Webinars and Virtual Events
Toward a U.S. Army Arctic Strategy
2020-12-18
Online: 11:30 am - 1:00 pm AKST, 3:30-5:00 pm EST

For the past two years, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Center for Arctic Study & Policy (CASP) has worked to record the “sea stories” of previous icebreaker sailors and captains. The result is a 27-minute documentary showcasing original sea stories, high-quality photography, and a unique narrative of the challenges faced on ice-covered oceans from the 1950s to the 1970s. Not only will this documentary provide context to the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest members as they embark on their first icebreaker tours, but also communicate to the public the critical importance of the polar regions and the sailors who patrol their waters.

On December 18th, please join the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute and CASP for the first public screening of the documentary, “Polar Guardians: Coast Guard Icebreaking in the High Latitudes.” The film will be introduced by the Admiral Karl L. Schultz, the 26th Commandant of the Coast Guard, who will address both the legacy and the future of Coast Guard missions in the polar regions. An expert panel to follow the documentary's release will feature Fran Ulmer, former chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, and Admiral Thad Allen, 23rd Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Moderator:

Michael Sfraga
Director, Polar Institute & Director, Global Risk and Resilience Program

Introductory Remarks:

Admiral Karl Schultz
Commandant of the Coast Guard

Distinguished Panelists:

Fran Ulmer
Former Lt. Governor, State of Alaska; Former Chair, United States Arctic Research Commission

Admiral Thad Allen
Former Commandant of the Coast Guard

Deadlines
2020-12-31

The IASC Medal is awarded in recognition of exceptional and sustained contributions to the understanding of the Arctic. A maximum of one award is made each year, assuming that there is a nominee of appropriate quality.

The whole IASC community, from all countries and career stages, is encouraged to submit a nomination to the IASC Executive Secretary, demonstrating the nominee’s excellence (see evaluation criteria) and sustained contribution to the understanding of the Arctic.

Nominations for the 2021 IASC Medal, which is expected to be awarded at ASSW 2021 in Lisbon (Portugal) / online, can be submitted to the IASC Secretariat until 31 December 2020.

IASC seeks a diverse slate of nominees for the IASC medal; a list of previous IASC Medal recipients is available on the IASC website.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Speaking: Jay Zwally, ESSIC University of Maryland
2021-01-06
Online: 12:00 pm AKST, 4:00 pm EST

International Glaciological Society Global Seminar:

Speaking: Jay Zwally, ESSIC University of Maryland, "Mass Balance of Antarctic Ice Sheet: Observations 1992 to 2019 and Related Long-Term History".

Please register in advance for the seminars. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the seminar.

The seminar will also be available afterwards on the Friends of the International Glaciological Society Facebook page so that you can watch it there if technology fails or you can't make it.

Deadlines
2021-01-07

The Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observing System Knowledge Centre (SIOS-KC) and the Remote Sensing Working Group (RSWG) invite input in their survey on assessing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Svalbard science community. This survey will be used to develop a strategy for the upcoming (2021) field season in Svalbard.

Organizers encourage all those associated with the Svalbard science community, including researchers/scientists, research management staff, logistics operators, academics including students (PhD/Masters/Bachelors), and research station/facility/infrastructure staff, to respond to this survey

It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete this survey.

The responses from this survey will be analyzed by SIOS-KC, RSWG, and those from the Svalbard science community. The analysis will help shape a dedicated workshop at the Polar Night Week (11-15 January 2021) and develop new and existing services at SIOS-KC.

Survey deadline: Thursday, 7 January 2021.

Deadlines
2021-01-08

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has announced the opening of applications for its 2021 Arctic Innovator Program. The application deadline is January 8, 2021. To learn more or apply, visit the link above.

The Arctic Innovator program provides early career innovators and entrepreneurs the opportunity to spend up to two years developing their technology at a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory and University of Alaska Fairbanks pursuing commercialization.

The Arctic Innovator program is open to early career professionals:

  • Who currently have or will have a graduate degree in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics related field before the program start date;
  • With a technology or area of research that they are interested in developing toward real-world adoption; and
  • Whose technology or area of research addresses Arctic-based challenges and aligns with U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office Strategic Goals (energy.gov/eere/amo/about-us).

This program, formally titled the Arctic Advanced Manufacturing Innovator Program, provides selected Innovators with the resources and guidance to maximize their likelihood of success. Innovators receive: a competitive personal stipend, a travel and training allowance, health insurance, a mentor at University of Alaska Fairbanks and a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory, and space and collaborative support at each organization. Innovators also have the adventure of living in Alaska while working on Arctic-related challenges.

Nathan Prisco, a 2020 Arctic Innovator, is representative of the passion and skill that the Arctic Advanced Manufacturing Innovator Program is seeking in candidates. Prisco is working on ammonia-based technologies for improving energy production. He explained that the program offers him “a great way to get science out of the laboratory and into the world at large.” Prisco says he was attracted to the significant research and commercialization support while also being “intrigued by Alaska, both in its pristine wilderness and the feeling that there is an incredible opportunity in the last frontier.” Read more about Prisco’s experience.

This program is sponsored by the Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office and is a collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2021-01-09
Online: 6:30 am AKST, 10:30 am EST

The Woodwell Climate Research Center is pleased to invite you to a very special event. Two Woodwell Climate scientists, Sue Natali and Bill Moomaw, will participate in a panel along with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and climate activist Greta Thunberg in a special free livestream event from the Mind & Life Institute. The intergenerational discussion will explore what can be done to slow, halt, or even reverse the threat of climate feedback loops before it’s too late.

As we all know, fossil fuel emissions from human activity are driving up the Earth's temperature. This warming is thawing permafrost, melting sea ice, damaging forests, and, in so doing, setting in motion feedback loops which are raising temperatures even higher. Since our founding, Woodwell Climate Research Center has pioneered the science of feedback loops triggered by emissions from natural sources.

Moderated by Diana Chapman Walsh, “The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists: A Conversation on the Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops” will be grounded in a new series of educational films, “Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops,” narrated by Richard Gere. These films originated from a conversation between the producers and then Woodwell Board Chair, now Distinguished Visiting Scientist, Dr. William Moomaw. They feature several Woodwell Climate scientists, including founder Dr. George Woodwell, Arctic Program Director Dr. Sue Natali, and President Dr. Philip Duffy.

Please follow the link above for more information.

Webinars and Virtual Events
SIOS Polar Night Week 2021
2021-01-11 - 2021-01-15
Online

Please complete the form to register for Polar Night Week 2021.

The Polar Night Week 2021 programme is available here.

Other
2021-01-11
Online: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm AKST, 3:00-5:00 pm EST

UPDATE: The event originally scheduled for January 11 has been postponed. The registration form will reopen when a new date and time are confirmed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.


Climate change is transforming the Arctic. Warmer temperatures on land and in the ocean, retreating sea ice and glaciers, thawing permafrost, range expansion of novel species and stress in native species, changing ocean chemistry, and altered seasons are all contributing to rapid and significant alteration of the region. At the same time, globalization and increasing international interest in the region add new pressures for access, land use change, and geopolitical positioning in the Arctic.

Most U.S. government responses to the dramatic changes in the Arctic are modest and incremental. Developing a process to identify feasible and sustainable adaptation options, evaluate them, and build consensus among the essential stakeholders and relevant decision-makers is difficult. But that is exactly what is needed given the scale of the decisions required for effective responses.

Join the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute, in collaboration with the Environmental Change & Security Program and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Arctic Initiative, for a discussion about how to create new modes to evaluate, engage and manage the changes taking place in the Arctic and around the world.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2021-01-12
Online: 9:00-10:30 am AKST, 1:00-2:30 pm EST

Daniel S. Hamilton and Kristina Spohr present their new book The Arctic and World Order in conversation with Mike Sfraga, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, currently the Chair of Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council, and fellow authors, including Wilson Fellow Lawson Brigham and Université de Montréal professor Suzanne Lalonde.

The Arctic, long described as the world’s last frontier, is quickly becoming our first frontier – the place where the contours of our rapidly evolving world may first be glimpsed. The Arctic has become the front line in a world of more diffuse power, sharper geopolitical competition, and deepening interdependencies between people and nature. A space of often bitter cold, the Arctic is the fastest-warming place on earth. It is humanity’s canary in the coal mine – an early warning sign of the world’s climate crisis.

In this new book, scholars and practitioners – from Anchorage to Moscow, from Nuuk to Hong Kong – explore the huge political, legal, social, economic, geostrategic and environmental challenges confronting the Arctic regime, and what this means for the future of world order.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2021-01-12
Online: 8:00-8:30 am AKST, 12:00-12:30 pm EST

The Migration in Harmony Research Coordination Network announces their next webinar entitled Indigenous Peoples’ Decision-Making Institutions in the Arctic and Globally.

In this livestream, learn from Alexey Tsykarev on how Indigenous People's decision-making in the Arctic and globally impact language revitalization and education policies and human rights.

Aleksei Tsykarev serves as chair of the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples and Civic Diplomacy "Young Karelia", an NGO recognized with special consultative status by United Nations Economic and Social Council. A lifetime activist for the rights of indigenous peoples in Russia, Tsykarev previously led the International Youth Association of Finno-Ugric Peoples, and has served as an independent expert in several United Nations capacities.

Tsykarev is a former Member and Chairperson-Rapporteur of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a subsidiary body of the UN Human Rights Council. He served on the Steering Committee for the UN’s 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, led by UNESCO. Tsykarev holds a Master of Linguistics from Petrozavodsk State University, in Russia, and his academic publications focus on indigenous peoples’ rights, particularly in the areas of language and culture. In Spring 2019, he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Colorado in the United States. Most recently, Tsykarev was appointed by the UN Economic and Social Council to serve as Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for a three-year term starting on 1 January, 2020.

Tsykarev advises global institutions, including the World Bank, as well as think tanks and scientific organizations, regarding indigenous peoples’ rights. He has been active in a range of indigenous organizations, and has participated in regional and international forums, including the World Conference on Indigenous Issues, World Conference on Youth, the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples, and the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. Tsykarev has coordinated a number of international projects in the sphere of human rights, culture, and civic diplomacy, and serves on advisory councils to government ministries and offices. Tsykarev lectures on indigenous peoples and human rights at universities around the world, as well as in various bodies of the United Nations.

This livestream presentation is part of the Arctic Winter College, a program run in partnership with the Migration in Harmony Research Coordination Network.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Speaking: Francisco Navarro, Madrid, Spain
2021-01-13
Online: 12:00 pm AKST, 4:00 pm EST

International Glaciological Society Global Seminar:

Full title: Hiatus of Mass Losses From Hurd and Johnsons Glaciers, Livingston Island, During the Regional Cooling Period 2002-2016 of the Northern Antarctic Peninsula

Speaking: Francisco Navarro, Madrid, Spain

Please register in advance for the seminars. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the seminar.

The seminar will also be available afterwards on the Friends of the International Glaciological Society Facebook page so that you can watch it there if technology fails or you can't make it.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Arctic Policy Study Group
2021-01-13
Online: 12:00-1:00 pm AKST, 4:00-5:00 pm EST

Commonwealth North is pleased to host the honorable Caroline Cochrane, Premier of the Northwest Territories, Canada. In addition to her role as premier, Ms. Cochrane serves as Minister of Executive & Indigenous Affairs, Minister Responsible for the COVID-19 Coordinating Secretariat, and Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Premier Cochrane will address natural resource development policies and meaningful engagement of indigenous peoples in economic self-determination and Arctic policy; opportunities for Alaska-NWT cooperation on energy, telecommunications, and transportation infrastructure; and fostering communication and cooperation between Alaska and the Northwest Territories on Arctic policy and international NGOs.

The program is free of charge but please register to receive login details.

Deadlines
Looking Back and Looking Forward
2021-01-15

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IASSA Council has voted unanimously to postpone ICASS X from June 2020 to June 2021.

Read more here.


ICASS X Organizing Committee has committed to work on a conference format that will include both in-person and online options.
Given the uncertainties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are closely looking at having a hybrid format that includes both in-person and virtual options. The Organizing Committee and IASSA Council are committed to do everything possible to ensure that everyone who would like to participate in the Congress is able to do so, either in-person or online. Although we still plan to have a significant portion of the meeting in Arkhangelsk, we are currently exploring options and costs of providing participation alternatives. We are aware that having a hybrid conference may affect the costs of attendance and the ability to have a meaningful conference experience for all participants. We realize that we are constrained by the technology on the ground in Arkhangelsk and via the Internet. Given these considerations, we are working on a most practical solution.

At this time we have not made any final decisions on exact details of the format. The ICASS X Organizing Committee meets every few weeks and will be regularly updating you on our decision process as more information becomes available.

The theme of ICASS X is Arctic Generations: Looking Back and Looking Forward. Research on social sciences and humanities have a great responsibility to address the challenges for sustainable development in the Arctic, with a specific focus on past, present, and future generations of Arctic residents. The generational nature of changes and responses have lately become more recognized by many policymakers and researchers. A focus on generations highlights the long-term, fundamental nature, and scope of changes, impacts, and adaptation strategies. Another focus of ICASS X is Indigenous knowledge and inter- and transdisciplinary research in the Arctic.

Organizers welcome sessions and papers on all facets of the Arctic and sub-Arctic. ICASS will also welcome contributions on all other subjects of relevance to IASSA members.

ICASS X themes will include:

  • Archaeology
  • Arctic Futures, Scenarios, and Prospects
  • Arctic Infrastructure
  • Arctic People, Generations, and Places
  • Arctic Youth and Generational Relations
  • Art and Design
  • Cultures
  • Economy, Labor, and Development in the Arctic
  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Gender in the Arctic
  • Governance
  • Health and Well-Being
  • History
  • Indigenous Knowledge and Knowledge Co-production
  • Indigenous Societies
  • International Relations and Science Diplomacy in the Arctic
  • Knowledge Systems and Education
  • Languages
  • Law and Legal Regimes in the Arctic
  • Literature
  • Migrations and Mobilities
  • Museums and Heritage
  • Religion and Spirituality
  • Research Methodologies
  • Resource and Extractive Industries
  • Settlements in the Arctic
  • Social Work in the Arctic
  • Sustainability
  • Technology and Innovation in the Arctic
  • Tourism

Call for Abstracts has been sent and the submission is open. The deadline has been extended to January 15, 2021. We encourage you to submit abstracts and respond to a survey on the acceptable format of the conference embedded in the abstract submission form. This will help us to determine what to do.

For questions, contact:
Andrey Petrov
Email: andrey.petrov [at] uni.edu
Phone: 319-464-9966

Webinars and Virtual Events
2021-01-15
Online: 10:00-11:00 am AKST, 2:00-3:00 pm EST

This webinar will introduce the latest National Science Foundation Navigating the New Arctic Solicitation (NNA), NSF 21-524.

Program officers will highlight major changes from the previous solicitation, review goals of the NNA program, and be available for a Q&A session.

NSF staff who will be joining include Greg Anderson, Irina Dolinskaya, Katia Kontar, Siobhán Mattison, Madeline Midyette, Kate Ruck, Colleen Strawhacker, Jielun Sun, and Jonathan Wynn.

Webinars and Virtual Events
2021-01-18 - 2021-01-20
Online

The IceCube community is hosting a second Polar Science Workshop that will be held online. The main purposes of this workshop are to solicit a scan on research ideas regarding the planned upgrade of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at South Pole, and to continue to promote exchange between our two fields of glaciology and neutrino astronomy. In particular, we hope seek input and proposals from the glaciology community on experiments and instrumentation complementary to the planned array of drilled boreholes as part of the IceCube neutrino array.

We would like to focus our attention on the following topics, but please let us know if you have additional fields of interest:

  • Rapid Access Drilling (RAID) at the South Pole and the possibility of a long term open hole
  • SPICEcore physical properties (in particular grain size, elongation, orientation and fabric), expected hole lifetime and borehole logging
  • Modeling of optical and radio propagation in birefringent polycrystals with crystal preferred orientation (CPO and COF)
  • Glaciology instrumentation in the IceCube Upgrade and IceCube Gen2
  • Data interests (both in terms of IceCube data (temperatures, images, ice analyses, ...) for glaciology, as well as glaciological data being interesting to the IceCube detector modelling)
  • Drilling technology and logistics
  • Bedrock morphology and characteristics
  • Englacial heterogeneities and structures, layering architecture

Please follow the link above to register and for information about abstract submission.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Observing networks; Data sharing – towards implementation
2021-01-20
Online: 4:00-6:00 am AKST, 8:00-10:00 am EST, 1:00-3:00 pm UTC

This webinar series is designed to increase transparency of the Arctic Science Ministerial science process and to provide additional opportunities for scientists, Indigenous Peoples and Arctic research stakeholders to further engage with the science and proposed actions leading up to the Third Arctic Science Ministerial in Tokyo, Japan in May 2021. The webinar series is a joint cooperation between the ASM3 Organizers in Iceland and Japan and the European Polar Board.

Each webinar will be shared afterwards on the European Polar Board YouTube page and a written summary will be made available on the ASM3 website.

Deadlines
2021-01-20

The EGU General Assembly 2021, traditionally held each spring in Vienna, Austria, will instead take place entirely online due to the continuing risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting restrictions on international travel. While we deeply regret another missed opportunity to meet with colleagues and friends in person next year, we’re committed to graciously accepting circumstances that are beyond our control and continuing the Union’s efforts to minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on Earth, planetary, and space science research.

EGU is therefore excited to announce that we will instead host vEGU21: Gather Online (#vEGU21). This virtual event will be an entirely different experience from last year’s meeting, Sharing Geoscience Online, which we had just five weeks to plan. vEGU21 will provide a much more complete representation of the experience that EGU members enjoy at the annual meeting in Vienna.

vEGU21, which will be accessible from around the globe, will feature the 2020 and 2021 awards ceremonies and lectures, mentoring, networking events, and many more activities in addition to nearly 700 scientific sessions. The current plan is to extend the meeting dates to 19–30 April but to schedule all technical sessions during the last week of April.

With this announcement, EGU and its conference partner, Copernicus Meetings, are opening the meeting’s call for abstracts on 3 November 2020. The extended deadline for abstracts is Wednesday, 20 January at 13:00 CET. The Abstract Processing Charge (APC) will remain the same as in previous years.

Since EGU will be offering a more complete experience in 2021, we will be charging a registration fee, but the cost will be substantially lower than for an in-person annual meeting. In addition, the Roland Schlich travel support scheme will be replaced by a registration fee waiver for participants from lower- and lower-middle income countries. The final details regarding the registration fees will be released by 20 November.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Speaking: Adrian Luckman, Swansea University
2021-01-20
Online: 12:00 pm AKST, 4:00 pm EST

International Glaciological Society Global Seminar:

Speaking: Adrian Luckman, Swansea University, "Larsen C and Brunt Ice Shelves - Ice Dynamics, Rifts and Stuff".

Please register in advance for the seminars. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the seminar.

The seminar will also be available afterwards on the Friends of the International Glaciological Society Facebook page so that you can watch it there if technology fails or you can't make it.

Webinars and Virtual Events
Measuring the Impact, Strengthening the Connections
2021-01-20
Online: 12:00-1:00 pm AKST, 4:00-5:00 pm EST

The military and Coast Guard have long played an important role in Alaska’s economy and civil society. This program will feature findings from recent research by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development as part of the Alaska Defense Industry Resilience Initiative - an ongoing assessment of the impacts and connections between the Alaska economy and the military and Coast Guard. We'll also hear from the commanders of the Alaska Command - the unified command of military operations in and around Alaska as well as District 17 of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Speakers:

  • Nolan Klouda, Executive Director - UA Center for Economic Development
  • Lt. General David Krumm - ALCOM - Alaska Command
  • Rear Admiral Matthew Bell - District 17 Commander U.S. Coast Guard
Webinars and Virtual Events
Measuring the Impact, Strengthening the Connections
2021-01-20
Online: 8:00-9:00 am AKST, 12:00-1:00 pm EST

Commonwealth North is pleased to host the honorable Ranj Pallai, Deputy Premier of the Yukon Territory, Canada. In addition to his role as deputy premier, Mr. Pallai serves as Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Minister of Economic Development, Minister responsible for the Yukon Development Corporation, and the Yukon Energy Corporation.

Deputy Premier Pallai will address efforts to manage the COVID pandemic, natural resources, including mining and the Skagway Ore Terminal, the Yukon economy, climate change, community development, reconciliation, and cooperation.

The program is free of charge but please register to receive login details.