Past Events

Organizers announce that the Girls on Ice 2016 Expeditions are now accepting applications. The 2016 program includes two expeditions. The original North Cascades expedition in Washington State will be held 10-21 July 2016, and an Alaska-based expedition will take place 17-28 June 2016.

Girls on Ice is a unique, free, wilderness science education program for high school girls. Each year a team of nine teenage girls and three instructors spend 12 days exploring and learning about mountain glaciers and alpine landscapes through scientific field studies with professional glaciologists and mountaineers.

Applicants must be at least 16 years old by the Alaska program start-date (17 June) and no older than 18 on the North Cascades program end-date (21 July). International students are welcome to apply to the North Cascades expedition. The Alaskan expedition is primarily intended for girls from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Application deadline: 29 January 2016.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for various research and development topic areas. The ERDC consists of the Coastal and Hydraulics Lab (CHL), the Geotechnical and Structures Lab (GSL), the Environmental Lab (EL) and the Information Technology Lab (ITL) in Vicksburg, Mississippi; the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire; the Construction Engineering Research Lab (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois; and the Geospatial Research Laboratory in Alexandria, Virginia. The ERDC is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes. The BAA is available at http://erdc.usace.army.mil/ and is open until superseded. Proposals may be accepted at any time. For questions regarding proposals to CHL, EL, GRL, GSL & ITL, contact Michael G. Lee at 601-634-2903 or via email at Michael.G.Lee [at] usace.army.mil. For questions concerning proposals to CERL, contact Wanda Huber at 217-373-6730 or via email at Wanda.L.Huber [at] usace.army.mil or Andrea Krouse at 217-373-6746 or via email at Andrea.J.Krouse [at] usace.army.mil. For questions concerning proposals to CRREL, contact Wendy Adams at 603-646-4323 or via email at Wendy.A.Adams [at] usace.army.mil or Ashley Jenkins at 217-373-7297 or Ashley.M.Jenkins [at] usace.army.mil. Contact the technical personnel listed at the end of each topic area for questions concerning the topic areas themselves.

The Joint Science Education Project (JSEP) and Joint Antarctic School Expedition (JASE) announce a call for applications from U.S. high school students interested in participating in polar field research. JSEP and JASE are National Science Foundation (NSF) supported science and cultural-exchange programs for high school students.

The three-week JSEP program takes place entirely in Greenland. Participants from the United States, Denmark, and Greenland live and work together while exploring current research and completing their own inquiry-based investigations. The program includes two weeks of extensive field experiences near Kangerlussuaq and a final week with a visit to Summit Station, the U.S. research facility located at the top of the Greenland ice sheet.

The one to two-week JASE program takes place in King George Island, Antarctica and Punta Arenas, Chile. Students from the United States join a Chilean high school expedition to Escudero Station on King George Island. The program includes visits to international research stations and field sites in Antarctica as well as the Chilean Antarctic Institute in the Patagonia region of Chile.

JSEP and JASE are open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the 11th grade at the time of application. Students may apply for one or both programs using the same application. JASE participants must be fluent in Spanish. NSF's Division of Polar Programs covers all participant costs, such as food, transportation, lodging, and instruction for students selected to participate.

Application deadline: 31 January 2016.

Organizers of the "Remote Controlled and Autonomous Measurement Platforms Flagship (ReCAMP) Workshop" announce a call for abstracts.

The objectives of ReCAMP are to:

• Present the ReCAMP Flagship objectives, and present and future activities
• Provide an international and interdisciplinary forum for scientists, researchers, operators, and students to exchange experience and knowledge on Remote Controlled and Autonomous Measurement Platforms (RAMPs) technology
• Discuss the main challenges when operating RAMPs in the Arctic, including communication, platform navigation, platform robustness, cross platform opportunities, sensor inter-comparison, platform independency, and remote power solutions.

The Programme Committee particularly invites contributions that include good application, promising results, and discussion on challenges and issues that currently limit the use or benefit of the technology. In this way, the sessions will be a balance of experiences, challenges, and new solutions. Abstracts are invited to the following seven sessions:

• Communication
• Platform navigation
• Platform robustness
• Cross platform opportunities
• Sensor inter comparison
• Platform independency
• Remote power solutions

Abstract submission deadline: 1 February 2016

The Arctic in the Classroom (TAC) program is currently accepting applications from teachers and researchers for participation in the 'Make an Impact Workshop," the TAC kickoff event, which will take place 13-15 March 2016 during the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Travel, accommodations, and ASSW registration expenses are covered for workshop participants. Participants are also awarded the opportunity for continued support within The Arctic in the Classroom program. Registration is now open for teachers and researchers. There are approximately 15 spots available. Registration closes on 1 February 2016.

The workshop organizer, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) seeks:

• Educators who currently teach in Alaskan Arctic communities with experience or interest in incorporating local Arctic research into their teaching through citizen-science and community based monitoring.

• Researchers who conduct funded research in the Alaskan Arctic with experience or interest using citizen-science practices as a method to expose teachers, students, and local communities to Arctic research.

TAC aims to bring together the best practices in facilitating successful citizen-science projects and community-based monitoring to support the collaboration of students, teachers, and researchers in arctic communities.

Support for this program is provided by the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) and applicable community service payments from federal court settlements.

Further Workshop Information is available at:
https://www.arcus.org/tac/2016-workshop

For questions, please contact:
Sarah Bartholow (ARCUS)
sbartholow [at] arcus.org

Arctic ice is melting fast, transforming coastlines and multiplying risks around the world.

Since the United States assumed Chairmanship of the eight-nation Arctic Council for the period 2015-2017, the U.S. State Department has highlighted how ice melting in the Arctic affects people, infrastructure and ecosystems worldwide, multiplying risks around the world.

The meeting will convene leading researchers, decision-makers, and other interested stakeholders to discuss the state of sea-level rise science, and how public policy and private adaptation efforts can lessen the impacts everywhere.

The Role of Cosmology and the ‘Unknown’ in your Research: From Alexander v. Humboldt and Jane Goodall to the lab, Mother Earth, Climate Change and Global Sustainability

Abstract:

Many world-famous researchers encountered soon or later ‘the deep unknown.’ While only a few of such investigators turned to religion, many posed questions about the wider universe, the origin of life and death, and way beyond that. Here I am presenting such details, and try to make a connection how it links with ‘pragmatic’ and real-world applied research that most of us engage in these days.

While the Yeti, ghosts, shamans, UFOs and the ‘Cloudbuster’ will be mentioned, I will also show that the n-to-n body problem poses many tough questions for us, and so do neutrinos, black holes, re-incarnation, non-christian religions and the GAIA theory. Other subjects featured in this presentation deal with ‘Gonzo Science,’ the moons and comets, calendars, big bangs, deep earth, evolution, taxonomic monopolies, the DNA, perceived human limits, lack of independence in statistical samples, the 95% confidence trick in statistics, indigenous worldviews for an effective Earth Stewardship, and why in good science “1+1 is usually not 2.”

This talk will conclude with some new views and best procedures to acknowledge the ‘real’ uncertainty inherent in the universe and how to address such things in ‘modern’ science and for global sustainability and governance.

About the Speaker:

Falk is a globally working faculty member with the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF); Institute of Arctic Biology, Biology & Wildlife Department. He has published over 160 peer-reviewed publications in the international literature, including 6 books and over 1,000 digital datasets and metadata in various publicly available webportals. His research deals primarily with Wildlife Ecology and Habitat conservation questions, using Open Access, Open Source, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Machine Learning and Ecological Economics. His study species include Snow Leopard, Pallas Cat, Siberian Crane and thousands of other model-predicted species in Central America, Africa, Asia, Madagascar, Alaska and the oceans.

OneNOAA Science Seminar Series
Date & Time: February 9, 2016
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET
Presenter: Jeremy T. Mathis, Ph.D., Director-Arctic Research Program, NOAA Climate Program Office

Sponsor: NOAA's National Ocean Service Science Seminar: point of contact is tracy.gill [at] noaa.gov

Remote Access: Mymeeting webinar uses phone and internet. For Audio: Dial toll-free US 1-877-708-1667. Enter code 7028688 and hit # key. The Webcast is at http://www.mymeetings.com On the lower right of the main page find "Participant Join", click "Join an Event", then add conf no: 744925156. No passcode is needed for web. Be sure to install the correct plug?in for WebEx before the seminar starts (temporary plugin works fine).

Abstract - The intensity, extent and duration of ocean acidification in the coastal areas around Alaska will increase as atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise over the next century. These environmental changes could pose a significant threat to the Alaskan economy and the United States gross domestic product as important commercial and subsistence fisheries in Alaska are co-located in marine regions that have already undergone significant changes due to ocean acidification. Coastal human communities in southeast and southwest Alaska are highly reliant on fishery harvests and have relatively lower income and employment alternatives, and these locations face the highest risk from ocean acidification. New ways of collecting and integrating critical environmental intelligence will be discussed in the context of developing resilience and adaptation strategies for dealing with ocean acidification.

About the Speaker: Dr. Jeremy Mathis is the Director of the Arctic Research Program in NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Atmospheric Research. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Miami. Dr. Mathis has worked in Alaska and the Arctic for more than 12 years and has published over 75 research articles on ocean acidification and the carbon cycle. In 2015, he was awarded a Silver Medal from the Department of Commerce for his work using groundbreaking technology to gather environmental intelligence in Alaska.

Bill Pyle (Kodiak NWR) & Sue Mauger (Cook InletKeeper)

In recognition of the importance of salmon to the economy and ecosystems of southwestern Alaska and the pervasive influence of water temperature on salmon, voluntary network-based water temperature monitoring programs were established in the Bristol Bay region and the Kodiak Archipelago in 2015. These collaborative networks among federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations and Native Tribes aim to provide reliable time-series stream and lake temperature data to support development of proactive approaches to management of salmon in response to climate warming. Collaborators are tackling the challenges of year-round field deployment, data management, data storage and sharing, and long-term funding. Examples from Bristol Bay and Kodiak will be highlighted to identify successes and lessons learned to assist in the development of other regional networks across Alaska.

Join us:
In Anchorage: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Regional Office, 1011 E. Tudor Rd, Mary Smith Conference Room (3rd floor)

Online:
Join WebEx meeting
Meeting number: 746 506 741
Meeting password: !WALcc2016
Call-in toll-free: 1-866-730-5871; pass code 111 111 (US)

IARPC Wildfires Collaboration Team Meeting with a Presentation on results of the Alaska Land Carbon Project by Dave McGuire
Feb 11, 2016 2 - 3 pm Eastern Standard Time

You are invited to attend a meeting of the IARPC Wildfires Collaboration Team on February 11 at 2:00 EST. The meeting will include a presentation by David McGuire (UAF) on The Alaska Land Carbon Assessment: Baseline and Projected Future Carbon Storage and Greenhouse-gas Fluxes in Ecosystems of Alaska. Please invite others who may be interested in this topic to attend. To register your attendance and download the event to your calendar, please visit the event page on the member side of the IARPC collaborations website. If you can't remember your password go to http://www.iarpccollaborations.org/members/forgotpassword.html.

For more details go to:
www.iarpccollaborations.org/members/events/3418

Abstract:

The world is dry. Arid climates, droughts, and sporadic rainfall are common and dominate many terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, most of our understanding of the critical processes that occur in soil is based on happily moist soils. Classical biogeochemical models projected that as soils dry, processes should just slow down—less respiration, less nutrient mineralization. In California, our ecosystems experience a wet winter growing season and then a 6-month or more drought during the summer. Grasses die, some shrubs go dormant—it’s the dying season. But the microbial biomass in the soil increases. So too, does the pool of extractable, bioavailable organic carbon in the soil. As soon as the first rains of winter hit, biomass and extractable carbon actually decrease. Understanding what is going on in these soils as they dry and how this influences the productivity and functioning of the ecosystem remains a puzzle—where does the available carbon come from? Last years dead roots? Release from mineral surfaces? I will discuss what we have learned about these phenomena, and how we integrate the fine scale soil ecology to develop new generations of models that can capture the dry season processes.

About the Speaker:

My research sits at the interface of ecosystem and microbial ecology. I am interested in the role of soil microbes in controlling ecosystem scale processes. I am particularly interested in the linkages between plant and soil processes, and how changes in microbial community structure affects ecosystem-scale dynamics. My work is now focusing on three ecosystems: the Arctic tundra in Alaska and Greenland, High elevation ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada, and the California annual grassland-oak savanna.

Work in the Arctic is focused on understanding the dynamics of soil organic matter. The Arctic is important in global climate since there is a lot of C stored in arctic soils and the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world. Increased temperatures could cause greater release of C into the atmosphere, producing a positive feedback on global climate. Alternatively, nutrient release from soil organic matter could enhance plant growth, making the Arctic a stronger sink for atmospheric CO2, and producing a negative feedback on climate. Which of these processes is more important depends on the nature of soil organic matter, its bioavailability, and what happens to the nutrients that are made available by decomposition. Within this framework I have projects studying the bioavailability of tundra soil C and N and how that varies throughout the year.

One important piece of understanding the Arctic is winter. Winter is long and cold, but it is not biologically dead. Winter activity accounts for a significant portion of total annual respiration, and may account for all of the annual net C efflux. Nitrogen cycling under the snow may also be important in supplying nitrogen to plants. We actually know very little about the controls on microbial activity in freezing and frozen soils. This project is part of the ATLAS (Arctic Transitions in the Land-Atmosphere System) program; a component of the NSF Polar Programs, Land-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions program. This is a large, interdisciplinary program focused on understanding the Arctic as an integrated system, with strongly interacting physical and biological components.

In California a major program is targeted at understanding the functioning of California annual grassland oak savanna/woodland ecosystems. Within this larger direction, I have two project thrusts. One is focusing on plant soil interactions and how changing plant communities interact with changing soil processes, particular nitrogen cycling. In particular we are interested in the effect of the annual grasses that invaded California starting over 100 years ago. How much of their success is through changing soil conditions? We are working with Dr. Jim Reichman, Eric Seabloom, and Oliver Chadwick on this work. The other thrust is understanding how stress (drying/rewetting) and resource availability through the soil profile regulate microbial diversity, community composition, and community function. This project is basic microbial ecology and includes work using molecular tools to understand the dynamics of specific microbial populations.

Objectives

The cryosphere forms an integral part of the climate system of the Earth. Measuring the properties of the seasonal and perennial snow cover properties is therefore essential in understanding interactions and feedback mechanisms related to the cryosphere.

Snow is a extremely complex and highly variable medium, and all essential properties of seasonal snow cover are challenging to measure. Diverse fields such as hydrology, climatology, avalanche forecasting and Earth Observation from space 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 2nd Snow Science Winter School will teach these advanced techniques, as micro-tomography, measurement of specific surface area by reflection and spectroscopy, 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 include Glaciology, Hydrology, Oceanography, Geography, but also Biology or Chemistry as well as Engineering or Material Sciences.

Course structure

The focus of this workshop lies on field and laboratory measurements, combined with theoretical lessons in the classroom.

Field and laboratory 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 laboratory measurements (micro-CT, thin section, fabric analysis) will take place in Davos.

The course corresponds to 3 ETCS-Points.

See the website for information about application and registration.

Organizers of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Open Science Conference announce a call for abstracts. The meeting will be held 20-30 August 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This conference will focus on "Antarctica in the Global Earth System: From the Poles to the Tropics" and how the changes that we are currently seeing in Antarctica will affect the rest of the world. The conference program, including sessions and descriptions, is available at:
http://scar2016.com/symposia-session.php

Abstracts for poster or oral presentations are invited. More than one abstract may be submitted by one person, however abstracts cannot be submitted to more than one session.

Abstract submission deadline: 14 February 2016

Organizers of the Remote Controlled and Autonomous Measurement Platforms Flagship (ReCAMP) Workshop announce a call for abstracts. The event will be held 5-6 April 2016 in Tromso, Norway.

The objectives of ReCAMP are to:

• Present the ReCAMP Flagship objectives, and present and future activities
• Provide an international and interdisciplinary forum for scientists, researchers, operators, and students to exchange experience and knowledge on Remote Controlled and Autonomous Measurement Platforms (RAMPs) technology
• Discuss the main challenges when operating RAMPs in the Arctic, including communication, platform navigation, platform robustness, cross platform opportunities, sensor inter-comparison, platform independency, and remote power solutions.

The Programme Committee seeks to develop sessions with balanced contributions that include good application, promising results, and discussion on the challenges and issues that currently limit the use or benefit of the technology. Abstracts are invited to the following seven sessions:

• Communication
• Platform navigation
• Platform robustness
• Cross platform opportunities
• Sensor inter comparison
• Platform independency
• Remote power solutions

Abstract submission deadline: 15 February 2016.

Workshop Registration Deadline: 7 March 2016.

For questions, please contact:
Line Rouyet
Email: recamp [at] asuf.no

Speaker: Jonathan Day, University of Reading

Abstract: Unprecedented climate change in the Arctic, particularly the reduction in summer sea ice has opened up opportunities for business in diverse sectors such as fossil fuel & mineral extraction, shipping and tourism. Recent studies have indicated that sea ice is a major source of climate predictability on seasonal and longer timescales, but this potential is yet to be realized in actual prediction systems. In this talk I will discuss where we are in terms of predicting Arctic sea ice on seasonal and longer timescales, what the major sources of predictability are, and what I see as the road ahead to achieve this potential.

NCAR, 1850 Table Mesa Drive - Mesa Lab, Main Seminar Room

Or join online:

Live webcast: http://www.fin.ucar.edu/it/mms/ml-live.htm
Live chat: http://www.fin.ucar.edu/it/mms/ml-live-chat1.htm

The Biological Oceanography Program supports research in marine ecology broadly defined: relationships among aquatic organisms and their interactions with the environments of the oceans or Great Lakes. Projects submitted to the program for consideration are often interdisciplinary efforts that may include participation by other OCE Programs.

The Chemical Oceanography Program supports research into the chemical components, reaction mechanisms, and geochemical pathways within the ocean and at its interfaces with the solid earth and the atmosphere. Major emphases include: studies of material inputs to and outputs from marine waters; orthochemical and biological production and transformation of chemical compounds and phases within the marine system; and the determination of reaction rates and study of equilibria. The Program encourages research into the chemistry, distribution, and fate of inorganic and organic substances introduced into or produced within marine environments including those from estuarine waters to the deep sea.

The Marine Geology and Geophysics program supports research on all aspects of geology and geophysics of the ocean basins and margins, as well as the Great Lakes.

The Program includes:

• Structure, tectonic evolution and volcanic activity of the ocean basins, the continental margins, the mid-ocean ridges, and island arc systems
• Processes controlling exchange of heat and chemical species between seawater and ocean rocks
• Genesis, chemistry, and mineralogic evolution of marine sediments
• Processes controlling deposition, erosion and transport of marine sediments
• Past ocean circulation patterns and climates and
• Interactions of continental and marine geologic processes

The Oceanographic Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination (OTIC) Program supports a broad range of research and technology development activities. Unsolicited proposals are accepted for instrumentation development that has broad applicability to ocean science research projects and that enhance observational, experimental or analytical capabilities of the ocean science research community. Specific announcements for funding opportunities are made for additional projects involving Improvements in Facilities, Communications, and Equipment at Biological Field Stations and Marine Laboratories (FSML) and the National Ocean Partnership Program.

The Physical Oceanography Program supports research on a wide range of topics associated with the structure and movement of the ocean, with the way in which it transports various quantities, with the way the ocean's physical structure interacts with the biological and chemical processes within it, and with interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere, solid earth and ice that surround it.