Webinars and Virtual Events
2020-03-09
Online: 7:15 AM AKDT (8:15 AM PDT, 9:15 AM MDT, 10:15 AM CDT, 11:15 AM EDT).

Join PolarTREC educator Sarah Slack and researcher Frank Nitsche who will be presenting from aboard the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer somewhere in the Amundsen Sea. Sarah and Dr. Nitsche will discuss the fieldwork investigating the Thwaites Glacier, surrounding waters, and seafloor in West Antarctica. They will also talk about what it's like to be part of a large research team and how it is to live on a research vessel. This event is free.

Find out more about what Sarah is learning through her journals on Thwaites Offshore Research here.

Conferences and Workshops
2020-03-10 - 2020-03-12
Boulder, Colorado

The Polar Technology Conference (PTC) brings together polar scientists, technology developers, and field technicians from academia, state and federal agencies, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations. This interdisciplinary space provides an opportunity for technical and theoretical exchange on challenges impeding polar research and field operations. Community input is crucial to ensure that technological infrastructure investments are efficient, satisfy science drivers, and meet field requirements. The conference will address approaches to working and studying in the polar regions, including: terrestrial, marine, atmospheric, and social science disciplines; autonomous instrumentation; observation platforms; and all levels of logistical support.

The conference aims to:

  1. Identify and define priorities using bottom-up community feedback to enhance polar science through technological advances
  2. Scope out areas where research and development (R&D) projects could deliver new technology to meet scientific or logistical user needs and identify where new technology would benefit from field trial
  3. Increase awareness of current funding calls appropriate for technical or R&D projects and provide input to funding agencies on effective support of technology-related projects for polar research
  4. Build on past PTCs to create a community of practice for future dialogue between the users, manufacturers, and developers of technology used in polar research

The format of the conference will consist of structured keynote speeches followed by related presentations with interspersed panel and poster sessions. Other alternative approaches for information delivery and sharing are also under consideration. The forthcoming call for abstracts will seek talks or posters that address one of the below listed science topics:

  • Science Drivers: Key research needs and critical tools for improving observations and monitoring from multiple domains of polar science with an emphasis on system requirement
  • Power Systems: Transmission, storage, alternative energy generation
  • Instrumentation: Advances in instrumentation across all types of platforms and access
  • Communications: satellites, data-transmission-limited environments, telemetry
  • Data Access and Sharing: Technologies to access resources typical in more connected areas, such as information technologies, data in the cloud, distributed data resources, and processing technologies
  • Overarching and Integrative Technology: large-scale projects that span multiple technologies including logistics and infrastructure projects

The National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs also has a long-standing interest in capacity-building, training, international cooperation, leveraging existing resources/infrastructure, enhancing polar field operations, and engaging local and Indigenous Arctic residents and holders of Traditional Knowledge.

Abstract submission has been extended to 7 February 2020, 5:00 p.m. Alaska time. Presenting authors of submitted abstracts will be given priority registration until 24 January 2020 due to limited capacity of this meeting.

Other
Animal Health – Human Health – Environmental Health
2020-03-11 - 2020-03-14
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska

Update from the organizers: We have been monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak closely and have tried to keep you informed of the rapidly changing situation as it pertains to our conference. As part of this process, we have been in close contact with public health officials and have been monitoring guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are currently no confirmed cases in Alaska. However, after conversations with public health officials earlier today, we believe the risks associated with holding the One Health, One Future conference at this time are too high and have made the difficult decision to postpone. Our conference team is working on a plan to refund your registration fees and will share that information on the conference website as soon as the plan is in place. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to email us if you have any questions or concerns. We hope to reschedule the conference once the worldwide situation with COVID-19 has stabilized. One Health continues to be a priority for UAF, as I know it is for you and your communities. We look forward to continued collaboration, albeit virtually, and hope you will be able to join us once we are able to set a date for the rescheduled conference.


The University of Alaska Fairbanks Center for One Health Research will partner with the U.S. Department of State to host the international conference, One Health, One Future. This event is expected to be the largest circumpolar One Health conference held in the United States in 2020, with participation anticipated from across the Arctic region.

This event is part of the United States contribution to One Arctic, One Health¸ an Arctic Council project now in its fifth year of operation. The project aims to develop a circumpolar network of One Health experts that can share knowledge, conduct exercises, and spur collaborative investigations of One Health phenomena.

Other
2020-03-18 - 2020-03-19
Bodø, Norway

Update: The High North Center for Business and Governance regret to inform that High North Dialogue 2020 next week has been cancelled due to the spread of the Coronavirus.


Since 2007, the High North Dialogue conference series have brought together leaders of the High North – present and future – to discuss the dimensions of the changes taking place in the Arctic. Set in Bodø – the second largest community in North Norway and European Capital of Culture 2024 – the High North Dialogue 2020 will provide you with a different perspective on the future of the High North.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Speaking: Rick Thoman, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy (ACCAP)
2020-03-20
University of Alaska Fairbanks, or online: 12:00-1:00 pm AKDT, 4:00-5:00 pm EDT

The tools and techniques for making monthly and season scale climate forecasts are rapidly changing, with the potential to provide useful forecasts at the month and longer range. We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center’s forecast for the coming months. Feel free to bring your lunch and join the gathering in person or online to learn more about Alaska climate and weather.

Available online or in-person at: Room 407 in the Akasofu Building on the UAF Campus in Fairbanks.

We strongly encourage pre-registration for webinars. It helps speakers tailor their presentations to the audience. Follow the link above to register.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2020-03-20
Online: 9:00-10:00 am AKDT, 1:00-2:00 pm EDT

NSF Polar Programs Officers Roberto Delgado and Colleen Strawhacker will host this webinar on NSF funding opportunities, including RAPID and RCN, and welcome the research community to join, ask questions and share feedback.

More information about the topics to be covered in this webinar:

  • NSF Grants Resource Center
  • Research Coordination Networks (RCNs)
  • Rapid Response Research (RAPID) Proposals

Please see the NSF agency page for more info about NSF funding opportunities.

This webinar will be held via Zoom. Please follow the link above for more details.

Other
2020-03-26
By Phone Only: 10:30-11:30 am AKDT, 2:30-3:30 pm EDT

Please note: Ground Truth Briefings are conducted exclusively by phone. There will be no physical meeting at the Wilson Center. Due to high demand, we encourage participants to call in as early as possible on the day of the conversation.

Call-in numbers:
U.S. Toll-free: 800-369-2054
International: 1-312-470-7179
Passcode: 6238346

The Arctic has been widely understood by coastal states to be an area of “low tension.” However, the Arctic is not insulated from global security challenges, especially those around the impacts of climate change, and the period of Arctic exceptionalism is coming to an end. Mathieu Boulègue, Katarina Kertysova, and Michael Sfraga will consider Russia’s military posture in the European Arctic and seek to explain Moscow’s military build-up in the region, Russia’s general force posture, and its impact for NATO and its allies.

Due to the high volume of people using conference call systems during this time, please be patient as you try to connect to this call. If you hear a notice that the numbers do not work, please wait a few moments and simply try again. If you connect and are placed on hold while waiting for an operator, please stay on the line. They are working to connect callers as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to continuing to engage with you!

Webinars and Virtual Events
2020-03-27 - 2020-04-02
Online

ASSW2020 Moves to Online Only

In the aftermath of the declaration of a “state of emergency” in Iceland (6 March), and in close cooperation and consultation with the government authorities in Iceland, following the recommendations of World Health Organization, and in the understanding that a growing number of States and organizations worldwide are voluntarily issuing bans on “non-essential” travel, the ASSW2020 organizers have decided that the Arctic Science Summit Week 2020 will be held only online. To be 100% clear – there will be no in-person ASSW2020 meeting in Akureyri and we advise you to change your travel reservations and plans accordingly.

(Note: If you cannot cancel your flights to Iceland for a refund, and you can only change them, we suggest you consider contributing to and attending the UArctic Congress, Arctic Circle Assembly, or Cryosphere2020 meetings, all of which are scheduled to be in Iceland this fall.)

Please follow the link above for more information.


Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is an annual gathering of international organizations involved in Arctic research. It is designed to strengthen collaborations across academia, government agencies, local communities, industry, non-governmental organizations and other Arctic stakeholders.

ASSW2020 is supported by the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, and the Town of Akureyri. ASSW2020 is an important part of the Icelandic Chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Most of the events will take place in the facilities of the University of Akureyri.

During ASSW2020 there will be three days dedicated to IASC & Arctic science community meetings (28-30 March); ASSW2020 will also feature the "Science in a Sustainable Arctic" meeting and the 5th Arctic Observing Summit. The entire Arctic community is encouraged to use ASSW as a venue for bringing together their organizations, collaborations, and teams. ASSW organizers provide the logistical support and your meeting attendees only have to register for ASSW2020 and show up.

Other
2020-03-29

Update: Unfortunately the Polar Microbes Symposium has been cancelled for 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and rescheduled for May 3-6, 2021. We hope that you and your families stay safe during this uncertain time and we look forward seeing you next year.


We are following the situation on the developing coronavirus outbreak and its possible effects on this symposium. We will keep the abstract submission and registration open until March 29, at which time we will follow the guidance from national and international public health authorities to determine whether to hold the meeting. We suggest that participants postpone travel bookings until that time. Naturally the registration fee will not be charged if the symposium is cancelled.


The 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses will take place at Tvärminne Zoological Station, 120km southwest of Helsinki, Finland, Monday May 4 to Thursday May 7, 2020.

This symposium will bring together molecular microbial ecologists specializing in different organism groups to share our latest results and discuss methodological problems, as well as future prospects in the field, including practical international collaborations. The environmental focus will be on cryospheric environments including sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost, but excellent research in other polar environments is also invited. The methods to be discussed will focus on ‘omics’ techniques, ranging from single cells to metagenomes, but exciting research using additional methods is encouraged as well.

Organizers: Dr. Eeva Eronen-Rasimus (University of Helsinki) and Dr. Eric Collins (University of Manitoba & University of Alaska Fairbanks).

Deadline for Abstract Submission Extended: Friday, March 29.

Registration Deadline Extended: Friday, April 10.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Gendered Field Work Conditions, Epistemologies and Legacies
2020-03-29 - 2020-03-30
Online: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm AKDT, 1:00 - 5:00 pm EDT

The workshop takes place in the framework of IASC BUSINESS & COMMUNITIES MEETINGS (you need to register only for that option – see below). For online access to ZOOM on 30 March (17.00-21.00 GMT) go to https://eu01web.zoom.us/j/821469637

Program via the link / abstract below.
Please note: the workshop will be recorded for internal purposes. The video will be NOT released to the public!


The IASC Social Sciences and Humanities Working Group (WG), together with IASC’s Cryosphere, Marine, and Terrestrial WGs, invites you to a unique cross-disciplinary workshop attempting to bring together the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities in order to discuss and reflect on the gendered nature of Polar research.

The workshop will combine three strands of debate that have thus far not been discussed systematically:

(1) Doing science in the 21st century in a way that departs from but also pays careful attention to the history of exploration and colonial endeavours as “heroic” and masculine activities – while a masculine image still seems to dominate the methodologies and practices of Arctic and Polar research.

(2) The still existing gender gap when it comes to female researchers in hard sciences, their career prospects, and their sometimes difficult working conditions as women in the field. Critiques of the gender gap and gendered research work have thus far neglected the diversity aspects of queer and gender minority (LGBTQI) researchers. They face particular challenges whíle working in a still largely heteronormative research environment as it is described for research stations, vessels or tundra/taiga camps.

(3) The gendered composition of researchers as actors and the gendered spaces of conducting research, including the field sites, have an important impact on research interests, research design, research ethics and epistemology. The gender bias affects the research subject and methodology, and Polar research can learn from and communicate with other fields of science about how to ensure a high standard of equality, sensitivity to issues of marginalization, and ethical production of science.

We invite participants of the ASSW 2020 from natural and social sciences to pop by at the workshop and to join the discussions and break-out groups. Participants will be engaged through alternative formats to gain a maximum of knowledge exchange as well as to map out the state of the art and ideas about where to go from there.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Observing for Action
2020-03-30 - 2020-04-02
Online

AOS 2020 MOVES TO ONLINE ONLY

In the aftermath of the declaration of a “state of emergency” in Iceland (6 March), and in close cooperation and consultation with the government authorities in Iceland, following the recommendations of World Health Organization, and in the understanding that a growing number of States and organizations worldwide are voluntarily issuing bans on “non-essential” travel, the ASSW2020 organizers have decided that the Arctic Science Summit Week 2020 will be held online.


The 5th biennial AOS will be held as part of the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) (27 March – 2 April). The theme of AOS 2020 is "Observing for Action".

The AOS fosters communication and international collaboration and coordination of long-term observations aimed at improving understanding of and response to system-scale Arctic change. The AOS is an international forum for optimizing resource allocation, and minimizing gaps and duplication, through coordination of and exchange among researchers, agencies, Indigenous Peoples, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and others involved or interested in long-term observing activities. The AOS serves as a platform to identify and address societal and scientific needs and priorities, minimize gaps in data and information, reduce duplication, improve coverage and breadth, and contribute to solution-based applications and knowledge sharing.

AOS2020 will be structured along the following sub-themes:

  • Sub-Theme 1: Design, Optimization and Implementation of the Observing System
  • Sub-Theme 2: Observing in Support of Adaptation and Mitigation
  • Sub-Theme 3: Observing in Support of Indigenous Food Security and Related Needs
  • Sub-Theme 4: Data Interoperability and Federated Search
  • Sub-Theme 5: Arctic Observations in the context of Global Observing initiatives
  • Sub-Theme 6: Arctic Observing in Support of Global Actions

Contributions in the form of poster presentations are welcome to highlight important issues and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas to design, build, implement, expand, and provide long-term support for an international Arctic observing systems network. Ideally, poster presentations should focus on the key themes selected for the upcoming AOS, but other topics that are relevant for AOS are welcome.

Deadlines
2020-03-31

The Eastern Snow Conference (ESC) will take place at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 9 – 11 June 2020. The ESC is a joint Canadian/U.S. organization founded in the 1940s originally with members from eastern North America. Today, our members come from the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany, as well as North America. Our current membership includes scientists, engineers, snow surveyors, technicians, professors, students and professionals involved in operations and maintenance.

Call for papers:

The scientific program is open to sessions on theoretical, experimental, remote sensing, modeling, and operational studies of snow, ice, and winter hydrology. We anticipate including sessions on a wide variety of snow and ice themes, including in situ observations of snow, radar measurement of snow, and high latitude snow processes. The ESC has only plenary (oral and poster viewing) sessions, allowing time to view and discuss the research of each participant. You are invited to submit an abstract for an oral or a poster presentation (please indicate type). An abstract of 250-300 words should be submitted by 31 March 2020 to the program chair.

All papers, extended abstracts, or abstracts will be published in the 77th Proceedings of the Eastern Snow Conference. Please consult the ESC web site for details on submission. Conference information on registration and accommodations will be forthcoming and will be posted on the ESC website.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Presenters: Shaun W. Bell, Margaret Sullivan, and David A. Strausz III, University of Washington Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean
2020-04-01
Online: 9:00-10:00 am AKDT, 1:00-2:00 pm EDT

Abstract:

  1. Exploring 4 years of Prawler data at Mooring site M2 and the insights this platform provides.
  2. Sonarice data tells a story of the dynamics of seasonal ice formation, and illustrates a trend toward decreasing winter ice-cover.
  3. How to use a Raspberry Pi to make a simple and inexpensive logger for oceanographic instruments.

Remote Access:

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/891851101
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (872) 240-3311
Access Code: 891-851-101 Seminar POC: Heather Tabisola, heather.tabisola [at] noaa.gov

This seminar is part of NOAA's EcoFOCI bi-annual seminar series focused on the ecosystems of the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea and U.S. Arctic to improve understanding of ecosystem dynamics and applications of that understanding to the management of living marine resources. Visit the EcoFOCI webpage for more information, https://www.ecofoci.noaa.gov/. Titles:

  • Improved Biophysical Observations from a Profiling Moored Observing Platform in the Southeast Bering Sea (Shaun Bell)
  • Changing Seasons in the Chukchi Sea MIZ: a look at multiple years of ice draft from moorings near Icy Cape, Alaska (Peggy Sullivan)
  • An Inexpensive Underway Sampling System Logger (Dave Strausz)
Webinars and Virtual Events
2020-04-02 - 2020-04-03
Online

Due to the spread of COVID-19, we will not be holding the in-person workshop. Instead we will have a one-day virtual ICWG Community Meeting on Thursday, April 2, for presenting and discussing information relevant to the U.S. ice coring program and for updating the IDP Long Range Science Plan. Here is related information:

  • The virtual meeting on April 2 will occur via the Zoom platform; access information will be sent out to registered participants before the end of March.
  • A revised draft Agenda for the April 2 virtual meeting will be sent out to all registered participants early next week.
  • Our intention at this time is to hold an in-person workshop in D.C. on October 1 & 2, but that depends on the status of COVID-19. If you are not currently holding an airline ticket but you wish to attend the October meeting, please consider waiting until late summer to make the purchase. However, if you have already purchased an airline ticket for the April meeting, you may wish to check with the airline, since many airlines are now offering to re-issue the ticket with no penalty.
  • Invited speakers and ICWG members who had purchased their own airline tickets for the April meeting should contact Mary Albert.

The spread of COVID-19 is currently increasing, and we feel that holding the virtual meeting is prudent. The good news is that science planning and preparation for the future will continue!


The U.S. Ice Drilling Program Ice Core Working Group (IDP-ICWG) will hold a U.S. ice core science community planning workshop at the Residence Inn Alexandria Old Town South at Carlyle in Alexandria, Virginia.

Purpose: The purpose of this workshop is to articulate driving scientific questions in ice core research for the coming decade and beyond, and identify drilling sites and technological and logistical requirements needed to answer those questions, for contribution to the U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP) Long Range Science Plan.

Description: Scientific discoveries achieved in the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets and temperate glaciers are critical to society today, but they are not achieved without significant advance planning. The U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP) is sponsoring an interdisciplinary ice community workshop to identify science driving future Arctic and Antarctic ice coring sites, the ice drilling technology that will be needed, and the timeline over the coming decade for advancing ice core science on multiple frontiers. The outcome of the workshop will be white papers describing community endeavors with associated timelines that will become part of the updated U.S. Ice Drilling Program Long Range Science Plan.

Video-conferencing will be available for remote participation.

There is no registration fee for the workshop, but everyone planning to attend (even those attending remotely) MUST register so that we will have an accurate headcount for meeting room space and catering. The registration deadline is March 13. After we receive your registration, we will send you additional details of the meeting as it develops. If you plan to attend via video-conferencing, please indicate that on your registration so that we can be in contact.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2020-04-06 - 2020-04-10
Online

AAG To Facilitate Virtual Meeting Options

Now that the in-person annual meeting in Denver is canceled, we will offer virtual options for those who would still like to present and/or participate virtually. We are currently developing guidelines for using virtual platforms and working with session organizers willing to support virtual presentations. We will share more information as it becomes available. If you are interested in participating virtually, please reach out to your session organizer directly.

To view the growing list of sessions that will be virtual, visit the virtual session gallery. More sessions will be added as session organizers and chairs opt in.

In addition, some sessions, themes, and plenaries will be postponed until AAG 2021 Seattle, April 7-11.


Join fellow geographers, GIS specialists, environmental scientists, and other leaders for the latest in research and applications in geography, sustainability, and GIScience. The meeting will feature more than 6,000 presentations, posters, workshops, and field trips by leading scholars, experts, and researchers.

The AAG accepts all submitted abstracts and organized sessions for presentation. The registration fee must be paid prior to abstract submission. You may only submit one abstract for presentation and be a panelist in one panel session. If you opt not to submit an abstract, you may be a panelist twice. There is no limit on how many sessions you may organize.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2020-04-07
Online: 5:00 am AKDT, 9:00 am EDT, 3:00 pm CEST

The EPB will host the first in a series of webinars for the project Southern Ocean Carbon and Heat Impact on Climate (SO-CHIC) at 15:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST).

This first webinar, given by project coordinator Jean-Baptiste Sallée from Sorbonne Université, will introduce SO-CHIC and its objectives.

The Southern Ocean regulates the global climate by controlling heat and carbon exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean. Rates of climate change on decadal time scales ultimately depend on oceanic processes taking place in the Southern Ocean, yet too little is known about the underlying processes. Limitations come both from the lack of observations in this extreme environment and its inherent sensitivity to intermittent small-scale processes that are not captured in current Earth system models.

To contribute to reducing uncertainties in climate change predictions, the overall objective of SO-CHIC is to understand and quantify variability of heat and carbon budgets in the Southern Ocean through an investigation of the key processes controlling exchanges between the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice using a combination of observational and modelling approaches.

The SO-CHIC project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N°821001. For more information on SO-CHIC, please visit http://www.sochic-h2020.eu

Deadlines
2020-04-13

SPARC 2020 POSTPONED

DUE TO PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST THE RECENT COVIT-19 EPIDEMY, THE MASARYK UNIVERSITY HAS CANCELLED ALL INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES IN MARCH AND APRIL 2020.

SPARC IS THUS POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 2020.
MORE DETAILS WILL FOLLOW SOON.


We are pleased to announce that the 6th annual Students in Polar and Alpine Research Conference - SPARC 2020 will be held in Brno, Czech Republic, on the 23-24 April 2020.

If you are a student or Early-Career Researcher (<3 years after PhD defense), you are cordially invited to attend our conference which serves as a platform for presenting your research, as well as for exchanging experiences and strengthening the bonds within a community of Polar and Alpine scientists, within the fields of both bio- & geosciences.

Deadline for registration and abstract submission: 13 April 2020.

Deadlines
Opening Doors: Collaboration Across Knowledge Systems
2020-04-14
Online

Event Date: 19-21 May 2020 (hours to be announced soon).

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) is proud to announce the much awaited 6th annual APECS International Online Conference to go live on 19 May 2020. This year’s theme, "Opening Doors: Collaboration Across Knowledge Systems" aims to encourage collaboration between early career researchers, science communicators, educators, and local community members in polar and alpine regions.

The 6th edition of the APECS International Online Conference will focus on knowledge exchange among multidisciplinary scientists, local communities, educators and science communicators. In a fast changing world, we believe it is important to pair traditional knowledge, education, and outreach with science efforts to better understand present and future challenges to the polar regions. This sort of comprehensive approach is best achieved by incorporating knowledge from a diverse array of disciplines and perspectives and is especially important for guiding policy-making. Through this conference, we hope to gain a better understanding of the many ways that Indigenous knowledge, science communication, and art can benefit our research. With this, APECS calls for early career researchers, science communicators and educators to come forward with a short presentation outlining their approach for promoting collaboration in polar science. This year’s conference will also introduce online breakout chat rooms through the Zoom platform, to foster interactions between presenters and attendees and to enable future collaboration. Within our team, we have science communication experts that will assist as facilitators in these chats.

Abstract Submission Deadline Extended: 14 April 2020.

Deadlines
International Symposium on Ice, Snow, and Water in a Warming World
2020-04-15

The symposium will be held at the renowned Harpa Conference Centre in Reykjavík, Iceland during 21-24 September 2020.

This symposium will bring together scientists, stakeholders and policy makers for a discussion on the latest results from studies of the entire cryosphere, which plays an important role in the hydrological cycle and the Earth System and is one of the most useful indicators of climate change. The symposium will allow ample time for panel discussions on scientific results, new technologies, research gaps and future perspectives in the light of the Paris Agreement, which calls for limiting global warming to 1.5–2°C.

We seek papers and presentations on timely topics related to all components of the cryosphere and its changes due to global warming. Contributions related to adaptation and mitigation strategies in view of the UN´s 2030 sustainable development goals and on the coordination of studies of snow and ice and associated hydrological changes on Earth through the Global Cryosphere Watch or other bodies are also welcome. Key focus areas will include (but are not limited to):

  1. The state of the planet and its cryosphere
  2. Earth´s snow cover
  3. Glacier changes
  4. The Greenland Ice Sheet
  5. The Antarctic Ice Sheet
  6. Sea ice on Earth
  7. Permafrost/frozen ground
  8. Lake and river ice
  9. Climate variations, climate and Earth systems modelling
  10. The cryosphere in high mountain areas
  11. Research gaps and new technologies
  12. Opportunities, adaptation and mitigation
  13. The Global Cryosphere Watch

The symposium will include oral and poster sessions. The organizers will facilitate interaction between representatives of different research fields, and stimulate discussions on one of the most pressing issues facing humanity. Additional activities will include an opening Icebreaker reception, a banquet dinner and an optional full-day excursion after the symposium.

Participants who wish to present a paper (oral or poster) at the Symposium will be required to submit an abstract. The Council of the International Glaciological Society will publish a thematic issue of the Annals of Glaciology on topics consistent with the Symposium themes. Participants are encouraged to submit manuscripts for this Annals volume.

Participants who wish to present a paper (oral or poster) at the Symposium will be required to submit an abstract. The International Glaciological Society will publish a thematic issue of the Annals of Glaciology on topics consistent with the Symposium themes. Participants are encouraged to submit manuscripts for this Annals volume, see https://www.igsoc.org/annals/a85_call_4_papers.pdf. The abstract should not contain any figures nor references and should not be longer than 2500 characters. Abstracts should be submitted through the conference website (https://www.cryosphere2020.is/abstract-submission).

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 15 April 2020.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Speaking: Jeremy Littell, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, USGS
2020-04-15
Online: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm AKST, 3:00 - 4:00 pm EST

Changes in the cryosphere represent one of the major climate impacts pathways in Alaska. Until recently, projections of future snowpack responses to climate change were geographically coarse scale and poorly tailored to the needs of decision makers and stakeholders. In this presentation, I describe snowpack projections from statistically downscaled precipitation and snow day fraction developed for Alaska. I focus on snowfall water equivalent and a hydrologically relevant indicator of seasonal streamflow. I also present some sub-regional examples developed for specific stakeholder needs in Alaska.

We strongly encourage pre-registration for webinars. It helps speakers tailor their presentations to the audience. Follow the link above to register.