Past Events

Hosted by University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus.

The South West Interagency-Fish Meeting (SWIM) is being held in conjunction with WAISC. The agenda and schedule for SWIM will be posted as soon as they are available.

For more information, please visit:
http://seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/waisc/index.html

The primary purpose of this conference is to bring together Polar Scientists and Technology Developers in a forum to exchange information on research system operational needs and technology solutions that have been successful in polar environments. This exchange of knowledge helps to address issues of design, implementation, and deployment for systems that are to achieve their research goals in the Polar Regions.

Past participants have come from the private sector, state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academia. Presentations generally cover system requirements for proposed research along with descriptions of systems and approaches that have been proven in polar deployments. Typical hardware and software topics have included weather stations, robotics, power systems, telemetry, and remote communications. The scale of systems ranges from the autonomous data collection towers to large scale research stations. Polar venues represented include under, on, and above the ice, tundra, or sea.

Discussions on intra- and inter-national cooperation in site deployment and maintenance are encouraged. Informal breaks allow for opportunities for networking and information exchange. A poster session is also included. Workshops are being planned to offer tutorial exchanges on specific technologies (e.g., power systems, Iridium). We are pleased to have support from the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs as an endorsement of the concept of bringing together providers and consumers of these technologies in hopes of benefiting from that synergy. Previous years' lists of presentations and participants can be found through links on the conference website.

Presentations in all technology fields are invited. Regular oral presentations and a poster session will be scheduled. The final agenda,list of participants, and the topics they will be presenting, will be posted when finalized.

A fee of $150 for all 3 days or $60/day will be collected to cover conference expenses, coffee breaks, and lunch each day. A hosted banquet is planned for Wednesday evening. Graduate students may be eligible for a reduced rate of $5/day.

For further information and to register, please go to: http://PolarTechnologyConference.org or register at: http://regonline.com/PTC-2012

E-mail questions to:
register [at] PolarTechnologyConference.org

The United States Coast Guard Academy and the Law of the Sea Institute at the University of California's Berkeley School of Law are sponsoring a two-day interdisciplinary conference on key issues facing global leaders tasked with shaping and implementing policy for the rapidly emerging human activities in the Arctic.

The sponsors' goal in convening this conference is to provide academics, maritime professionals, and law specialists with an opportunity to share their professional views with those charged with exercising leadership on Arctic policy formulation and implementation in the coming decade.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.uscga.edu/arctic

The Seminar will include a series of lectures given by research scientists from Turkey, Finland, and the USA on physical aspects of snow remote sensing, satellite sensors used to map and monitor global snow cover, available snow products, validation techniques and application of satellite-derived information on snow cover in environmental models.

The Seminar is sponsored by Turkish Water Foundation in cooperation with Turkish State Meteorological Service. Graduate and PhD students, postdocs and research scientists interested in satellite remote sensing and cryosphere studies are invited to attend.

On April 18 and 19, 2012, a free Science Social will take place in Centennial Hall from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The social will have hands-on demonstrations and featured speakers, including Greg Walker, manager of the UA Unmanned Aircraft Program, Jason Amundson, an assistant professor of geophysics at UAS, and Jessica Garron, a senior science consultant with the Alaska Satellite Facility.

The Science for Alaska Lecture Series has partnered with Alaska BioPREP and the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center to offer this event.

For more information: email info [at] gi.alaska.edu or call 907-474-5823.

We cordially invite you to participate in the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) being held from 19-22 April 2012. This event will be a great opportunity to strengthen collaboration and cooperation among the participants and sponsoring organizations. ASSW 2012 is being held immediately before the IPY2012 Conference and concurrently with the APECS Career Development Workshop.

The ASSW is an annual gathering of international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating arctic research. The purpose is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration, and cooperation in all fields of arctic science and to combine science and management meetings.

For further information, please go to:
http://www.assw2012.org.

This upcoming international forum in April 2012 will be a valuable opportunity to demonstrate and apply the latest findings of polar research on a broad range of topics from oceans and sea ice, to permafrost, vegetation and wildlife, to changes in Arctic communities and beyond. The From Knowledge to Action Conference will present the highlights of IPY 2007-2008 and the recent polar science assessments that are advancing our knowledge of the polar regions.

The Conference will draw on examples and best practices of the application of this knowledge to policies, programs and education, as well as to observation systems and networks and other actions. The From Knowledge to Action Conference will bring together internationally-renowned polar researchers with policy makers, analysts, community members, industry representatives, non-governmental organizations and other interested groups to discuss the results of the largest-ever coordinated program of multi-disciplinary research in the earth’s polar regions. The From Knowledge to Action Conference will examine the current state and key changes in the polar regions and identify actions that will be important in a global context.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.ipy2012montreal.ca/program/overview.php

The EGU General Assembly 2012 will bring together geoscientists from all over the world into one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. Especially for young scientists, it is the aim of the EGU to provide a forum where they can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geosciences.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.egu2012.eu/home.html

On April 24, Greg Walker, manager of Poker Flat Research Range and the UA Unmanned Aircraft Program, will present "Alaska – As Seen From an Unmanned Aircraft."

Walker and the UA Unmanned Aircraft Program garnered international attention when one of their small aircraft helped the Nome refueling effort in January 2012. This project and others will be covered in the April 24 lecture in Room 110 of UAA's Rasmussen Hall.

One hundred years ago this June, a three-day explosive eruption at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula near King Salmon became one of the five largest eruptions in recorded history. It created the spectacular Katmai caldera and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, which early explorers called the eighth wonder of the world. Preserved as a National Monument in 1918, and now part of Katmai National Park, the eruption created an outdoor laboratory that has captivated scientists and sightseers alike for a century.

On April 25 at 7:30 p.m., Katmai expert Judy Fierstein will tell the story of those three dramatic days and what has been learned from the 1912 eruption about large explosive events. In “The Novarupta-Katmai Eruption of 1912 – Largest Eruption of the 20th Century: A Centennial Perspective” Fierstein will explain how geologist “volcano detectives” explored and examined the eruption’s aftermath. Fierstein will also explain how the eruption has remained scientifically important for 100 years and why Katmai still offers insights about earth processes that shape our world.

Fierstein, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, is known worldwide for her meticulous fieldwork on young, remote volcanoes in Alaska, the Cascades and the high Andes. She joined the USGS in 1980 just before the eruption of Mount St. Helens and began working in Katmai soon after. Fierstein is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and is highly regarded for engaging presentations about volcanoes and geologic fieldwork in wild places.

The lecture will be held in the Boyd Room, Reichardt 201, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is free to the public. This presentation is sponsored by the USGS, the National Park Service and the Alaska Historical Society.

Currently, eye-scanning technology is used in everything from marketing to psychology. Mock and Hoanca's focus is on eye-scanning for information security and how their new device can safeguard some of the public's most sensitive information. Mock is an associate professor of computer science, while Hoanca is a professor of management information systems. Both are based at UAA. Their talk will take place April 25 in Room 117 of Rasmuson Hall.

This unique symposium features keynote presentations by Dr. Norbert Morgenstern, Dr. Kevin Biggar and Dr. Daniel Smith.

The David C. Sego Symposium is being held in recognition of Dr. Sego's service as an educator, mentor, and researcher. His extensive research has bolstered Canada’s international reputation for innovation in technology and research related to permafrost and geo-environmental engineering in the arctic and natural resources development. An influential researcher and dedicated educator, Dr. Dave Sego has contributed to the training of numerous students and practitioners globally who honour him through this symposium.
 
For more information, please visit:
https://uofa-cee.gobigevent.com. 

The 97th meeting of the USARC will be held in Montreal, Canada, in conjunction with the "From Knowledge to Action" IPY meeting. The Commission will meet jointly with the Canadian Polar Commission on the afternoon of the 27th, to discuss common interests in Arctic Research. Details to follow.

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. announces that the Arctic Forum 2012 will be held 30 April - 1 May 2012 in Washington, D.C. The 24th ARCUS Annual Meeting will be held in conjunction with the Forum, on 2 May 2012. Both events will be convened in Washington, D.C.

The Arctic Forum is taking place as part of the American Geophysical Union's Science Policy Conference, which will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. It will focus on the
science that helps inform policymakers' decisions. Within the Science Policy Conference, the Arctic Forum will assess gaps and priority needs for arctic scientific information to inform decision makers in policy formation for three key themes:

-Governance and Security in the Arctic
-Transportation and Energy Development
-Changing Arctic Ecosystems

The Forum will examine the current state of policymaker and public understanding of the issues. An important goal will be to foster an increased capacity for dialogue and action on arctic science-policy issues.

Abstracts for poster presentations are currently being accepted for the Arctic Forum, at: http://sites.agu.org/spconference/abstracts/. The submission deadline is Wednesday, 22 February 2012. Further information, including registration and an agenda, will be posted on the conference website (http://sites.agu.org/spconference) as available.

The ARCUS Annual Meeting will be held the morning of Wednesday, 2 May 2012. It serves to gather ARCUS member institution representatives, board members, and staff for an update on ARCUS business. The wider arctic community, agency personnel, and policymakers are invited to attend.

For further information, please follow the link below.

For 75 years, the American Polar Society has both documented and communicated polar activities to the interested world. This meeting will bring together the current leaders in science, government, commerce, and diplomacy for a state-of-the-art forecast of the next seventy-five years in a world influenced more than ever before by the destiny of the Arctic and Antarctic.

This event is open to society members and the general public.

The World Trade Center Alaska and the Institute of the North invite you to participate in Arctic Ambitions, a conference focused on the development of – and markets for – key Arctic resources.

Discussion will be framed by the five key Arctic exports (seafood, minerals, energy, precious metals and forest products); the conference will address the two-way nature of exports and imports in the Arctic. It’s not just a question of what Arctic nations can develop and export – equally important is who has a market for those resources.

The second day will consist of a half day workshop focused on how to strengthen the relationships between Arctic resource development and outside markets. Recommendations from this session will be included in the Summary of Proceedings that will be made available online after the event.

To register and for more information, please visit:
https://institutenorth.org/calendar/events/arctic-ambitions
Arctic Calendar Logos

We are pleased to announce the release of the new report, Lessons and Legacies of International Polar Year 2007-2008, published under the guidance of the Polar Research Board (PRB).

Please join us for a webinar presentation and discussion with co-chairs Bob Bindschadler and Julie Brigham-Grette on Wednesday, May 2 at 1:00 PM EDT.

This one-day symposium will focus on economic, social, cultural, and environmental trends and developments within The Pas and northern Manitoba. 2012 marks what would have been Glenn Gould's 80th birthday as well as the 45th anniversary of his landmark CBC broadcast "The Idea of North," a radio documentary inspired by his train journey through northern Manitoba to Churchill. Symposium organizers are interested in presentations on Gould's relationship to the North or on conceptualizing the North and invite proposals from scholars, artists, storytellers, writers, and poets on areas including:

• Agricultural development;

• Broadcasting and radio in northern communities;

• Critical Aboriginal perspectives;

• Education in the North;

• Environmental issues and biodiversity in northern Manitoba;

• Expansion and resource development north of the 52nd parallel;

• Fur trade and origins of northern communities;

• Glenn Gould's "Idea of the North;"

• Immigration and migration issues; and

• Literary and artistic representations of northern Manitoba.

Performance pieces, artistic/video installations, and other creative approaches are encouraged.

Proposals for 20-minute individual or panel presentations and abstracts of 250 words, accompanied with biographical information of no more than one page, should be submitted by email to: gatewaysnorth [at] ucn.ca.

Submission deadline: 3 February 2012.

For more information, please contact:
Keith Hyde

Email: khyde [at] ucn.ca

Phone: 204-627-8670

Organizers announce the 44th International Liege Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics, entitled "Remote Sensing of Colour, Temperature, and Salinity--New Challenges and Opportunities," to be convened 7-11 May 2012 in Liege, Belgium.

The development of new sensors and algorithms has extended the application of ocean remote sensing to new research domains. New data analysis techniques are allowing improvements in the quality of the datasets used for oceanographic and climatic research. The use of satellite-derived salinity, as a fairly new dataset, is an exciting opportunity to improve our knowledge of the ocean dynamics and ocean-atmosphere interactions.

The 2012 Liege Colloquium will be devoted to the latest developments in the research fields of salinity, temperature, and ocean color remote sensing. Open scientific questions and new research directions are of
particular interest.

Abstract submission deadline: Saturday, 31 December 2011.

For further information, please visit:
http://modb.oce.ulg.ac.be/colloquium/.

This conference deals specifically with remote sensing applications in the polar environments, both Arctic and Antarctic. It will provide an international forum for the discussion of work currently being carried out in the circumpolar regions of the world.

The theme of 12th symposium in Finland is Polar regions in transformation; climatic change and anthropogenic pressures. This symposium will be of interest to scientists, scholars, and industry and government professionals involved in renewable and non-renewable resource management in both polar environments. The symposium will provide a forum for the exchange of current applied international research, the presentation of new technology, and the advancement of internal co-operation in the circumpolar regions of the world.

Abstracts Due March 15, 2012.