination, and operation of an international network of arctic observing systems to be sustained over several decades. AOS is led by the...
{Read More}

A Note from the ARCUS President

Witness the Arctic | 2013 | Article | ImageVera Alexander, President, ARCUS Boar
A Brief Personal Look at the Evolution of the R/V Sikuliaq
Arctic marine research has suffered over the past decades because the U.S. academic fleet, operated by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), has never operated an ice capable vessel. This has not been the case for the Southern Ocean, which always has had both supply and...
{Read More}
ARCUS
  • Arctic Research Consortium of the United States
  • 3535 College Road
  • Suite 101
  • Fairbanks, AK 99709 USA
  • Phone: 907-474-1600
  • Fax: 907-474-1604
  • info@arcus.org
  • www.arcus.org

Executive Director: Susan E. Fox

Editors: Betsy Turner-Bogren, Helen Wiggins, Kristina Creek, and Judy Fahnestock

Contributors: V. Alexander, L. Brown, H. K. Cooper, H. Edmonds, H. Eicken, J. Farrell, L. Hamilton, J. F. Hoffecker, M. O. Jeffries, B. P. Kelly, O. Mason, M. S. Murray, J. A. Richter-Menge, S. Stephenson, S. Suresh, M. Tedesco, H. Wiggins

ARCUS is a nonprofit organization consisting of institutions organized and operated for educational, professional, or scientific purposes. Established by its member institutions in 1988 with the primary mission of strengthening arctic research, ARCUS activities are funded through cooperative agreements with NSF and the National Park Service, grants from NSF, a contract with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and membership dues.

Witness the Arctic is published periodically by ARCUS. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

  • http://www.arcus.org/witness-the-arctic/2013/1