Past Events

Organizers of the Arctic Climate Change, Economy, and Society (ACCESS) cross-sectoral summer school announce that applications are now being accepted. The school will be held 23-27 September 2013 in Bremen, Germany.

ACCESS is a European Project supported within the Ocean of Tomorrow call of the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme. Its main objective is to assess climate change impacts on marine transportation, tourism, fisheries, marine mammals, and the extraction of oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean. ACCESS is also focusing on Arctic governance and strategic policy options.

The summer school is open for approximately 20 participants from science, business, and public administration students, and is intended for graduate level and above. The aim of the summer school is to provide the students an opportunity to learn about the different aspects of Arctic climate change, changes in the environment, the economic sectors of shipping, tourism, fisheries, oil and gas exploitation as well as governance. Experts from all of these fields will give an insight into recent developments and present their view on chances and risks connected to the changes in the climate system and associated changes in the economic sectors.

The students will be able to work in small groups on topics related to cross-sectoral questions in the context of Arctic climate change, economy and society. They will present their results to a group of experts and are provided with the opportunity to publish them in the ACCESS Newsletter.

There will be no fee for the participation in the summer school. Costs for meals, accommodation and transport will have to be covered at the students' own expenses. The course is organized and hosted by the ACCESS partners Alfred Wegener Institute--Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Ocean Atmosphere Systems GmbH (OASys) and co-sponsored by the Helmholtz Graduate School for Polar and Marine Research (POLMAR). Decisions on the acceptance of participants, together with additional information on the summer school as well as suggestions for accommodation and transport will be made available by 10 August 2013.

Application deadline: 4 August 2013.

For further information or to apply, please contact:
Lilian Schubert
Email: Lilian.Schubert [at] awi.de

Michael Karcher
Email: michael [at] oasys-research.de

Registration is now open for TAM science meeting 9/23-24/2013. The meeting covers all disciplines.

The objectives of the meeting are:

• to disseminate latest findings,
• forge collaborations,
• plan for short and long term research priorities,
• identify common goals and multidisciplinary collaborations, and
• assess current logistics capabilities and future needs for camps/logistics hubs.

NSF provides travel support for attendees.

Immediately after the meeting, on Wednesday 9/25/2013, there is an information session for new Antarctic researchers on how to plan the logistics of your first project and proposal.

For more info and registration, please visit the meeting website.

10th International Conference on Electromagnetic Wave Interaction with Water and Moist Substances

The conference will provide an interdisciplinary platform for sharing experience and discussing latest scientific results in better understanding, development and application of electromagnetic measurement techniques for determining the amount of water in moist substances.

Due to the broad application of electromagnetic measurement techniques to solve glaciological questions and therefore the interest on constitutive electromagnetic properties of ice, snow and frozen porous materials contributions concerning the following topics are welcome:

• remote sensing applications in glaciology, including other cryospheric sciences,
• theoretical, numerical and experimental studies on electromagnetic properties and electromagnetic wave propagation in snow, ice as well as frozen and partially frozen porous materials.

Contributions from the specialists of the appropriate fields to this topics will be of great value for the planned conference.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Arctic Division 2013 Annual Meeting will be held 26-28 September 2013 in Kodiak, Alaska. The 2013 theme is "Fisheries and Watersheds: Food Security, Education and Sustainability."

Future concerns about Alaska's marine resources, particularly the fisheries, revolve around the status of research and education and our ability to wisely utilize this cornucopia. The 2013 Arctic Science Conference will feature a variety of sessions focusing on marine science, sustainability, circumpolar health, and interdisciplinary education.

Abstract submissions will be accepted through May 1, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Alaska time. Please note that this deadline is considerably earlier than in previous years. For information on submitting an abstract, please go to: http://seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/2013/aaas-arctic-science/abstract.p….

The tentative session topics are as follows:

• Marine Biology
• Fisheries
• Seafood Science
• Interdisciplinary, General and Applied Science
• Sustainability
• Science Education

Community Science, K-12 Interactions, and Teacher Trainings will also be offered.

Abstract submission deadline: Wednesday, 1 May 2013 at 5:00 p.m. AKDT

The 2013 West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Workshop will be held 29 September to 2 October at the Algonkian Meeting Center in Sterling, Virginia, U.S.A.

The WAIS Workshop is an excellent, informative meeting on ice sheets and polar climate generally, incorporating glaciology, polar oceanography, marine and terrestrial geoscience, and climate study all aimed at understanding rapid ice dynamic changes and ice sheet mass balance. It is about the best forum of the year for an engaged discussion of the problems, and an outstanding deal ($200 registration covers -both- food and lodging for the meeting). It is also an opportunity to help shape the direction of polar field work, esp in Antarctica, for the next few years, at the Science Steering Committee meeting held on Sunday afternoon at the venue before the meeting begins.

We look forward to having a great meeting in the WAIS Workshop tradition (which includes hurricanes as a regular occurrence, alas!)

The link for abstracts, and registration can be found at:
www.waisworkshop.org

Organizers announce that the 8th Circumpolar Agricultural Conference and the Univeristy of the Arctic Inaugural Northern Food Summit will be held 29 September 2013 - 3 October 2013. They will be convened at the Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska.

The theme of the conference and summit is "Advancing food security and sustainable agriculture in the circumpolar north; Building an integrated vision, creating a process for sustainable food security in northern communities." This event adopts the perspective that food security is a driver to community development and sustainability, and takes a balanced approach between traditional subsistence natural resource access and agricultural production. Thus, rather than a commodity-specific conference, it will bridge diverse but common key areas to support, strengthen, and expand the food resources and northern community development. The summit will discuss the barriers/challenges and develop solutions/opportunities across key critical areas such as food production, food access and distribution systems, sustainable practices, land use planning, and food policy and safety issues.

Abstracts for posters relevant to all aspects of circumpolar agriculture and food security in the north are welcome. The conference will consist of invited plenary talks organized around featured topics followed by formal poster sessions where presenters will provide a brief overview of the content and purpose of their poster to organized groups. The discussion generated will continue into a series of breakout sessions organized around the following four objectives, which are detailed on the conference website.

Abstract submission deadline: Wednesday, 1 May 2013.

LGGE and CSC will organize a 2-day Elmer/Ice course the 3rd and 4th of October 2013. The course is intended for persons who want to start using Elmer/Ice in their research projects. More information about Elmer/Ice can be obtained here: http://elmerice.elmerfem.org/.

The course will take place at LGGE (Grenoble, France). Participants should bring their own labtop with a working (serial or parallel) version of Elmer, gmsh and paraview. More information about the organization of the course will be addressed to participants later this summer.

The course is free and will be open to approximately 12 participants, on a first come first serve basis. To register, email Olivier Gagliardini at olivier.gagliardini [at] ujf-grenoble.fr.

The aim of the conference is to promote interaction and exchanges between practitioners and researchers in the fields of snow and avalanche science. The conference is organized in Grenoble and the field trip will take place in Chamonix Mont-Blanc. Translation of the oral presentations will be done into English, French, Italian and German.

Topics for the workshop include:

• Global snow properties and their spatial variability
• Blowing and drifting snow
• Avalanche risk forecasting
• Guiding in avalanche terrain and snow stability evaluation
• Modern forms of communicating avalanche danger
• Avalanche education
• Avalanche dynamics and hazard mapping
• Avalanche protection
• Artificial release and mitigation strategies
• Instrumentation, monitoring and remote sensing
• Crisis management, avalanche accidents and rescue
• Managing snow
• Impact of climate change
• Snow hydrology and ecology
  Additional details can be found at the conference web site.

A workshop on snow and avalanche test sites (only in English) will be organized in the framework of ISSW.

Do not hesitate to submit your abstract in English, French, Italian or German now, as the April 14, 2013 deadline is approaching.

We look forward to welcoming you in Grenoble and Chamonix Mont-Blanc.

Organizers announce a call for session proposals for the 40th annual meeting of the Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. The meeting will be convened 7-11 October 2013 at the Princess Fairbanks Lodge in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The theme of the meeting is "The Practice of Fisheries: Celebrating All Who Work Toward Sustainable Fisheries in Alaska." It was chosen in celebration of the many varied peoples who contribute to the health and sustainability of Alaska's fisheries and fishing communities, whether as biologists, fisheries managers, students, artists, and so on. This theme will be exemplified through a broad array of sessions including keynotes, contributed oral sessions, and a poster session; and a long list of social activities and tours. Sessions can focus on the practice of fisheries science or management, can be disciplinary or interdisciplinary, and should include 4-6 presentations at a length of 20 minutes each, including time for questions. Sessions often cover topics such as: Marine Fisheries, Freshwater Fisheries, Habitat, Recent Advances in Fish and Fisheries, Hatcheries, Human Dimensions, Modeling, Food Webs, Research Methods, etc.

Anyone interested in chairing (or co-chairing) a session is invited to send a short (250-word) abstract and a (tentative) list of speakers to Philip Loring (ploring [at] alaska.edu) for consideration no later than 15 June 2013.

The tentative schedule for the meeting includes continuing education workshops and organized tours that will be held on the first two days of the meeting (October 7 and 8), and a welcome reception scheduled for Tuesday evening (October 8). The keynote address and plenary session will be Wednesday morning, followed by concurrent oral sessions, with a poster session, social, and open mic (new event) Wednesday evening (October 9). Thursday and Friday (October 10 and 11) will be dedicated to concurrent sessions, with the banquet Thursday evening along with entertainment and an auction. The annual business meeting will be held Friday late morning, after which student awards will be presented before the meeting adjourns. In addition to the open mic night, new elements for this year's meeting will include a trivia challenge with prizes during the banquet, and 20-minute "learning studios" in which experts will offer mini-lessons on fisheries-related topics to small audiences.

If you have questions or recommendations, or are interested in helping with meeting planning, social activities, or local arrangements, please contact Chapter President-Elect and Program Committee Chair Philip Loring (907-474-7163; ploring [at] alaska.edu).

Session proposal deadline: Saturday, 15 June 2013.

I would like to draw your attention to an advanced workshop in the micromorphology of sediment deformation which will be held at the Centre for Micromorphology at Queen Mary, University of London from 7-11th October 2013. This workshop is led by Dr Simon Carr and Professor Jaap van der Meer (QMUL) and Dr Emrys Phillips (BGS Edinburgh). This workshop is particularly aimed at researchers who have prior experience in the micro-scale analysis of glacial sediments, or who have attended previous International Workshops on Micromorphology of Glacial Sediments. However, please contact the organisers if you would like to establish whether this course is appropriate for you.

The workshop will comprise lectures examining the application of micromorphology to (glacial) sediments that preserve evidence of deformation, a review of current thinking on processes and mechanisms of sediment deformation, but mainly focuses on practical updates and training on recent developments in collection, manipulation and analysis of micro-scale properties of deforming sediments.

We anticipate the workshop to result in a co-authored paper with all participants to be published in an international, peer-reviewed journal.

Key themes explored will include:

• Describing and understanding polyphase deformation and strain signatures;
• Microstructural mapping and microfabric analysis;
• Quantification and digital mapping of plasmic fabrics (Metripol analysis);
• Application of 3D X-ray computed tomography; This includes the scanning and reconstruction of samples brought to the workshop by delegates.
• Provenancing using thin sections.

In order for every participant to have continuous access to key equipment the maximum number is set at 12 delegates. Delegates are invited to bring thin sections of particular interest along to the workshop, and also a sediment sample to be scanned and reconstructed using 3D x-ray computed tomography

Registration for the workshop (not including accommodation) will be £500 per delegate. You can access more information on the workshop website.

The 2013 Arctic Energy Summit is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues. The meeting will be convened 8-10 October 2013 in Akureyri, Iceland.

The Summit will be an interdisciplinary forum for scholars, energy industry officials, scientists, academics, policymakers, energy professionals, and community leaders who share an interest in, and concern for, sustainable development of the Arctic and its energy resources. Building on the work done at the highly successful 2007 Arctic Energy Summit and Technology Conference, the 2013 Summit will address energy extraction, production, and transmission in the Arctic as it relates to three thematic areas: richness, resilience, and responsibility.

For questions, contact:
Geoffrey R. Cooper
Email: gcooper [at] institutenorth.org
Phone: 907-786-4663

An interdisciplinary conference of the humanities and social sciences entitled 'Heritage and Change in the Arctic' announces a call for papers. The conference will be convened 11-14 October 2013 at the University of Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland.

Making a new and unique contribution to arctic research and policy by bringing together social and human sciences scholars from northern Canada, Greenland, and the Nordic countries, this two-day conference relates the historical origins of key socio-environmental challenges facing arctic communities to both contemporary responses and potential future alternatives. A key focus will be the political, economic, and cultural investments of arctic states and peoples in ecological and cultural sustainability. The conference will be a rare opportunity to discuss northern issues as they cross the Atlantic. Subthemes include:

• Natural resources and sustainable development
• National identities and centre-periphery relations
• Indigenous identity and heritage landscapes
• Youth, tradition, and community responses to change

Proposals on any relevant topic are welcome, and should be submitted via email (contact-circla [at] cgs.aau.dk). Submissions should include a 200-word abstract and a brief statement of the author's academic affiliation.

The DISsertations initiative for the advancement of Climate Change ReSearch (DISCCRS, pronounced discourse) hosts symposia for early-career climate change researchers. Our goal is to catalyze international, interdisciplinary collegial networks and foster collaborative interdisciplinary research and dynamic interactions between science and society to enable us to better understand and respond to the myriad challenges posed by climate change.

During the week-long symposium, 30 competitively selected recent Ph.D. graduates will share their research, engage in discussions with peers, mentors, and funding agency representatives, and hone their team-building and communication skills. Most importantly, scholars will depart from the symposium with a collegial peer network that extends across the full range of climate science.

Symposium Eligibility: Ph.D. requirements completed between September 1, 2010 - February 28, 2013 in any field. Applicants should be conducting research relevant to the study of climate change, its impacts, or its societal implications. We encourage applicants from the biological, physical, and social sciences, mathematics, engineering, and other fields. While U.S. citizens and residents have preference, some funds are available for non-U.S. participants.

The inaugural Arctic Circle will be held October 12-14, 2013. The mission of the Arctic Circle is to facilitate dialogue and build relationships to confront the Arctic's greatest challenges. We aim to strengthen the decision-making process by bringing together as many Arctic and international partners as possible under one large "open tent."

By facilitating circumpolar meetings of leaders across disciplines, we will identify truly sustainable development practices for the Arctic, the world's last pristine environment.

The Arctic Circle is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Organizations, forums, think tanks, corporations and public associations around the world are invited to hold meetings within the Arctic Circle platform without surrendering their institu­tional independence. The agenda for the first Arctic Circle gathering will include plenary sessions with international leaders on emerging topics of interest, such as:

• Sea ice melt and extreme weather;
• Security in the Arctic;
• Fisheries and ecosystem management;
• Shipping and transportation infrastructure;
• Arctic Resources;
• Tourism

Subsequent Arctic Circle gatherings will be held in a different Arctic location each year, so that participants can become familiar with the challenges, needs and opportunities presented by these unique environments.

As we attempt to model the Earth System it is important that the impact of forest fires on the Earth System is fully understood and quantified. These impacts can be on climate, the biosphere, ecosystem functioning, society and livelihood. Fire disturbance has been identified by climate modellers as an Essential Climate Variable. Forest disturbance and the associated carbon flux needs to be measured and reported under the United Nations REDD+ programme. Furthermore, we have been very good at understanding the short term impacts of fire on forests, but less good at understanding the response of vegetation under different fire frequency and severity scenarios. The workshop will draw out the state of the art research being undertaken to identify and quantify these impacts.

Abstracts are invited on the following topics:

• Characterizing the impact of fire severity and fire frequency across vegetation types
• Validation methods for burned area mapping
• Monitoring and modeling vegetation recovery after fire disturbance
• Scaling from regional to global burned area maps
• Mapping forest fires for REDD+ MRV
• Using active fire mapping and fire radiative energy to inform on fire severity and impact

To manage the considerable data legacy of the International Polar Year (IPY), the National Antarctic Data Centres under SCAR initiated several dedicated data-services. To construct an effective framework for long-term stewardship, data must be made available promptly, and adequate technologies should be employed (e.g., a repository service, such as the Polar Information Commons (PIC)). In addition to activities conducted within the communities of SCAR and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), stronger links must be established in the post-IPY era with other crosscutting scientific data-management bodies under the umbrella of the International Council for science (ICSU), namely, the Committee on Data for Science and Technology and the World Data System (ICSU-WDS). To this end, SCAR's Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM), the WDS Scientific Committee, and IASC are planning a Joint International Forum on "Polar Data Activities in Global Data Systems".

The Forum will address effective polar data management, including submission of metadata and data, sharing of data to facilitate new interdisciplinary science, and long-term preservation and stewardship of data at the international level. To ensure the IPY data legacy, presentations on the successes and challenges encountered during IPY will highlight not only the best practices but also the shortcomings. This event is open to all scientific disciplines, and interdisciplinary data management topics are especially encouraged. A significant outcome of the Forum will be the development of a new strategy and structure for the Arctic Data Network under the auspices of SAON, IASC, and the Arctic Council. Discussions involving the different communities will provide a strong foundation to forge interdisciplinary connections and explore new horizons for polar data management. In particular, an updated plan for polar data archives, including as the PIC cloud system, will be discussed.

Important Dates:

Registration opening: 1 July 2013

Abstract submission deadline: 30 July 2013

Hotel reservation deadline: 15 Sept 2013

Registration close: 30 Sept 2013

Organizers of the 19th International Symposium on Polar Sciences announce an extended call for abstracts. The conference will convene 16-18 October 2013 at the Korea Polar Research Institute in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

The International Symposium on Polar Sciences is held annually and is intended to build better understanding and consensus on the progress and future of polar research programs. The theme of the 2013 symposium is "Toward Better Understanding of Climate Changes in the Arctic." The main objectives of this symposium are to examine the causes and impacts of rapid warming in the Arctic and to understand the potential feedback processes observed in the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial ecosystems.

To submit an abstract, go to: http://symposium.kopri.re.kr/registration.html.

Extended abstract submission deadline: Saturday, 31 August 2013.

For further information, including registration and abstract submission instructions, the tentative schedule, links to accommodations and transportation information, and to download the second circular, go to: http://symposium.kopri.re.kr/overview.html.

This is an open and informal meeting of glaciologists from the "Pacific Northwest" studying snow and ice around the world. This is an informal gathering with no abstracts, no pre-registration, and a strong history of student participation. All are welcome.

NEW for 2013: In addition to regular (15 minute) talks, we are now encouraging (5 minute) 'microtalks' for those wishing to share new data or ideas in a short format.

Registration is on-site. For planning purposes, please email Flavien Beaud (fbeaud [at] sfu.ca) if you intend to come to the meeting. Let us know if you'd like to give a talk and attend the Friday social.

The Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) is an international effort to focus on enhancing collaboration and coordination among arctic marine and sea ice modelers, theoreticians, and observationalists. This collaboration is based on a set of activities starting from generating hypotheses, to planning research including both observations and modeling, and to finalizing analyses synthesizing major results from the field studies and coordinated numerical experiments.

The major themes of this year's workshop include, but are not limited by studies focused on:

• Sea ice conditions (drift, thickness and concentration)
• Atmospheric conditions and circulation regimes
• Circulation of surface, Pacific and Atlantic water layers
• State and future of freshwater and heat content
• Horizontal and vertical mixing
• Process studies and parameterizations
• Model validation and calibration
• Numerical improvements and algorithms
• Ecosystems, biological issues, and geochemistry

The ecosystem changes underway in the Arctic region are expected to have significant impacts on living resources in both the short and long run, and current actions and policies adopted by the Nordic states over such resource governance will have serious and ultimately irreversible consequences in the near and long terms. In particular, the breadth and scope of integration of science and political economy into the formulation of strategies for economic resource use and preservation will determine the outcomes of such policies. Policies to contain invasive species in one nation's waters will be limited in effectiveness by decisions of neighboring nations as well as by the ecological context of the invasion. Coordinated resource policy across space and time is therefore essential to maximizing the full economic value, including potential non-use and indirect-use values, of the living resources of the Arctic Ocean as the base productivity undergoes ecological changes.

Key note speakers include:

• Whitman Miller, Marine Invasions Research Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution
• Mike Gill, Environment Canada and Chair of Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Group
• Linda M Fernandez, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Brooks Kaiser, University of Southern Denmark

Updated information about the workshop can be found at the FAME website www.sdu.dk/fame under courses. For further information, please contact Irene Nygaard at fame [at] sdu.dk.