Past Events

Arctic Frontiers conference entitled "Pathways" will take place on 31 January - 3 February 2022 in Tromsø, Norway. On behalf of the Arctic Frontiers Session Committees, we have great pleasure in inviting you to submit one or more abstracts to any of the following five science sessions:

• Pan-Arctic Infrastructure Development
• Food from the Ocean and Ocean Science for Sustainable Development – Bridging the UN Decades
• Arctic Coasts in Transition
• The Arctic, ocean conflicts, and pathways to sustainability
• Experiences from the science-policy interface in the Arctic

Tentatively, there will be an opportunity to contribute to several publications (special issues and a book volume) in conjunction with the sessions.

The online abstract submission system is open. The submission deadline has been extended to 22 September 2021.

NERACOOS and CIOOS Atlantic, with funding support from the U.S. Embassy in Canada, will host a three-part webinar series featuring discussions with local experts on scientific, economic, and policy issues facing coastal communities spanning the Arctic to the Northeastern seaboard of the United States. Each of the three seminars will coincide with part of the voyage of the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy, which has partnered with Canada to undertake a research cruise the Northwest Passage and circumnavigation of North America. As the Healy passes through the Arctic, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia and the Gulf of Maine, experts in a variety of subjects will speak about the challenges they're encountering, and how we can come up with solutions that transcend borders.

Please follow the link above for more information and to register.

The annual American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) National Conference is a unique, three-day event focusing on educational, professional, and workforce development for Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers. Attendees include Indigenous high school and college students, educators, and professionals, including representatives from Tribal Nations, Tribal enterprises, and Indigenous-owned businesses. The conference also includes the LARGEST college and career fair in the U.S. for Indigenous students and professionals! Exhibitors at the College and Career fair represent a diverse range of corporations, educational institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, Tribes, and Indigenous-owned businesses.

Early bird registration is now open. Please follow the link above for more information and to register.

Many of our AK Indigenous People express the responsibility to family, village and broader community in the values identified by our Elders. As leaders, this responsibility relates to accountability and action. In 2019, Youth and Elders at the AK Federation of Natives passed a resolution that clearly calls out our climate crisis and the need to act. More recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) and the Status of Tribes and Climate Change (STACC) Reports were released with some significant and key messages. In this webinar, senior climate scientist Dr. John Walsh will highlight a Quick Guide to Climate reports including their purpose, how they are created, some key messages for Alaska, and how they might be used with other information in climate change adaptation work. Indigenous climate activist and creative, Princess Daazhraii Johnson, explores our individual and collective responsibility to act and the need for leadership in all arenas of governance/government to be accountable to the messages in timely climate reports and act on behalf of our children and humanity as a whole.

This is a joint webinar between the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy and the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network, part of the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center.

Please follow the link above for more information and to register.

Please, feel free to join our workshop "Global Economics and Geopolitics of the Arctic" at the University of Vienna. Registration forms for online and in-person participation are available under the "Program and Registration".

The ERC Advanced Grant project InfraNorth (Building Arctic Futures: Transport Infrastructures & Sustainable Northern Communities) is organizing a workshop on the global economics and geopolitics of arctic transport infrastructures.

Venue: University of Vienna (Department of Social & Cultural Anthropology, Universitätsstrasse 7, NIG, 4th floor) and Online (via Zoom).

Speakers include Mia Bennett, Lawson Brigham, Klaus Dodds, Marlene Laruelle, Gregor Sailer, Nadezhda Zamyatina & Peter Schweitzer and the InfraNorth Team.

Please follow the link above for more information and to register.

Save the Date!

The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) Annual General Meeting will be September 24, 2021 on Zoom.

The symposium is organized 12–13 October 2021 in Rovaniemi, Finland in a hybrid mode via Teams.

”Arctic change” is a popular way to frame current developments and to discuss the future of the region as a complex set of interconnected environmental, social and economic changes taking place in the region and leading to its fundamental transformation. Different forms of governance to guide and govern these changes is yet another topical but a complex set of issues connecting different levels of societal actors, forms of action, and concerns, such as sustainability and equity. Also, the question remains whether these transformations are in anyway governable, and what are the possible unintended and unwanted effects of any efforts of governance. Consequently, it becomes evident that governance in Arctic regions goes far beyond the schemes of regional authorities and the policies of few supranational bodies (e.g. Arctic Council). This topical diversity will be addressed at the symposium.

In recent years, social science-based research has produced a myriad of concepts, approaches and methodologies to understand societal transformations and their governability, such as collaborative governance, interactive governance, metagovernance, governmentality and global governance, to name just a few. In order to understand better (un)governability of Arctic change, we invite critically oriented presentations to the Northern Political Economy Symposium 2021 to discuss governance of Arctic transformations as well as examples of empirical research into different processes of societal transformations and their governability.

The deadline for abstracts of proposed presentations is 24 September 2021.

For more information please follow the link above.

Even though vaccine programs have started the situation is still uncertain. It is premature to assume that international travel will return to normal in 2021 and we have therefore decided to postpone the symposium until 2022.

New dates: August 21-26 2022

The symposium title will thus become Cryosphere 2022 as we continue our preparations into next year.

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).

UPDATE: The secretariat has been assessing the possibility of holding ISPS2021 in person, but after careful consideration of the current circumstances, we made a difficult decision of holding the conference online. While the symposium will go virtual, the date of the symposium will remain the same, from September 27 to 29. For the oral and poster presenters, additional information about your on-line participation will be posted as it becomes available. A separate webpage for virtual symposium will open early September.

The symposium aims to bring together polar scientists and engineers with diverse background to share their research findings and explore further research opportunities at the international level. With “Responding to Climate Crisis” as its overarching theme, ISPS2021 invites researchers to discuss how polar science and technology can contribute to our understanding of climate change.

Theme:

Climate change is the greatest crisis of our times, as it brings devastating consequences to our planet. We have witnessed many communities suffering from heatwave, drought and wildfire, while others suffered heavy rainfall, typhoon and flood. We are facing extreme events at an unprecedented rate, and they require our immediate and collective attention.

It is the mission of science to continue the observation, and provide scientific understanding and prediction upon which we can implement mitigation efforts. Polar sciences are crucial in the sense that these regions are especially sensitive to climate change, which adds to the instability of the earth system. Warming and cooling patterns are amplified, and the melting of ice sheets causes catastrophic sea level rises.

During this symposium, we will discuss the findings in polar sciences that are closely linked to climate change, and the cutting-edge technologies that enable more efficient and sustainable monitoring under harsh environments, while shedding new light on the unseen.

Session Themes:

• Polar climate science in the context of global climate crisis
• Cryosphere evolution and sea-level change
• Sea ice and polar oceans in rapid transition
• A paleoclimate perspective on climatic and environmental extremes · Integrated study of subglacial Antarctic lake ecosystems
• Technological advances enabling new polar science

Side Meetings:

Side meetings can be accommodated during the course of the symposium. If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity and hold a meeting to exchange ideas on a subject relevant to the conference theme, please contact us at symposium [at] kopri.re.kr

Abstract Submission:

Please submit your abstract at the symposium website from April 12 to May 23, 2021 (extended deadline).

Registration:

Registration will be available at the symposium website from June 2021.

More information about the symposium will be updated on the website as the date approaches.

The Arctic Centre will host a Winter School, aimed at (inter-) national civil servants and policy makers, politicians, managers, financial experts, (young) academics and PhD students who are looking for a nuanced and wide-ranging understanding of the Arctic. The theme of the Winter School is Our connection with a fast-changing Arctic. From 24-29 January 2022 in Groningen, Netherlands, lectures, discussions and group work will take place in which topics related to the theme will be addressed from an integrated perspective on a sustainable society. Participation can be a crucial asset to many public- and private-sector employers with operations in the Arctic.

Theme

Global warming is most prominent in the Arctic with visible changes in ice and snow and enormous challenges for ecosystems and people to adapt to the new situation. Loss of the Arctic as we know it, coincides with new development in this area on conservation, cooperation, economic development, governance and security. Sustainable solutions require multidimensional knowledge and a prudent approach when coming from outside the Arctic, as new business opportunities should take account of the sensitivities of the natural environment and local and indigenous people.

Participants will be introduced in the conditions experienced and adaptations exhibited by Arctic inhabitants, as the effects of global warming are more severe and noticeable in the North. Changing weather patterns, sea level rise and sustainable socio-economic developments, are also relevant for the rest of the world. With a variety of experts, we will discuss the present predictions and future consequences of climate change. In this respect, the Arctic can be seen as a living laboratory for a broad range of societal challenges.

Lectures

During the week, there will be lectures in the morning and discussions and assignments in the afternoon. There will be general lectures, but also tailormade assignments, based on the needs and expertise in the group and active discussions with experts. We expect that the participants will do some homework before each session. All sessions will be from 9:00 till 17:00 hrs. With a social gathering afterwards on Monday and Friday.

General topics addressed in the lectures:

• Climate Change (climate forcing gasses, arctic amplification, ice caps and sea level rise, polar vortex, mitigation and adaptation)
• Arctic ecosystems (sea ice as platform for life, permafrost, carbon pools, trophic mismatch, species extinction, grazing)
• The indigenous peoples of the Arctic (Overview of the different indigenous peoples in the Arctic, colonial history and decolonial actions, Indigenous peoples as rights holders)
• Governance and science cooperation (UNCLOS, treaties, wilderness concept, pollution)
• Sustainable development and business (Arctic Economic Forum, tourism, shipping, natural resource exploitation, economic development)

Application

Interested parties can applicate by filling in the form below, no later than 27 September 2021. Each application will be assessed carefully. In total 20 applicants will be selected to take part in the Winter School. You will be informed no later than 4 October 2021 whether you have been selected. The final program will also be announced that day.

Please follow the link above for more information and to apply.

The seminar is organized under the auspices of the Northern Sustainable Development Forum in Yakutsk, and can be attended both offline and online.

Initiated by the “Digitalization of the Linguistic and Cultural Heritage of the Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic” Arctic Council SDWG project and inspired by the Arctic Council Permanent Participants, the seminar is a platform to discuss the protection of the intellectual property rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and organizations, scientific and educational organizations collecting and documenting traditional knowledge, intellectual property experts, and Indigenous youth are invited to participate in the discussion.Mr. Nikolay Korchunov, Ambassador at Large for the Arctic Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Russia, Senior Arctic Official of the Russian Federation to the Arctic Council, will open the seminar.

The seminar is organized by the Russian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council, Association of World Reindeer Herders, International Center for Reindeer Husbandry, Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat, UArctic EALAT Institute, Ministry for Arctic Development and Indigenous Peoples Affairs of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University.

Part of the NOAA in Alaska and the Arctic seminar series hosted by NOAA NCEI Regional Climate Services Director, Alaska Region.

Remote Access

Please register for NOAA in Alaska and the Arctic seminar series September 28, 2021 at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4266490361750202126

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Abstract

Arctic observing and data systems have been identified as critical infrastructures to support scientific understanding and decision-making from local to regional and global scales, yet there remain significant challenges to developing, integrating and sustaining the needed systems. These challenges arise from the complexity of coordination across many organizational centers of action, sparse deployment and telecommunications infrastructure and physical conditions of polar regions that constrain technology options. Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) was initiated to address the challenges related to coordination across a heterogeneous collection of national and organizational actors engaged in Arctic observing. Within this complex partnership setting, SAON recognizes the value of polycentric' governance models, which work to generate alignment around shared goals across many centers of action in non-hierarchal arrangements. Polycentric thinking has inspired SAON's vision for a coordination and planning framework for developing observing and data system requirements and implementation strategies under its Roadmap for Arctic Observing and Data Systems (SAON-ROADS). ROADS' guidance, among other things, calls for equitable partnering with Indigenous Peoples, a focus on shared benefits from observing and data systems, complementarity to existing regional to global observing efforts, and incremental approaches that are flexible and inclusive. The success of the SAON-ROADS vision is highly dependent on the engagement of SAON partners in the planning process. This talk will illustrate how nationally coordinated actions within the US are serving as a model for supporting the ROADS process.

Bio

Sandy Starkweather is the Executive Director for the US Arctic Observing Network (US AON, NOAA-chaired), where she advances US agency participation in the international Arctic Observing System. With a joint background in engineering (energy conservation, renewables), earth science (Arctic climatology) and science policy, Sandy has worked in a consulting engineering capacity, university research, project management and planning. During this time, she spent twelve years traveling to/from Greenland to either participate in or support Arctic field research. She is currently serving as the Chair of Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) and leading SAON's efforts to develop its Roadmap for Arctic Observing and Data Systems (ROADS).

Please register by September 10th at https://forms.gle/BZKRXLpVfpJzSuL78

The Rising Voices program facilitates intercultural, relational-based approaches for understanding and adapting to extreme weather and climate events, climate variability and climate change. The program brings Indigenous and other scientific professionals, tribal and community leaders, environmental and communication experts, students, educators, and artists from across the United States, including Alaska, Hawai'i, the Pacific and Caribbean Islands, and around the world, to assess critical community needs and to pursue joint research aimed at developing optimal plans for community action towards sustainability. Rising Voices acknowledges the inherent value of Indigenous knowledge systems and Indigenous science, adaptive practices and processes, honoring them equally with Earth sciences.

At its core, Rising Voices aims to advance science through collaborations that bring Indigenous and Earth (atmospheric, social, biological, ecological) sciences into partnership, supports adaptive and resilient communities through sharing scientific capacity, and provides opportunities for Indigenous students and early career scientists through scientific and community mentoring. Further, it helps Western-trained scientists expand their observational skills, research paradigms, capacity to apply and translate findings, and ultimately their science.

The program - through an annual workshop series, knowledge exchanges, trainings, and an active listserv - has facilitated the creation of new and continued intercultural adaptation partnerships based on respect, justice, equality, and reciprocity that address our changing climate.

The Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences is offering three $5,000 awards to launch small-scale but impactful projects OR to support the time and effort to write a proposal for a large-scale project. Applications must demonstrate how the proposed work will bring together Indigenous and Earth sciences to address pressing community-driven research and action. Successful applications will support projects to begin around July 20, 2021 and conclude around November 20, 2021. For more information, please see the Request for Proposals announcement and the application form.

Please follow the link above for more information.

Each year, scores of new students, staff members, and investigators join the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. They dive right in to working on their site-based research, but sometimes don’t discover — until much later — the array of resources, colleagues, and expertise that the Network offers.

This brief (90-minute) network orientation session serves to introduce new LTER participants to the breadth of ecosystems and types of research that the Network encompasses. We’ll also point out ways to stay informed about network activities; how to find LTER colleagues with similar interests; and where to look for network-level resources on data management, science communication, and maintaining a diverse and mutually supportive community.

We’ll talk briefly about how the Network is structured and the role of network-wide committees in supporting scientific research, information management, education, and outreach. We’ll also make time to meet a few of the hundreds of scientists and support personnel who make up this dynamic scientific enterprise.

The Arctic Domain Awareness Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard District 17 and Sector Anchorage, is hosting a two-day workshop on the development of an environmental risk index. This index is focused on coastal facilities and infrastructure under the inspection purview of USCG. Aware that the Arctic region is exposed to the impacts of climate change, increasing coastal erosion, and more frequent precipitation, USCG seeks to develop a risk index as an operator decision support tool focused on bulk oil/fuel facilities. This two day workshop will bring together experts from a wide range of disciplines and utilize a collaborative group setting to identify data sources, evaluate inputs to a proposed decision support tool, and determine which models will advance the development of the risk index.

Organizers invite abstracts for the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2022. This conference will convene 27 February - 4 March 2022 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

This year’s theme emphasizes the importance of working together. “Come Together and Connect,” focuses on strengthening the ocean sciences community through discussing both basic and applied research while making scientific and social connections.

Co-sponsored by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), and The Oceanography Society (TOS), Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) is the global leader in ocean sciences conferences. We are creating a meeting and networking environment that provides opportunities for ocean scientists, from those doing basic research to those working on solutions for the ocean we want, to present and share knowledge as well as network and address emerging topics in ocean sciences.

While many participants will physically gather in Honolulu, the Program Committee anticipates a large global gathering to virtually attend online programming and events. The tradition of outstanding presentations and knowledge-sharing, through plenary speakers, in oral sessions, and in serendipitous conversations, will continue during OSM 2022.

Balance is a key to OSM 2022 – enabling as many people to meet as possible across media, disseminating scientific knowledge, and creating personal connections all while considering the ocean and planet we want for the future.

Important Dates:

• August 2021: Call for Abstracts and Auxiliary Events Posted
• September 2021: Registration Opens
• 29 September 2021: Abstract, Town Hall and Auxiliary Event Submission Deadline.
• November 2021: Presenters Notified of Acceptance, Travel Grant Recipients Notified, Program Schedule Posted

The Wilson Center's Polar Institute will convene a panel of preeminent U.S. experts in different fields of Antarctic science who will speak to priority projects underway in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean and the contributions polar scientists make to global policies related to climate change, predicting sea-level rise, marine protection and environmental policies generally.

Introduction

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

Moderator

Evan T. Bloom
Senior Fellow, Polar Institute;
Former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries and Director for Ocean and Polar Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Panelists

Theodore Scambos, PhD
Senior Research Scientist, Earth Science and Observation Center, University of Colorado

Heather Lynch, PhD
IACS Endowed Chair for Ecology & Evolution, Stony Brook University

Abigail Vieregg, PhD
Associate Professor, Departments of Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago

George Watters, PhD
Director, Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division (NOAA); U.S. Representative to the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources

As Alaska's remarkably brief fall turns quickly toward winter, the research team for the Arctic Facilities and Infrastructure Environmental Change Risk Index (ERI) project at ADAC invite you to join them for a workshop on addressing the concept of environmental risk as it pertains to critical energy infrastructure in Alaska.

The USCG D17 and Sector Anchorage have tasked the ERI research team with investigating the potential impacts of climate change as it pertains to bulk oil and other infrastructure under regulation 33 CFR 154. Many Alaskan communities have infrastructure that falls under this regulation, infrastructure that is their energy lifeline providing communities with heat and electricity. Our study draws experts from a range of disciplines to help construct an operationally relevant "risk index" to inform and provide decision making support to USCG inspectors and operators.

To this end, the research team is hosting a half-day, virtual (Zoom) event. This event will consist of informational plenary sessions, and the attendees will then participate in short, rapid-fire voting of relevant risks based on individual presentations. Your input and feedback on these risks would be greatly appreciated. Following these individual votes, there will be time for the group to reflect as a whole.

Please follow the link above for more information and to register.

This seminar will be live on Zoom and open to anyone interested (with a limit of 300 participants). Register in advance for this meeting.

Abstract

Climate warming is rapidly transforming Arctic ecosystems and melting the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). Terrestrial records of a GrIS smaller than today and the ecosystems that emerged in formerly ice-free areas are crucial for understanding ice sheet and ecosystem sensitivity to warming, but rare due to present ice cover. Basal materials from ice cores can be a critical archive of past ice-free periods. The Camp Century ice core, collected in 1966 from northwestern Greenland, was the first ice core drilled to the bed of an ice sheet and retrieved 3.5 m of subglacial sediment. However, the subglacial sediment was incompletely studied and then misplaced for decades – until it was rediscovered in 2017. Now, we can apply modern analytical techniques to the sediment that were unimaginable at the time of its collection nearly 60 years ago.

Read more and register at the link above.

Tuesday, 5 October 2021 to Thursday, 7 October 2021.

This virtual conference, integrated with social media, will focus on sharing best practices and challenges of conducting citizen science research in the Arctic. This conference is in response to a growing community of Arctic researchers, Arctic communities, and Arctic visitors that are becoming more engaged in citizen science research. Although there are many resources regarding citizen science available online, they are not specific to the Arctic. A virtual conference will enable participants from across the Arctic to participate. A post-conference white paper, as well as archived presentations, will contribute to the overall citizen science community’s shared knowledge base, long-term goals, and a growing community of practice.

This online conference is FREE! There are no abstract or registration fees.

The conference language will be English.

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline has been extended to Monday, 23 August 2021, 5:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time.
• Abstract selection notifications will be emailed by Wednesday, 1 September 2021.
• General registration will open for all attendees on Monday, 16 August 2021 (the same date as the abstract submission deadline) and close on Friday, 1 October 2021.