Past Events

The second annual Arctic Encounter Symposium will challenge participants to tackle the shared interests and concerns of the United States and the global community as we look north to the last emerging frontier – the Arctic. Leading experts, CEO's, and thought leaders from the science, technology, maritime, and energy sectors, will gather to challenge the status quo dialogue, critically address challenges to realizing the Arctic's full potential and collaborate on solutions. Participants will include key industry leaders, policy makers, and regional stakeholders. This year's Symposium will focus on the role of the U.S. as an Arctic nation and the challenges it will confront in its upcoming chairmanship of the Arctic Council, including: climate change, natural resources, investment opportunities, and international relations. The goal of the 2015 Arctic Encounter is to facilitate a creative environment for the development of a proactive agenda, short and long-term domestic and international priorities, and a strategic execution plan. The two-day program will take place at the University of Washington with a dinner reception on January 30, 2015 at the Museum of History and Industry.

For more information, please visit the symposium website.

This symposium will explore the effectiveness of existing governance in the Arctic region, strategies for improving effective implementation, and possible alternative governance regimes. A segment of the presented papers will be published in the UCI Law Review as a symposium.

Presenters include:

• Betsy Baker,
• Michael Byers,
• Joseph DiMento,
• Tore Henriksen,
• Brian Israel,
• Timo Koivurova,
• Tullio Scovazzi, and
• Oran Young

For more information, please visit the symposium website.

You and your colleagues are invited to attend the CESM Land Ice and Polar Climate Working Group Winter Meetings, Monday-Wednesday, February 2-4, 2015. This meetings will be held in Boulder, Colorado at the National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesa Laboratory. The Land Ice Working Group (LIWG) will meet Feb. 2-3, and the Polar Climate Working Group (PCWG) will meet Feb. 3-4. The afternoon of Feb. 3 will be a joint LIWG/PCWG session.

Please attend! We welcome all topics! If you would like to give a short presentation about your work, please send a title to njeffery [at] lanl.gov, jennifer.e.kay [at] colorado.edu, lipscomb [at] lanl.gov, or jesse.johnson [at] mso.umt.edu. We will organize the agendas around the topics you send.

Looking forward to seeing you in Boulder!

For further information about the Polar Climate Working Group, please go to:
http://www2.cesm.ucar.edu/working_groups/pcwg

For further information about the Land Ice Working Group, please go to:
https://www2.cesm.ucar.edu/working-groups/liwg

or contact:
David A Bailey
National Center for Atmospheric Research
E-Mail: dbailey [at] ucar.edu

William Lipscomb
Los Alamos National Laboratory
E-Mail: lipscomb [at] lanl.gov

Randi Jandt of the Alaska Fire Science Consortium will talk about the evolution of Alaska firefighting practices--field and management--over the past 50 years. We are starting to be aware of the changes in climate and in Alaskan forests: is the wildfire "problem" the same one we faced a half-century ago? Have our management approaches and thinking about wildfire changed during that time? She will combine her background in land and fire management agencies with input from long-term observers to discuss which changes might be a response to changing weather, climate, & fire regimes in Alaska.

Pre-registration for webinars is strongly encouraged. The audio portion of the call is through a toll-free phone line and the slide presentation is streamed via computer. For instructions on participating through your home office or at a satellite viewing location with others in your community, please see the webinar information page: https://accap.uaf.edu/?q=webinars.

Six consecutive free public science lectures will be given by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the Westmark, Fairbanks, Gold Room. February 3rd, Michael Castellini will present "Polar Adventures: The Voyages of the Research Vessel Sikuliaq". This is an all ages event.

The Symposium acts partly as final symposium of the inter-disciplinary TEMPS-project (The evolution of mountain permafrost in Switzerland) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The main objective of TEMPS and the above symposium is an improved understanding of the vulnerability of mountain regions to permafrost changes and to assess the current and future impacts on populated mountain regions such as the European Alps. The 2-day symposium will include invited lectures on mountain permafrost research, the presentation of the main project results, and a specific practitioner’s day (German/French) to strengthen the relation between science and practice. All permafrost interested practitioners and scientists are cordially invited to join the symposium.

A poster session and exhibition will complement the program on the first and second day, and poster submission is open to everyone (has to be stated upon registration). An excursion to the nearby Swiss Alps is organized for the two last days.

Deadline for registration is the 9th of January 2015 and can be conducted via the symposium’s webpage.

More info and the complete program can be found under: http://www.temps-symposium.ch/program.php?language=en

The cryosphere forms an integral part of the climate system of the Earth. The cryosphere contains up to 75-80 % of the freshwater supply and in the Northern Hemisphere, seasonal snow cover extends to 49% of the total land surface in midwinter. The cryosphere affects the climate system through its influence on surface energy balance, moisture flux and atmospheric circulation over both seas and land surfaces. Monitoring of seasonal snow cover properties is therefore essential in understanding interactions and feedback mechanisms related to the cryosphere.

However, as a complex and highly variable medium, many essential properties of seasonal snow cover have traditionally been difficult to measure. Applications in diverse fields such as hydrology, avalanche forecasting and Earth Observation from space would benefit from improved quantification of snow cover properties, in particular related to the snow microstructure. The past 10 years snow science has seen a rapid change from a semi-quantitative to a quantitative science. Understanding physical and chemical processes in the snowpack requires detailed measurements of the microstructure. The progress in quantitative measurements was recently solidified by the Snow Grain Size Intercomparison Workshop 2014.

The most important quantitative techniques are micro-tomography, BET gas adsorption, and applicable in the field, reflection measurements in the infrared spectrum, near-infrared photography and high-resolution penetrometry.

Target audience
Any graduate student or post-doc working on snow or in some snow related field is welcome to participate. Those fields may cover Glaciology, Hydrology, Oceanography, Geography, but also Biology or Chemistry as well as Engineering or Material Sciences.

Course structure
In this workshop we will teach the state-of-the-art snow measurement techniques. The focus of this workshop lies on field measurements, combined with theoretical lessons in the classroom.

Field measurements will be done in small groups of 3-4 students. Each group of students will have to prepare a report describing the methods, results and interpretation. The course corresponds to 3 ETCS-Points.

Location
Campus of the Arctic Research Center at Finnish Meteorological Institute FMI in Sodankylä, Finland. Accommodation is provided on campus of FMI, with direct access to the field sites.

Transport from Rovaniemi to Sodankylä by bus. Rovaniemi is best reached by plane (e.g Finnair) from Helsinki. Details on travel will be provided soon.

Course cost
200 Euro including

Full accommodation at FMI Sodankylä and Saariselkä (with breakfast, field lunch and dinner) from Sunday, Feb. 8 - Saturday, Feb. 14 2015
Bus transport Sodankylä - Saariselkä and Saariselkä - Rovaniemi
Travel to tundra field site
Rental ski gear for field trip

Registration
Registration is closed. For questions send an Email to snowschool [at] slf.ch

Organization
Sodankylä is located in northern Finland in the boreal and sub-Arctic zone. Temperatures in February may drop to -30°C, and the snow cover is on average 50-70 cm deep. In the Alpine tundra of Saariselkä high wind speed are possible as well. As the course is to a great extent based on field work and excursions, proper clothing is essential. Participants should:

• bring their own winter gear (warm and wind-proof clothing such as warm down jacket, snow boots, thick gloves/mittens, warm underwear etc)
• be healthy enough to undertake the extended field day in the Alpine tundra of Saariselkä
• have a valid travel insurance

Finnish Meteorological Institute FMI

• Juha Lemmetyinen (Juha.Lemmetyinen@fmi),
• Leena Leppänen (Leena.Leppanen [at] fmi.fi),
• Anna Kontu (Anna.Kontu [at] fmi.fi)

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF

• Martin Schneebeli (Schneebeli [at] slf.ch),
• Martin Proksch (Proksch [at] slf.ch)

Lecturers

• Martin Schneebeli, WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
• Juha Lemmetyinen, Finnish Meteorological Institute FMI, Finland
• Chris Derksen, Environment Canada
• Jean-Charles Gallet, Norwegian Polar Institute NPI, Norway
• Alex Langlois, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
• Martin Proksch, WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
• Anna Kontu, Finnish Meteorological Institute FMI, Finland
• Isabelle Gouttevin, IRSTEA, Lyon, France
• Sveta Stuefer, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, USA

Contact information:
snowschool [at] slf.ch

Preliminary program
Sunday: Arrival
Monday: Lectures & classroom practice with field equipment; social event (ice breaker)
Tuesday: Lectures and basic field experiment techniques
Wednesday: Lectures and basic field experiment techniques
Thursday: Lectures and basic field experiment techniques; wrap up session
Friday: Extended field experiment: Saariselkä tundra site
Saturday: Departure

Travel Information
Transport to the 1st European Snow Science Winter School in Sodankylä, Finland, will be provided from Rovaniemi airport & town centre to Sodankylä and back by bus. Rovaniemi is best reached by plane (e.g Finnair or Norwegian) from Helsinki, but an overnight train is also possible.

This course will provide training in the description and interpretation of quartz grains of sediments from a wide variety of environments, with particular focus on periglacial sediments. During the course the participants will be available two scanning electron microscopes (SEM).

The course includes practical exercises involving the analysis of samples in the SEM, lectures and discussion forums. Practical classes will be conducted in a maximum of 5 people groups.

Brief syllabus of the course:

• Series of lectures on the possibility of using quartz grains in environmental studies of periglacial conditions, including recording the intensity of frost weathering in sediments of different genesis and intensity Aeolian processes developing in periglacial conditions;
• Methodology of the analysis of the surface micromorphology of quartz grains in the SEM;
• Preparation of samples for SEM analysis;
• Analysis of samples in the SEM, both produced by operators, as well as its own participants;
• Discussion.

Registration deadline: 30.09.2014
Contact Alexandre Nieuwendam (alexandretn [at] gmail.com)

Location of the course: Cryo-SEM Laboratory, Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warsaw

Participation fee: 300 Euro and includes: Course book, daily lunch, dinner at the end of the course and Public transportation weekly ticket

Conveners:
Barbara Woronko Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw; bworonko [at] uw.edu.pl;
Alexandre Nieuwendam – Center of Geographical Studies-IGOT, University of Lisbon; alexandretn [at] gmail.com

The Alaska Forum on the Environment (AFE) is Alaska's largest statewide gathering of environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit and for-profit businesses, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders. The diversity of attendees and comprehensive agenda sets this conference apart from any other.

Each year we offer over 80 technical breakout sessions and sensational Keynote Events. We will continue to offer the a full week of sessions on climate change, energy, environmental regulations, cleanup and remediation, fish & wildlife, solid waste, and of course much more. For our 17th year event in 2015, we will continue our expanded content on Marine Debris, Coastal Issues and Tsunami's in order to address the pressing concerns from Alaska rural coastal communities.

This is your opportunity to learn more about the environment and meet with other Alaskans that work in the environmental field. We encourage you to register online and join us February 9-13, 2015!

Notes:

• The entire event will be held at Anchorage's Dena'ina Convention Center.
• Technical breakout sessions developed specifically for the Indian General Assistance Program (GAP) are hosted from Monday - Friday concurrent with other breakout sessions within the full event agenda.

An open workshop entitled 'New Frontiers in Submillimetre-Wave and Far-Infrared Atmospheric Science' will be held at the University of Cambridge in the UK on 10 February 2015.

The workshop is being convened as part of a pilot study to assess how current and future developments in advanced submillimetre-wave and far-infrared spectroscopic and radiometric imaging technology can be used to address key challenges in observational atmospheric science. The workshop is intended to review the scientific challenges in areas such as atmospheric chemistry and dynamics and environmental monitoring, to consider what basic technology and instrument development is needed over the coming decade, and to assess how this maps onto current technological capability and future expectations.

There will be a number of invited reviews, covering a range of science and technology topics, some contributed talks, and ample time for networking and discussion. Organizers anticipate a small, focused meeting with approximately 50 participants. The workshop will begin at 9.30am and end at 4.00pm. Although some of the program has been reserved for invited speakers, there are opportunities for 15 minute contributed talks. All participants are asked to register by sending an email to Pam Hadder (spectro-ice [at] mrao.cam.ac.uk) Please indicate if you wish to give a 15 min presentation, and the subject of your proposed talk. There is no registration fee, and lunch is provided.

For further information, please email: spectro-ice [at] mrao.cam.ac.uk.

Six consecutive free public science lectures will be given by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the Westmark, Fairbanks, Gold Room. February 10th, Sean Barberie will present "Flying Robots! How Drones are Revolutionizing Science in Alaska". This is an all ages event.

Six consecutive free public science lectures will be given by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the Westmark, Fairbanks, Gold Room. February 17, Eric Stevens will present "Weather Satellites and Alaska". This is an all ages event.

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) is hosting an informational webinar entitled "ICARP III: Integrating Arctic Research—A Roadmap for the Future." This event is scheduled for Wednesday, 18 February 2015 and is open to anyone interested in learning more about the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III).

The National Maritime Foundation (NMF) is India's premier maritime think-tank and undertakes research across the complete continuum of ocean related activities. The NMF brings forth for discussion maritime issues of importance to policy makers across the world and provides a common platform for discourse between maritime related institutions, organizations and disciplines. Towards this end, the Foundation organizes its' Annual Maritime Power Conference (AMPC) during February-March every year. The NMF invites the public to attend the event. Kindly send a mail to ccmaritimeindia [at] gmail.com conveying your interest to attend the event. This conference aims to understand the approaches of various Arctic and non-Arctic stakeholders, in light of the evolving dynamics in the region.

The conference is divided into five sessions.
Session I: Evolving Dynamics in the Arctic
Sessions II and III: Asian Strategies and Policies in the Arctic
Session IV: Arctic Countries’ Perspectives on Asian Approaches
Session V: Exploring a pan-Asian Approach to the Arctic

For more information, please visit the conference website.

ASLO returns to Europe for the 2015 Aquatic Sciences Meeting on 22-27 February 2015 at the Granada Congress and Exhibition Centre (Palacios de Exposiciones y Congresos de Granada) in Granada, Spain.

Plenary talks and special sessions will focus on global and regional patterns of aquatic systems in diverse northern and southern inland water biomes and oceanographic provinces emphasizing both similarities and differences. This theme is a critical scientific challenge as our discipline moves to understand and confront human accelerated environmental change. Along with ASLO members from North America and Europe, we anticipate Granada will be attractive to Latin American, African, and Middle Eastern aquatic scientists. We hope to attract all in a dialogue about patterns of environmental change in aquatic systems at global and regional scales. This meeting in Granada will contribute to the ongoing international development of ASLO by bringing together a diverse group of participants at a site where many cultures have engaged through the centuries.

A workshop on “Measurements of ice structures by means of image analysis” will take place from 23-27 February 2015 in Bremerhaven, Germany. Please register no later than 8 February.

Invited speakers/lecturers include:

• Renée Heilbronner, Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut, Universität Basel, Switzerland
• Mark Peternell, Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
• Sérgio H. Faria, Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Bilbao, Spain

The internal structure of polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers has been analyzed for several decades by increasingly sophisticated imaging techniques. This workshop will focus on the current state of available methods of image analysis applicable for micrometer- to hundred meter-scale structures. The objective is also bringing together researchers from a variety of backgrounds to compile the current state of already available and possibly derivable data.

The workshop is organized at AWI, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung and is sponsored by the ESF research networking programme Micro-DICE.

Accommodation as well as catering is offered at a price of 50 €. The number of places is limited and are assigned on a first come/first served basis. Travel costs are covered by the participants.

For further information, contact details and to register, please visit the conference website.

Six consecutive free public science lectures will be given by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. in the Westmark, Fairbanks, Gold Room. February 24, Todd Brinkman will present "Changing Relationships Among Alaska Hunters, Wildlife, and Habitat." This is an all ages event.

Co-chaired by the Québec Government and the Nordic Council of Ministers, the International Symposium on Northern Development, organized in collaboration with Université Laval, will be held from February 25 to 27 2015 in Québec, at the Québec City Convention Centre.

The Symposium gathers representatives of the Nordic countries, of academia, of inhabitants from the North, including aboriginal Nations, as well as representatives from the world of business and industry, for exchanges on knowledge, experiences and visions associated on sustainable development of the North.

The symposium will include speeches, workshops and dynamic discussions.

Register now for the International Symposium on Northern Development. Space is limited.

For questions or comments on the event, please contact us by email at: symposium [at] plannord.gouv.qc.ca.

The International Glaciological Society will hold an International Symposium on 'Glaciology in high-mountain Asia' in 2015. The symposium will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 1–6 March 2015.

As the field of glaciology intersects with both atmospheric and hydrologic sciences, the symposium will also focus on linkages between atmospheric processes and cryospheric change and the downstream impacts in the region. The meeting seeks to bring together scientists from the region and around the world and provide an overview of the state of science with respect to the glaciers, snowpacks and permafrost of the Himalayan, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Tien Shan, Pamir and Tibetan Plateau regions.

TOPICS
Symposium topics should be focused on studies in high mountain Asia, and include the following:
1. Past, present, and future glacier change (reconstructions, observations, projections)
2. Observations and models of glacier dynamics (including glacier response times, and thickness and volume of ice)
3. Glacier and snow melt processes (debris cover, supraglacial lakes, black carbon, etc.)
4. Hydrology of glacierized catchments
5. High-altitude meteorology, climate downscaling and climatic change (ice core records, etc.)
6. Glacial hazards (GLOFs, avalanches, mass movements)
7. Permafrost studies (measurement, modelling, distribution)
8. Impacts of cryospheric change (local and regional water resources, ecosystems, etc.)

Please register for the symposium through the IGS website. If you cannot do this, contact the IGS office directly. If payment by credit card is not possible, contact the IGS office to arrange for a bank transfer. The ‘Early-bird’ deadline for registration is 15 December 2014. After 15 December the registration feel will increase. A late registration surcharge of $100 will be added after 1 February 2015.

More information is available on the conference circular at the link above.

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Thomas Jung, AWI, Germany
2 March 2015 at 16 CET
Webinar ID: 120-183-315

The first webinar in this series on 2 March at 16 CET with the title "Polar Weather Prediction" will introduce Professor Dr. Thomas Jung, a polar meteorologist, who is leading international efforts to improve polar weather and climate prediction.

Increased economic, transportation and research activities in polar regions are leading to more demands for sustained and improved availability of predictive weather and climate information to support decision-making. It is argued, however, that partly as a result of a strong emphasis of previous international efforts on lower and middle latitudes, many gaps in weather, sub-seasonal and seasonal forecasting in polar regions hamper reliable decision making in the Arctic, Antarctic and beyond. Possible ways forward in advancing predictive capacity in polar regions will be outlined. Many APECS members will be keenly interested in recent developments and future directions of this important area of research, so Professor Thomas Jung accepted an invitation to speak on this topic.

Please note that we changed our procedures, we are not offering pre-registration anymore due to a new limit of 100 participants per webinar. Please connect with the webinar ID the day of the event at http://www.gotomeeting.com/online/webinar/join-webinar. The webinar ID will be 120-183-315

For more information about this Webinar, contact Jonny Day at j.j.day [at] reading.ac.uk. On behalf of APECS, let me thank-you for attending this Webinar.