Past Events

Scientists, climate scientists, social scientists, policy- and decision-makers concerned with fisheries and management of marine ecosystems, representatives of stakeholders groups including northern residents and indigenous peoples, and fisheries organizations are invited to attend the International Conference entitled "Arctic Ocean Acidification". The conference will be held In Bergen, Norway on 6–8 May 2013.

Topics to be addressed at the conference include:

• Response of Arctic Ocean to increasing CO2 and related changes in the global carbon cycle;
• Social and policy challenges;
• Arctic Ocean acidification and ecological and biogeochemical coupling;
• Implications of changing Arctic Ocean acidification for northern (commercial and subsistence) fisheries; and
• Future developments.

Participants are invited to submit abstracts on relevant subjects, including reports from observational, experimental, and modeling studies of past, present, and future ocean acidification; responses of marine organisms and ecosystem structure, functioning, and biodiversity; perturbations to biogeochemical cycling and feedbacks to the climate system; and the economic, social, and policy challenges of ocean acidification. Abstracts for proposed oral and poster presentation (750 words, maximum) should be emailed to the conference organizers (amap [at] amap.no) by 1 January 2013.

Those interested in participating in the conference should send an email to the AMAP Secretariat (amap [at] amap.no) for a preliminary, nonbinding registration to be placed on the mailing list for future announcements. Some financial support will be available to assist participation of young scientists in the conference.

Abstract submission deadline: 1 January 2013.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks announces that applications are now being accepted for an 11-day spring field course entitled "Field techniques in interdisciplinary sea-ice research". The course is open to open to graduate students in earth, environmental, marine and biological sciences and engineering and will be taught at UIC-NARL in Barrow, Alaska 8-18 May 2013.

This is a course for graduate-level students that offers a practical introduction to the principal field techniques employed in sea-ice studies of an interdisciplinary (geophysical-biogeochemical) nature. The course focuses on sea ice as an instructive example of the close intertwining between ocean, ice and biosphere processes in the polar regions and the transdisciplinary importance of the ice cover in the climate system.

The course is organized in such a way as to encourage interdisciplinary approaches to the problems posed, addressing in particular the themes of temporal and spatial variability of geophysical and biogeochemical variables at different scales. An effort will be made to entrain students from Ilisagvik College in the course activities and include a Native Alaskan ice-knowledge component.

Prior to registration at the UAF summer sessions website (www.uaf.edu/summer/), students are asked to send their CV and a 1-page statement indicating how this field course will fit into their research and career plans to hajo.eicken [at] gi.alaska.edu. The instructors will evaluate these documents to decide about participation if the course is oversubscribed. Deadline for submission of these documents is Friday, March 15, 2013. Students will then be notified by April 1 at the latest about their inclusion in the course.

Oceanic primary production is a key component of the marine carbon, oxygen, and nutrient cycles as well as the base of the marine food web. Over the past two decades substantial efforts were deployed to evaluate oceanic primary production. These efforts include in situ measurements of uptake rates using isotopic trace techniques, satellite remote sensing, autonomous instrumentation for bio-optics, carbon or oxygen measurements, and the development of semi-empirical to complex biogeochemical models.

The 2013 Liege Colloquium will investigate new insights related to the evaluation of primary production and the study of the dynamics between physical forcing and ocean productivity responses at various physical and temporal scales. Particular attention will be focused on the variability at the synoptic to seasonal scales and how it complicates our ability to sample primary production and derive large-scale, climate-driven primary production budgets.

Abstract submission deadline has been extended to 1 February 2013.

The Nordic Centre of Excellence, SVALI (Stability and Variations of Arctic Land Ice) will hold its second summer school on the topic of Glaciology and Earth System Models. The school is a joint effort by the SVALI consortium and CSC.

The school takes place at Nuuksio National Park in Espoo, Finland. It is conveniently located in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The near vicinity of the capital city is not visible, however - the venue is in a nature preservation area that resembles Finland's nature in its best.

The course is rather application/computation oriented, thus some theoretical background in one of those disciplines would be beneficial. Some basic skills to operate a computer will be assumed. Upon request, the school will contain a short introduction in UNIX type of environments.

Organizers of the international conference entitled "Palaeo-Arctic Spatial and Temporal (PAST) Gateways" announce registration and call for abstracts. The conference will convene 13-17 May 2013 in St.Petersburg, Russia.

PAST Gateways is a network research program endorsed by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The scientific goal of PAST Gateways is to understand arctic environmental change during the period preceding instrumental records and across decadal to millennial timescales. The focus of the six-year program is on the nature and significance of spatial and temporal arctic gateways, with an emphasis on the transitions between major Late Cenozoic climate events and recent Holocene fluctuations. There are three major themes to the program:

1. Growth and decay of arctic ice sheets;
2. Arctic sea-ice and ocean changes, and
3. Non-glaciated arctic environments.

Abstract deadline: Friday, 15 March 2013.

Registration deadline: Friday, 15 March 2013.

For complete information and guidelines on abstract submission, registration, and visa requirements; including templates and fees; please see the conference circular: http://www.geol.lu.se/pastgateways/docs/first_circular_updated.pdf or contact Grisha Fedorov at fedorov [at] aari.ru.

The thirteenth International Scientific Student Conference "Problems of the Arctic Region" is devoted to scientific, environmental, technical, economic, and social aspects of the development of the Arctic. The conference will be divided into sections:

• Biology and Medicine;
• Chemistry and Technologies;
• Ecology of the North;
• Economical problems of Arctic development;
• Geology and Geophysics of the Arctic Region;
• Information Technologies
• Marine biology;
• Physical studies
• Humanitarian and Social problems.

Suggestions on new topics are welcome. The conference will be introduced by a plenary report on one of burning issues of modern science. At each section, conveners will present reports to the participants devoted to important issues of the section topic. Students interested in participating in the Conference are welcome to e-mail their registration forms and papers to the Steering Committee until 30 April 2013. The registration form must contain the title of the report, names of the authors, scientific adviser, full name of the organization, address, e-mail of the contact person, dates of arrival and departure. The volume of the paper should not exceed one page. Participants should also indicate if they need assistance with the hotel booking.

Welcome to the Meeting of the Americas, a Joint Assembly that covers topics in all areas of the geophysical sciences. Join your colleagues, including Earth and space scientists, educators, students, and other leaders at the Cancun Center in Cancun, Mexico, 14–17 May 2013 as they connect to present groundbreaking research. Sandy beaches and turquoise waters together with Mexican hospitality make this a unique site for another successful Joint Assembly!

The ice2sea programme is an EC FP7 project to estimate the future contribution of continental ice to sea-level rise. You will have hopefully come across the project over the last four years. We are holding a series of events next month to mark the end of the project, which the cryolist community might be interested in attending.

Date: 15th-16th May 2013
Location: Royal Institution of Great Britain, London. http://www.rigb.org/

These events are described on our website at http://www.ice2sea.eu/programme/final-symposium-overview/ but I’d like to draw your attention to the science part. Although talks and posters at this event are reserved for ice2sea scientists, we welcome anyone interested to come and hear about our results and discuss results with ice2sea scientists.

If you are interested, please register at http://ice2seafinalsymposium.eventbrite.co.uk

NB there is a small registration fee to cover the costs of the teas and lunches that will be provided. You will have to arrange your own travel and accommodation. The deadline for registering, the 8th May, is the week before the event, but it would be advisable to book accommodation earlier than this.

Attendees will also receive a copy of our final synthesis report (52 page glossy brochure) “From Ice to High Seas: Sea-level rise and European coastlines.”

The United States is an Arctic nation, one of only eight such nations worldwide that are responsible for the stewardship of a region undergoing dramatic environmental, social, and economic changes. The implications of these changes demand a fresh look at how the Federal Government and its partners address management challenges in the region. In consultation with the National Ocean Council, the National Security Staff, and the Arctic Research Commission, the Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska (Alaska Interagency Working Group) initiated this report to describe these challenges as they relate to the management of natural resources in the U.S. Arctic. Join us for a presentation and discussion of the report, which presents recommendations for advancing a common management approach that provides coordinated, forward-thinking solutions.

Please visit the ACCAP site (http://ine.uaf.edu/accap/teleconference.htm) to register for this webinar.

The SOOS Asian Workshop aims to showcase Asian nations’ Southern Ocean research and observation activities and to stimulate discussion for further involvement in SOOS by Asian nations.

The Workshop will be held over two days:

• Day 1 is open to all interested parties (registration essential) and will see guest speakers from the Asian science community present their nation/organization’s Southern Ocean observation and research activities. Members of the SOOS Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) will also present a brief overview of relevant SOOS activities.
• Day 2 is by invitation only (guest speakers, SSC members and other key representatives) and will provide an opportunity for working group discussions and strategic development planning.

Participants wishing to attend Day 1 of the Workshop are urged to register with SOOS by 23 April 2013 (email: info [at] soos.aq)

We look forward to welcoming colleagues from Asia, in particular, with an interest in Southern Ocean research and who wish to learn more about how to become involved in SOOS.

The SOOS Asian Workshop is sponsored by the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), SCAR and SCOR.

Organizers of the 20th international scientific symposium on The Integration of Archaeological and Ethnographic Research announce an invitation for papers and panels. The symposium will take place from 27 May - 2 June 2013 in Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia, Russia.

The primary themes of the conference are ethnoarchaeological research, environmental archaeology, biosociality, sacred landscapes, alternative worlds and worldviews, and historical reconstruction. Abstracts are due by Tuesday, 30 October 2012. Accepted abstracts must be followed by a longer written summary of the paper by 20 January 2013. Specific submission instructions are available on the webpage.

Abstract submission deadline: Tuesday, 30 October 2012.

This symposium is a farewell symposium for Professor Louwrens Hacquebord and is supported by the Canadian Embassy in the Netherlands. Please visit the symposium website for more information.

Past and present changes in the mass balance of the Earth's glaciers and ice caps induce present-day deformation of the solid Earth on a range of spatial scales, from the very local to global. Of principal interest are geodetic observations that validate, or may be assimilated into, models of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and/or constrain models of present-day ice mass change through measurements of elastic rebound. Using geometric measurements alone, elastic and viscoelastic deformations cannot be separated without additional models or observations. The conference will focus on resolving these issues and work on dissemination of these measurements within the glaciological community.

Topics include:
*Observations of present-day changes in glaciers and ice sheets
*Measurements and models of elastic rebound
*Cryospheric deformation in low viscosity regions
*Reconciling models and observations of GIA
*Glacial isostatic adjustment on a heterogeneous Earth: Going beyond 1D Maxwell Earth models

A recently-held Arctic transportation workshop in Iceland highlighted the need to better understand private sector transportation infrastructure and assets, recognizing industry's role in the responsible development of resources, response and supportive infrastructure. As a follow-up to its efforts to inventory and map Arctic transportation infrastructure, the Institute of the North is hosting a workshop at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, Washington that focuses on three critical areas: private sector assets and infrastructure in the Arctic, staging areas outside the Arctic that support Northern development, and vessels and technology that are difficult to map but need to be measured for future decision-making. Participants include industry representatives, technical experts, researchers, Coast Guard and other response personnel.

Registration is now open for a variety of field courses and teacher trainings offered by Alaska Geographic. The multi-day field courses explore Alaska's national parks, forests, and refuges, and are available during summer 2013.

Field courses are open to all participants. Several field-based teacher workshops explore geology, climate change, and learning styles. All field courses are accredited through the University of Alaska. Courses in Denali National Park are offered through the Murie Science and Learning Center. Alaska Geographic offers classes developed in partnership with the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Contact: David Tomeo
Email: david-tomeo [at] murieslc.org
Phone: 907-683-6432 or 907-683-6438

Contributions to the following topics are invited:

• Scientific applications of remote sensing, emerging methods, and technologies
• Capacity building at organizations and authorities involved in environmental monitoring and protection
• Remote sensing for archaeology
• Land use and land cover, degradation, and desertification
• Urban remote sensing
• Open ocean remote sensing
• Natural and man-made disasters
• Forestry and forest fires
• Remote sensing and its associated support to the understanding of climate change
• Hydrological applications: water management, underground water sources, and land, ice, and snow
• 3D remote sensing, radar, lidar, and thermal remote sensing
• New instruments and methods, including ground truth

Contributions are particularly welcome in the following areas: EO for improving Smart City management; monitoring and protecting biodiversity; support of regenerative energy production and transport; improving climate observations; improving agriculture, water, and fisheries management; and supporting disaster management.

The French Arctic Initiative's inaugural symposium entitled "Arctic : the Major Scientific Issues" will be held June 3-5, 2013 at Collège de France, in Paris. It will be followed, on June 6, 2013, by a day of reflection on future prospects for the Arctic and, in the evening, public event at l'Institut Océanographique.

The objectives of the symposium are:

• To address the major scientific issues and recent developments with regard to the Arctic,
• To mobilize the scientific community, from multiple disciplines, around these issues,
• To highlight the most promising avenues for improving our understanding of this complex system.

This symposium will lead to the production of a white paper on future research priorities confronting the French scientific community. The organizers of the symposium hope to attract the attention of the best researchers in the country, including those who have never worked on scientific problems in the Arctic. It is important to note that researchers with leading-edge expertise that is not necessarily focused on a particular environment may contribute to the development of innovative research in the Arctic. We will address the Arctic in a broad context in terms of discipline and temporal (past, present future) or spatial (polar, global) dimension.

The symposium is organized in the framework of a partnership between the French Arctic Initiative and la Chaire de l'Evolution du Climat et de l'Océan du Collège de France.

The U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability Research Program (CLIVAR) will sponsor an international workshop entitled "Understanding the Response of Greenland's Marine Terminating Glaciers to Oceanic and Atmospheric Forcing." It is scheduled to convene 3-7 June 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts.

CLIVAR is a U.S. national research program investigating the variability and predictability of the global climate system on seasonal, inter-annual, decadal, and centennial timescales, with a particular emphasis on the role the ocean plays in climate variability.

Organizers of the workshop seek to bring together oceanographers, glaciologists, and atmospheric and climate scientists working on all aspects of the problem related to the widespread retreat and speedup of marine-terminating outlet glaciers in Greenland over the past two decades. This process has led to a doubling of the ice sheet's contribution to sea level rise and increased the freshwater input to the North Atlantic. Its coincidence with a period of oceanic and atmospheric warming suggests a common climate driver. Progress on understanding and parameterizing the mechanisms behind these dynamic responses in climate and ice sheet models requires a collaborative, international, cross-disciplinary, and multi-faceted approach.

The 70th Eastern Snow Conference (ESC) will be held at the Active Learning Centre in, Huntsville, ON, Canada 4-6 June, 2013. The scientific program is open to sessions on theoretical, experimental, and operational studies of snow, ice, and winter hydrology. This year’s general theme is “SNOW AND ICE UNDER A CHANGING CLIMATE”. The ESC has only plenary (paper and poster viewing) sessions, allowing time to view and discuss the research of each participant. You are all invited on an afternoon local historical train trip. You are invited to submit an abstract for an oral or a poster presentation (please indicate type). An abstract of 200-250 words should be submitted by 18 March 2013 using the Abstract Style Guide to ensure correct formatting to the program chair. Please email your submissions to:

Dr. Alex Langlois
a.langlois2 [at] usherbrooke.ca

Presentations are invited on the current use of earth observation as a support tool for education, training, and capacity building with emphasis on the following topics:

• Earth observation for kids
• Earth observation and its associated use to support science education at schools and universities
• Environmental science as a tool in cooperative learning and teaching, in enquiry-based learning, and in other educational practices for tomorrow's schools
• Earth observation and its use as educational support in areas like biology, chemistry, geography, physics, and mathematics curricula in the classroom but also in continuous individual learning
• Training activities in GMES, with a focus on environment, climate change and natural disasters, in GEOSS, and other international programmes
• Earth observation and its use for public outreach of Environmental Sciences and Global Change