Past Events

Program Title:

Arctic Research Opportunities
Arctic Natural Sciences; Arctic Social Sciences; Arctic System Science; Arctic Observing Network and Cyberinfrastructure
Synopsis of Program:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to conduct research about the Arctic. Arctic research includes field and modeling studies, data analysis, and synthesis about the arctic region.

The goal of the NSF Section for Arctic Sciences, Division of Polar Programs (PLR), is to gain a better understanding of the Arctic's physical, biological, geological, chemical, social and cultural processes; the interactions of oceanic, terrestrial, atmospheric, biological, social, cultural, and economic systems; and the connections that define the Arctic. The Arctic Sciences and other NSF programs support projects that contribute to the development of the next generation of researchers and scientific literacy for all ages through education, outreach, and broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Program representatives from polar and other non-polar NSF programs that support arctic research coordinate across NSF, including joint review and funding of arctic proposals and mutual support of special projects with high logistical costs.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.

Renee D. Crain, Arctic Research Support and Logistics Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-4482, email: rcrain [at] nsf.gov

Henrietta Edmonds, Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7427, email: hedmonds [at] nsf.gov

Patrick R. Haggerty, Arctic Research Support and Logistics Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-8577, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: phaggert [at] nsf.gov

Robert Max Holmes, Arctic System Science Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-4897, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: rholmes [at] nsf.gov

Anna M. Kerttula de Echave, Arctic Social Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7432, fax: (703)292-9082, email: akerttul [at] nsf.gov

Erica Key, Arctic Observing Network Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7434, email: ekey [at] nsf.gov

Ming-Yi Sun, Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7437, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: msun [at] nsf.gov

Neil R. Swanberg, Arctic System Science Program Director, 740 S, telephone: (703) 292-8029, email: nswanber [at] nsf.gov

Marco Tedesco, Polar Cyberinfrastructure Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7120, email: mtedesco [at] nsf.gov

William J. Wiseman, Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-4750, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: wwiseman [at] nsf.gov

Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):
47.050 --- Geosciences

Award Information
Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement

Estimated Number of Awards: 75 per year, pending availability of funds.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $25,000,000 per year approximately, pending availability of funds.

Eligibility Information

Who May Submit Proposals:
Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
Universities and Colleges - Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.
Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.
For-profit organizations: U.S. commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education.

Foreign organizations: For cooperative projects involving U.S. and foreign organizations, support will only be provided for the U.S. portion.
Other Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs): Contact the appropriate program before preparing a proposal for submission.

Who May Serve as PI:
There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:
There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI:
There are no restrictions or limits.

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Full Proposals:
Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Guidelines apply. The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg.
Full Proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide)

B. Budgetary Information
Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.
Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable
Other Budgetary Limitations: Not Applicable

C. Due Dates
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

• October 20, 2014
• October 18, Annually Thereafter

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Award Administration Information
Award Conditions: Additional award conditions apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Reporting Requirements:
Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

The Arctic in Rapid Transition initiative (ART, http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/ART), an official IASC network (http://www.iasc.info), the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS, www.apecs.is), and the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM, France, http://www-iuem.univ-brest.fr) organize a joint workshop on “Integrating spatial and temporal scales in the changing Arctic System: towards future research priorities” (ISTAS workshop), October 21-24 2014 in Plouzané, France.

This international workshop aims at discussing the integration of spatial and temporal scales to better understand the changing Arctic system as a whole, by including various Arctic research fields: physical oceanography, sea-ice, biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems functioning, marine biodiversity, land-ocean interactions, ocean-atmosphere exchanges and ocean acidification, paleo-reconstruction and biological archives, and social sciences. Results of the workshop will feed into the ICARP III (3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning) meeting in Toyama, Japan in April 2015 (http://icarp.arcticportal.org/).

Abstract submission and registration are now open under
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ekIJ10TWJhWO5evaJAL5JKrR4zicc0eEZ47lKu…
Please register and submit your abstract as soon as possible as the amount of space is limited.

Limited funding will be available for early career scientists.

For questions please contact: istasworkshop [at] gmail.com

For further information about the workshop go to the workshop link.

More information on ART activities may be accessed at: http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/en/ART.

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 synthesize major results from the field studies and coordinated numerical experiments. The major themes of workshop include but not limited by studies focused on: predictions; Arctic observational and modeling initiatives; fate of sea ice in models and observations; atmospheric, sea ice and ocean dynamics; process studies and parameterizations; model validation and calibration; numerical improvements and algorithms; ecosystems, biological issues, and geochemistry.

The overall goal of FAMOS is a better understanding of the Arctic climate system (with a focus on marine environment) through the use of improving numerical models and observational tactics and strategies. The other project goals are to:

The project’s goals are to:

• Maintain and enhance in FAMOS the established AOMIP international collaboration to reduce uncertainties in model predictions (model validation/improvements via coordinated experiments and studies; reanalysis methods and products for correct initial and boundary conditions; design and implementation of the oceanic and sea ice remote and in situ observing systems);
• Support synthesis across the suite of Arctic models and observatories and/or observational projects and systems;
• Organize scientific meetings and workshops including virtual teleconferences;
• Conduct collaboration with other similar projects focused on other aspects of arctic/global climate (atmospheric, terrestrial, etc) with a special focus on model and data improvements and analysis;
• Disseminate findings of FAMOS effort to broader communities and involve the larger community in discussions, coordinated modeling and observational field experiments;
• Train a new generation of ocean and sea-ice observationalists and modelers continuing the practice of annual 1-2 day FAMOS workshop schools.

The Canadian Risk and Hazard Network holds an annual conference each year. This year the event is being held in Toronto, Canada. As part of this conference David Diabo (Assembly of First Nations) and Brenda Murphy (Wilfrid Laurier University) are running a series of five special sessions called: Promoting Aboriginal Resilience: Sharing Knowledge to Increase Disaster Risk Reduction. In the first session we are partnering with the Arctic Observing Network and Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc. to offer a webinar of the first presentation (see details below). This will be a one hour presentation starting at 2 pm on Wednesday October 22. The presentation includes a half hour question and answer session. This is a free session and we hope you can join us!

Presentations Details:
Arctic Observing Network Observing, Management, and Governance Discussions
Arctic Observing Network (AON), http://www.arcus.org/search-program/aon, is seeking discussions and input for long term observing, management, and governance. ARIES (Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc.) was granted a long term observing discussion award to discuss the following queries in relation to Risk and Disaster Management across multiple jurisdictions, http://www.arcus.org/search-program/aon/discussion-funding-form. This webinar is provided through the AON funding. After the presentation, your input is requested during the webinar Q&A and the HERMYS Forum at www.arctichub.net.

See below the 3 queries ARIES selected for the Arctic Observing Network discussions. While the AON queries are not necessarily about risks and hazards, ARIES selected three that are relevant to risk and disaster management, that is,

1. more applied research with local communities to assist operations, regulations, and management,
2. interdisciplinary research across social and natural sciences, and
3. integration across jurisdictions (interagency and regional partnerships).

Question(s) to discuss (maximum of three questions):

• Are the priorities for research networks different from those for operational, community, regulatory, and management observing systems? Can the two be resolved or shared? Should they
  be?
• How do we bridge the gap in funding between social science and natural science observations and observing networks?
• How to best employ interagency and regional partnerships? What role should regional centers play in directing observing activity?

For details on connecting to the webinar contact - awhgarland [at] yahoo.com

About the Workshop:
Conservation innovation is woven through our nation’s heritage. It is today and will be for decades and centuries to come an essential element of our future. Large landscape collaborative conservation is a fresh approach to the conservation challenges of the 21st century, linking public, private, non- profit and academic resources in novel, strategic, and enduring ways.

Join conservation practitioners and policy makers from across North America in Washington, DC for this two-day event, October 23-24, 2014. Share ideas on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in implementing large landscape conservation, as well as the most effective tools, strategies and science available to inform large landscape initiatives.

Timeline and Due Dates:

• May 31, 2014 – All proposals due
• July 15, 2014 – Submitters notified of selection status.
• August 31, 2014 – Final program posted at http://www.largelandscapenetwork.org/2014-
  national-workshop/

QUESTIONS?
For additional information about the conference, please contact:
Greg Wathen, Program Committee Chair, greg.wathen [at] tn.gov or (615) 781-6670

This series of three workshops will include presentations and discussions of how coastal erosion on the North Slope of Alaska impacts local communities, potential responses to those impacts, related cultural and economic factors, and best practices for a long-term observing (LTO) network that could contribute to community planning and response. Anne Garland of Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc., will be speaking on community-based monitoring of critical coastal infrastructure for the City of Barrow.

General questions for discussion:
1. What are the best practices for a long-term observing network so that it contributes to community understanding and planned response to coastal erosion?
2. What are the best strategies for informing and engaging the community?

For more information, please contact Kathleen Fischer at kmbfischer [at] comcast.net.

The purpose of the annual Transatlantic Science Week (TSW) is to promote enhanced cooperation between Canadian, American and Norwegian stakeholders in research, innovation and higher education. TSW is an arena where different stakeholders can meet with the purpose of developing long-term collaborations or partnerships. The conference also hopes to strengthen the linkages that currently exist between the research and education domains. Finally, TSW also provides an excellent arena for dialogue between the research communities and policymakers.

The Royal Norwegian Embassies in Ottawa and Washington, DC are co-organizers of TSW this year. The conference is made possible by generous contributions from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, the Research Council of Norway, the National Research Council Canada, and the University of Toronto.

This year's TSW marks the13th annual conference and will focus on challenges and opportunities in the Arctic, with a special look at Arctic societies, sustainability and safety.

Conference participation is free, but registration is mandatory due to limited seating.

IMO in cooperation with CSC (Finland) and LGGE (France) will organize a 2-day Elmer/Ice course on the 27th and 28th of October 2014, just before the Nordic Branch IGS meeting in Iceland. The course is intended for persons who want to start using Elmer/Ice in their research projects with an option to go into special details on the second day. The course is sponsored by the Nordic Centre of Excellence, SVALI. There are in maximum 18 seats which by preference will be offered to SVALI members. The rest of the seats are given on a first-come-first-get principle. The course itself is free of charge. Participants are responsible for their own accommodation and travel (see instructions below). Further it is expected, that participants bring along their own laptop with a working Elmer/Ice environment installed (instructions will follow later).

Lectures are in English.
Lecturers: Olivier Gagliardini and Thomas Zwinger.
Venue: IMO, Bústaðavegur 9, Reykjavík.
Travel: For air travel to Iceland see “icelandair.com” and “dohop.com”.
Accommodation: For reasonably priced guesthouses check “kexhostel.is/” and “guesthousereykjavik.com/”.
Registration: By email to Anna Sinisalo (a.k.sinisalo [at] geo.uio.no), latest by 11th October, 2014.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Indian Space Research Organisation are planning a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mission for launch in 2020. The mission is a dual L- and S-band polarimetric SAR satellite with a 12-day interferometric orbit that will provide systematic global coverage. Its primary science objectives are to: measure solid Earth surface deformation (earthquakes, volcanic unrest, land subsidence/uplift, landslides); track and understand cryosphere dynamics (glaciers, ice sheets, sea ice, and permafrost); characterize and track changes in vegetation structure and wetlands for understanding ecosystem dynamics and carbon cycle; and support global disaster response. In addition, the planned dense spatial and temporal sampling can support a host of additional science objectives and end-user applications.

We seek community input to develop a mission that most fully exploits its potential to serve the broadest possible user base. To that end, the project will host an applications workshop to a) inform the applications and end user communities about the mission; b) to solicit feedback on mission design elements; c) to explore new applications research directions; d) identify high-value products; and e) search for collaborative opportunities. Invited presentations will highlight potential applied science areas with SAR, both currently considered mature and those possibly advanced by the mission. Examples include agriculture, water and energy resources, disasters and infrastructure monitoring, sea ice and coastal oceans. Planned breakout sessions and panel discussions will serve to discuss applications community observational needs and data product specifications in greater detail, and how these needs could be met with observations, collection modes, fundamental SAR imaging and derived products. In this workshop we seek to engage the broad science applications and research communities, governmental agencies, developers, and potential users of NISAR data to ensure the mission produces data and products of value to the applications community.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

The University of New Hampshire Center for Spills in the Environment and the School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering will host a forum entitled "Oil Spill Response 25 years After the Exxon Valdez and in the Wake of Macondo 252, What Have We Learned and What Are We Missing?".

Questions to be addressed include:

• What have we learned from these two spills?
• How can they inform future spill response?
• What should we do differently to address the spills of the future?

Topics covered will include a) the types of spills that could occur in the future and the challenges they pose for response; b) the improvements needed in communication among responders, scientists, the public and politicians; c) the role of academic science in spill response; and d) the impacts of new scientific methods, such as molecular biology, on impact assessment and restoration.

The forum will feature an array of speakers who played key roles during the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills. After an opening overview of oil spills by Gary Shigenaka, NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, Captain Ed Page, Chief of Coast Guard Operations during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Dr. Robert Spies, Chief Science Advisor to the Governments on the Exxon Valdez spill will kick off the discussion. Then Thad Allen, former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and Dr. Marcia McNutt, who was director of the U.S. Geological Survey, will present their perspectives on the Deepwater Horizon spill. Speakers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, U.S. Arctic Research Commission, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, the American Petroleum Institute, Ocean Conservancy, and many other experts will offer perspectives on oil spills in the United States.

This series of three workshops will include presentations and discussions of how coastal erosion on the North Slope of Alaska impacts local communities, potential responses to those impacts, related cultural and economic factors, and best practices for a long-term observing (LTO) network that could contribute to community planning and response. Ann Gibbs of the U.S. Geological Survey will be speaking on regional shoreline changes and coastal erosion hazards.

General questions for discussion:
1. What are the best practices for a long-term observing network so that it contributes to community understanding and planned response to coastal erosion?
2. What are the best strategies for informing and engaging the community?

For more information, please contact Kathleen Fischer at kmbfischer [at] comcast.net.

The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies is proud to join the Polar Law Institute and the University of Akureyri in Iceland, the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, the University of the Arctic, and the Arctic Law Thematic Network in Finland in hosting the 7th Polar Law Symposium in Hobart in 2014. This will be the first time the event has been held in the Southern Hemisphere. Its theme explores, among other things, the interests of Asian states in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. We now welcome 200-word abstracts from speakers interested in topics in two parts of the program: legal and political commentary and scientific research and logistics.

In order to celebrate its 40th anniversary, Association Inuksiutiit Katimajiit Inc., in collaboration with Université Laval, is glad to invite you to the 19th edition of the biennial Inuit Studies Conference. It will be held in Quebec City, October 29 - November 1, 2014, the theme of the meeting being Qaumaniq: Enlightening Knowledge. Confined for a long time to the status of objects of science, Inuit have now become important actors and active participants in arctic research. Their participation can take several shapes: sharing knowledge, identifying and defining research questions, acting as researchers and authors, etc. Moreover, Inuit knowledge is now giving form to scientific discourse. Formerly considered as mere stories whose interest was purely ethnological, Inuit descriptions and explanations of their environment are now valorized because of their richness, their deep-reaching understanding, and their precision. The organizers invite you to explore Inuit contributions to contemporary learning, by proposing a reflection on Inuit knowledge, scientific knowledge, and the often complex links between the two. This conference constitutes an excellent occasion to examine how knowledge is shared between researchers and Inuit, what is the impact of Inuit knowledge on scientific learning (and vice versa), what types of relations exist between researchers and Inuit during and after fieldwork, and how Inuit approach, perceive, and contribute to research.

It is our great pleasure to host the next IGS Nordic Branch meeting in Iceland and hereby invite you all to participate. The meeting will be held between October 30th and November 1st at Hotel Dyrholaey (http://www.dyrholaey.is) which is located in the vicinity of Myrdalsjökulll ice cap covering the legendary volcano Katla in Southern Iceland (http://osm.org/go/e0wtWw?m=).

The Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland (http://earthice.hi.is/ ) together with the Icelandic Meteorological Office (http://en.vedur.is/) will host this meeting which will provide great opportunities for scientists and students in glaciology and related topics to present their latest results in relaxed, informal atmosphere. Participants will also have the opportunity to go on an exciting field excursion in the vicinity of the Myrdalsjökull and Eyjafjallajökull ice caps on November 2nd.

The conference on Gender Equality in the Arctic will broadly focus on the living condition of women and men throughout the Circumpolar North, addressing key issues such as access to and control over resources, representation in decision-making positions, political participation, regional development, human security, and material and cultural well-being. The purpose is to promote extensive, policy-relevant dialogue on gender equality issues in terms of current realities and future challenges and in the context of climatic and environmental changes and economic and social development.

Themes and topics will be divided into the following plenaries:

• Gender Equality and the Arctic: Current Realities, Future Challenges
• Political Representation and Participation in Decision-making: Gendered Dimensions
• Regional Socio-Economic Development and its Gendered Impacts
• Climate and Environmental Change, Natural Resource Development, and Gender
• Human Security: Gendered Aspects
• Human Capital and Gender: Migration, Mobility, Education and Adaptation
• (Re-)Construction of Gender in the Arctic

Sessions will consist of three brief presentations in addition to panelist contributions with questions and answers.

Speakers:
Information concerning confirmed speakers and panelists can be found on the conference page.

Early Bird Registration:
Early bird registration of 150 USD for the full program and conference dinner until 5 October 2014.

The conference is sponsored by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, the Icelandic Government’s Equality Action Fund, the Foreign Ministry of Sweden, the Nordic Cooperation Committee and the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality (MR-JÄM).

This series of three workshops will include presentations and discussions of how coastal erosion on the North Slope of Alaska impacts local communities, potential responses to those impacts, related cultural and economic factors, and best practices for a long-term observing (LTO) network that could contribute to community planning and response.

Speakers for this webinar include:

• Orson Smith from AVTEC, University of Alaska Anchorage (retired), speaking on monitoring network fundamentals.
• Nicole Kinsman from Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, speaking on online monitoring tools.

General questions for discussion:
1. What are the best practices for a long-term observing network so that it contributes to community understanding and planned response to coastal erosion?
2. What are the best strategies for informing and engaging the community?

For more information, please contact Kathleen Fischer at kmbfischer [at] comcast.net.

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 to advance their own missions and the broader goal of increasing collaborative decision-making without surrendering their institutional independence.

The Arctic Circle is designed to increase participation in Arctic dialogue and strengthen the international focus on the future of the Arctic. Participating organizations will maintain their full institutional independence, identity and decision-making abilities. To this end, the Arctic Circle aims to create opportunities for everyone to attend different meetings, conduct their own networking and engage in one-on-one informal discussions. Organizations will be able to decide their own agendas and convene their own meetings.

The Arctic Circle will organize sessions on a variety of issues, such as:

• Sea ice melt and extreme weather
• Polar law: treaties and agreements
• The role and rights of indigenous peoples
• Security in the Arctic
• Shipping and transportation infrastructure
• The prospects and risks of oil and gas drilling
• Clean energy achievements and sustainable development
• Arctic resources
• Business cooperation in the Arctic
• The role of Asian and European countries in the Arctic
• Greenland in the new Arctic
• Fisheries and ecosystem management
• The science of ice: global research cooperation
• Arctic tourism
• The ice-dependent world: the Arctic and the Himalayas

We are pleased to announce the 8th Graduate Climate Conference, which will be held October 31-November 2, 2014 at the University of Washington Pack Forest Conference Center.

The goal of this graduate student-organized conference is to assemble a broad range of talks and posters featuring high-quality student research focused on past, present, and future climate change and its impacts. We encourage students at all stages of their graduate career to apply and we seek abstracts on climate research from a variety of disciplines from the physical, natural, and social sciences and humanities, including: oceanography, atmospheric sciences, biology, geosciences, environmental sciences, engineering, geography, public policy, economics, law, ethics, and anthropology.

The abstract submission period opens April 14 and closes June 1. Lodging and meals are covered for all participants. Limited travel funding is also available. Please see our website for more information and for submitting abstracts.

The U.S. National Science Foundation is sponsoring a workshop related to data visualization in the Polar Sciences. The workshop will focus on bridging the cyberinfrastructure/data visualization and polar communities and it is scheduled to be held in New York City at the Parsons New School for Design November 3-4, 2014.

Improving the use and the value of existing datasets over the Polar Regions is crucial to promote science and support new discoveries. Ultimately, collaborations between data visualization experts and Polar scientists will foster a greater understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics at play in Polar Regions and their implications to society.

The participants will be motivated by several public Polar datasets that will made available before the starting date of the workshop. One of the expected outcomes of the workshop is to produce high impact novel prototypes and data visualizations that will be made available under open source licenses. Releasing the prototypes will allow the NSF to make longer-term investments in technologies and visualizations that can be adopted by the community. The workshop will also increase cross agency collaboration between NSF, NASA, NOAA and other Polar-related agencies. The organizing committee is composed by both cyberinfrastructure and Polar experts, including participation from academia, industry, federally funded research and development centers, and from the broader open source community.

The workshop will:

(1) recommend several sets of open source software for data and metadata processing; scientific workflow management; data curation; and data dissemination;
(2) identify some relevant Polar data visualization techniques and assess the needs and challenges of visualizing Polar datasets;
(3) package, deliver, and make available the outcomes of the workshop via a public website; and;
(4) provide input to the NSF Polar CyberInfrastructure program officer through a final report.

Travel support is available for around twenty-five workshop participants that will be selected meritocratically based on interest and based on recommendations from the community.

An organizing committee for the meeting is being formed, with current membership listed below:

• Dr. Chris Mattmann, University of Southern California & Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
• Dr. Annie Bryant Burgess, University of Southern California
• Dr. Suzanne Carbotte, Columbia University
• Dr. Bruce Caron, New Media Research Institute
• Dr. Patrick Driscoll, Aalborg University
• Mr. Christopher Goranson, Parsons Institute for Information Mapping
• Mr. Aaron Hill, Parsons New School for Public Engagement
• Dr. Daniel Katz, National Science Foundation
• Dr. Martin Lehmanm, Aalborg University
• Dr. Alan Maceachren, Penn State University
• Dr. Jonathan Pundsack, University of Minnesota Polar Geospatial Center
• Dr. Marco Tedesco, National Science Foundation
• Mr. Joel Towers, Parsons New School
• Dr. Saskia Van Manen, Open University
• Dr. Alexander Lex, Harvard

Datasets for the workshop will be made publicly available via the Cloud to workshop participants around two-weeks prior to the start of the workshop. The workshop format will consist of a 2-day series of invited speakers in Polar Sciences and CyberInfrastructure and Data Visualization to motivate the start of the art and challenges to the community. Four interactive "hackathons" will provide the opportunity for workshop participants to break off into teams and develop novel data visualizations on the provided Cloud datasets. Hackathon results will be shared and disseminated during the workshop read out and will be made available to the community under permissive open source licenses (e.g., the Apache License, version 2).

Please reserve the dates in your calendars and we welcome your inquiries about the workshop. Please send email to the workshop committee at the following address and we will respond promptly to your inquiries: nsfdatavis [at] gmail.com.

The Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum is a biennial meeting with representation from government, industry, academia, Aboriginal groups and northerners from both Canada and the United States. The forum provides an opportunity to discuss current scientific research and future directions for northern oil and gas activities. The focus is on research that can be applied to support management and regulatory processes related to oil and gas exploration and development in the North.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Canadian Polar Commission in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior, are hosting the fourth Canada – United States Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum from November 4 to 6, 2014 at the Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, NWT. The Forum will showcase the value of Northern research in support of sound decision-making for oil and gas management. The Forum will include presentations and panel discussions on offshore and onshore activities, partnerships, and community engagement, including:

• Current research challenges to support decision-making for safe and sustainable Northern oil and gas management
• Incorporating best practices across jurisdictions and sectors
• Energy access to communities
• Community engagement in oil and gas exploration
• Integrating traditional and local knowledge with scientific knowledge
• Oil spill preparedness and response
• Environmental baseline information
• Unconventional exploration in remote northern regions

Please check the conference website regularly for updated information on the conference program and registration.