Past Events

Scientific discoveries achieved from, within, and beneath the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, ice caps and valley glaciers are critical to society today, but large group endeavors are not achieved without significant advance planning. What is your vision for future subglacial science?

The U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) is sponsoring an interdisciplinary science community planning workshop to identify the science drivers, targets, and timelines of subglacial access drilling for the coming decade. The goal of this workshop is to form consensus within the U.S. science community on scientific goals, potential drilling targets, and proposed dates and timelines for major science projects that will require subglacial access drilling over the coming decade, possibly in joint endeavors with international partners. This information will be used in the 2016-2026 update of the IDPO Long Range Science Plan, which is the foundation for identifying and developing appropriate drilling technologies for use in larger projects defined by the U.S. science community.

This work will be held on May 22-23 (all day Sunday, May 22 and the morning of Monday, May 23), 2016, and will be at the Washington Dulles Marriott Suites Hotel in Herndon, VA. All interested scientists who will be seeking science funding from a U.S. agency are encouraged to participate, including, but not limited to, those from the fields of glaciology, paleoclimatology, glacial geology, biology, and earth science. Scientists should come to the workshop prepared to summarize scientific research questions to be addressed by subglacial drilling in the coming decade, and to identify likely target areas, technologies needed, and timelines for completion of projects that they are likely to propose in the near-term or long-term future.

Sponsor and IDPO Lead:
Mary Albert, IDPO, Dartmouth

IDPO Subglacial Access Working Group Conveners:
Jill Mikucki, Middlebury College
Ross Powell, Northern Illinois University
John Goodge, University of Minnesota-Duluth

10-minute presentation slots are available in the agenda for participants interested in "making the case" for specific future subglacial drilling projects. Please indicate your interest in making a brief presentation in the registration form. We will send registered participants updates on the agenda and details of the workshop.

We are pleased to welcome you to the Fourth 'PAST Gateways' (Palaeo-Arctic Spatial and Temporal Gateways) International Conference. The conference is hosted by the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU).

There are four main themes for the conference. We invite abstracts on studies addressing problems within the four themes, in the period preceding instrumental records across decadal to millennial time scales, in the formerly glaciated areas of North America, Russia and northern Europe.

1. Growth and decay of Arctic Ice Sheets
2. Arctic sea-ice and ocean changes
3. Non-glaciated Arctic environments including permafrost change
4. Sea level change in the Arctic

'PAST Gateways' (Palaeo-Arctic Spatial and Temporal Gateways) is an IASC endorsed network research programme, the scientific goal of which is to understand Arctic environmental change during the period preceding instrumental records and across decadal to millennial timescales. The focus of the six year programme is on the nature and significance of Arctic gateways, both spatial and temporal, with an emphasis on the transitions between major Late Cenozoic climate events such as interglacials to full glacials and full glacial to deglacial states, as well as more recent Holocene fluctuations. There are three major themes to the programme: (1) Growth and decay of Arctic Ice Sheets; (2) Arctic sea-ice and ocean changes, and (3) Non-glaciated Arctic environments. PAST Gateways follows on from the previous network programmes of 'PONAM' (Polar North Atlantic Margins), 'QUEEN' (Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North) and, most recently, 'APEX' (Arctic Palaeoclimate and its Extremes). It is interdisciplinary in nature and seeks to bring together field scientists and numerical modellers to advance understanding about Arctic climate change. The network involves scientists from across Europe, Russia, Canada and the USA.

The course provides a basic introduction to the dynamics of glaciers and ice sheets with a focus on ice-climate interactions. The course is meant for Ph.D. students that work on (or will soon start working on) a glaciology-related climate project. A few places are available for junior scientists.

The next Karthaus course will be held from 13 to 24 September 2016 in Karthaus (northern Italy).

Deadline for applications is 23 May 2016.

See the website for more information.

The XVI Glaciological Symposium will be held from 24 to 29 May 2016 in St.Petersburg, Russia. It is organized by the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

The Symposium will cover a wide range of topics:

• Recent climate and glacier changes
• Polar glaciers and global sea level
• Regime of alpine glaciers in temperate and tropical zones
• Snow cover and ground ice in a warming climate
• Avalanches and river ice as the cryosphere phenomena
• Sea ice changes: causes and consequences
• Proxy paleoclimate reconstructions and history of glacier changes
• Remote sensing and GIS in glaciology

The abstract submission deadline is on 15 February 2016.

Online registration and abstract submission is now open at: http://glac2016.igras.ru/publ/registration/1-1-0-5

Worldwide interest in the Arctic is increasing. Changing ice-conditions, regional growth and international geopolitics have placed the High North at the center of attention.

On May 24-26, the High North Center – under the Business School at the University of Nordland – invites you to participate in the High North Dialogue 2016. The theme of this year’s conference is The Blue Future of the Arctic.

The Arctic is an ocean, surrounded by land. The economic potential of the sea continues to drive the discourse of, and development in, the Arctic. Marine and maritime industries like fisheries, oil and gas, and shipping constitute the backbone of this development.

New ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship are additionally transforming the way we think about the marine and maritime space, while providing exciting opportunities for the local and regional populations of the Arctic.

At the same time, the various parts of the Arctic are experiencing different realities with regards to climatic changes and economic development. There is in fact not ‘one’ Arctic, but several.

Since 2007, the High North Dialogue conference series have brought together Arctic leaders – present and future – to discuss the dimensions of the changes taking place in the Arctic. Set in Bodø – the second largest community in North Norway and gateway to Lofoten – the High North Dialogue 2016 will provide you with a different perspective on the future of the Arctic.

We ask:

• How does a Blue Future look like for the Arctic?
• Who will be the Future Leaders of the Arctic?
• What roles do Innovation and Entrepreneurship play?
• What are the main challenges for Arctic development and sustainability?
• How is the Arctic linked to global trends and issues?
• Should the Arctic be left to its inhabitants or be part of the global commons?

Over two days – in tandem with the Arctic Business conference – we intend to address these questions, while promoting and provoking debate and dialogue.

Organizers invite graduate and post graduate students who are interested in Arctic Science to apply for the 2016 Connaught Summer Institute in Arctic Science: Atmosphere, Cryosphere, and Climate which will take place from 18-22 July in Alliston, Ontario, Canada.

The Connaught Summer Institute in Arctic Science: Atmosphere, Cryosphere, and Climate brings together students and established scholars who are engaged in Arctic research, to provide an understanding of the Arctic climate and the processes that control it, and to establish an interdisciplinary forum in which they can discuss current challenges and identify emerging research opportunities in this area.

It is intended for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows engaged in Arctic research. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from experienced researchers in a small and comfortable setting. Students will also participate in professional development activities, engage in a diverse career panel discussion, develop strategies for linking scientific knowledge to public engagement, education and outreach, and present their own research during a poster session.

Topics to be covered include Arctic paleoclimatology, the Arctic climate system, climate modelling, causes of changes in Arctic sea ice, high-latitude snow processes, Arctic aerosols, composition-climate interactions, tropospheric halogen chemistry in the Arctic, stratospheric ozone and chlorine chemistry, the carbon cycle, aerosols and climate, atmospheric measurement techniques, Arctic archeology, Inuit heritage, and science communications.

Application Deadline: 30 May 2016.

For more information and to apply, please follow the link above.

You are cordially invited to the 23rd IAHR International Symposium on Ice, which will be held from 31st of May to the 3rd of June 2016 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. The 23rd IAHR International Symposium on Ice is sponsored by the International Association of HydroEnvironment Engineering and Research (IAHR). The successful event has been held previously in St. Petersburg, Russia (2004), Vancouver, Canada (2008), Lahti, Finland (2010), Dalian, China (2012) and Singapore (2014). In 2016, it will be the first time that IAHR Symposium on Ice is held in Ann Arbor, MI on the University of Michigan campus, one of the foremost research universities in the United States. In Ann Arbor, there are interests related to ice research with the concern on the magnitude of long term sea level rise, the potential development of new shipping routes due to the melting Arctic, offshore structures in cold waters and their possible environmental impacts, and the impact of climate change on all water resource issues. The aim of the Symposium is on research and application of ice dynamics and thermodynamics in engineering and climate change.

Key Dates:

• September 25th, 2015 – Abstract submission opens
• November 25th, 2015 – Abstracts due
• December 26th, 2015 – Notification of abstract acceptance
• February 26th, 2016 – Deadline for submission of full papers
• March 1st, 2016 – Registration opens
• March 31st, 2016 – Deadline for early bird registration closes
• April 15th, 2016 – Notification of acceptance of full paper
• May 31st – June 3rd, 2016 – IAHR International Symposium on Ice

Brown workshop will bring together researchers working on multidisciplinary natural/social science projects addressing issues of contemporary change in the North with social scientists focused on policy development at a global scale. This focus draws on the expertise of Brown University’s Watson Center for International Studies (http://watson.brown.edu ), the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES, http://www.brown.edu/academics/institute-environment-society/about), and the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology’s (http://www.brown.edu/haffenreffer) six-decade engagement with northern people and northern heritage. We hope to encourage connections and deeper exploration of the integration of broad-based social and natural scientific research in policy development and implementation, as well as the degrees to which policy development and forecasting should lead to the prioritization of research funding or be independent from it. As Arctic Horizons’ only East Coast venue, we expect to draw largely from eastern North America, with a small number of international participants from the North Atlantic region and Canada.

The deadline for abstract submission to the workshop is soon approaching. It has now been extended to May 31. If you are interested in participating to the workshop that will take place in Helsinki, Finland, on 24-25 August 2016, we invite you to give a 15 minute presentation on your work in the field, and on the measurement problems you have faced. You can register to the workshop and submit an abstract at the workshop web page. Registration to the workshop will remain open until July 31.

The in-situ snow broadband albedo is automatically measured in many stations that monitor the surface radiation budget, and is used (a) to test snow albedo parameterizations, (b) to validate remote sensing snow albedo products, (c) as input parameter for snow, hydrological, and atmospheric models, and (d) for climate studies.

The in-situ snow broadband albedo is measured to (a) validate optical remote sensing observations, (b) derive surface snow characteristics such as effective snow impurity content, optical equivalent size of snow particles, and presence of liquid water using model inversion methods, and (c) calculate the snow broadband albedo and interpret the reasons for its evolution.

In the workshop we would like to address the following questions:
What is the accuracy that spectral and broadband albedo measurements can achieve?
What is, presently, the “standard” calibration and characterization of the instruments?
Which calibration and characterization of the instruments would be required in order to allow a meaningful comparison of the measurements obtained with different instruments, and under different environmental conditions?

Objective of the workshop is to try to answer to the above questions and develop a calibration and measurement protocol that will be applied and tested in a possible future inter-comparison campaign.

The 2-day workshop will include keynote lecturers, oral presentations, discussions, and a few-hour visit to calibration facilities and radiometric instrumentation. Participants are invited to give presentations about their activity related to the use of spectral and/or broadband radiometers to measure the snow albedo, about the challenges of the measurements, the estimated measurement accuracy and, on the other hand, the wished accuracy in view of specific research applications. In the workshop, we will compare the technical characteristics of various instruments (spectral resolution, fore optics, field of view, calculation of dark current, optimization of integrating time, etc.) and their known response (angular response, temperature drift of irradiance/wavelength calibration, dome heating effect, temperature stability and spatial homogeneity of Lambertian targets). The workshop will also address the measurement uncertainties due to measurement setup and environmental conditions (levelling of the instruments fore optics and of the target surface, shadows on the target area, obstructions of the field of view of the instrument, roughness of the measured surface, sky conditions) and the strategies and tools to reduce these uncertainties.

This workshop contributes to the activities of the MicroSnow Working Group of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences ( IACS).

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) announces a fifteen day summer course entitled "Arctic Alaska Environmental Change." The course is open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in Arctic environmental change. The three credit course will be held 1-15 June 2016 in Fairbanks and on Alaska's North Slope.

The field course includes two days of classroom instruction and local field trips in the Fairbanks area, an 11-day field excursion to Alaska's North Slope, and two days for student presentations and additional field trips. The field excursion will have a strong emphasis on Arctic environments, local people, and field sampling. Students will learn about Arctic vegetation, soils, landforms, permafrost, geology, wildlife, and land-use. The class will travel along the latitudinal transect from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, which traverses boreal forest, alpine, and Arctic biomes. Students will undertake an independent research project of their choosing.

The cost of transportation and meals during the field excursion is included in the course fee, as well as two nights lodging at Toolik Field Station and up to six nights campus dorm housing.

A $2,000 scholarship is available for one Alaska Native student or an indigenous student from a circumpolar nation.

To apply for the scholarship, submit a one-page letter about how this course would advance their interest in Arctic Science to Skip Walker.
Email: dawalker [at] alaska.edu

For questions, please contact:
Skip Walker
Email: dawalker [at] alaska.edu

Purpose:

• Present and discuss results on observations and modelling of meltwater retention processes on ice sheets and glaciers, with some emphasis on low temperature 'polar snow'.
• To plan and coordinate meltwater retention model development.
• To develop future projects and collaboration.

Registration deadline is Friday 8 April, 2016.

Contributions are welcomed in the form of oral presentations and/or posters. Presentation duration will be 15-20 minutes, including discussion. A keynote presentation by W.T. Pfeffer is planned. Between 2.5 and 3 days are planned.

Abstracts and registration:
Those intending to attend the workshop should submit abstracts (maximum length 200 words) by email to Robert Fausto rsf [at] geus.dk no later than the registration deadline. Abstracts should indicate whether an oral or poster presentation is preferred.

We have some financial support, but may ask a modest registration fee. We plan for the workshop to include lunch, morning and afternoon coffee breaks. We are working to raise some financial support for early career scientists to participate in the workshop.

We plan a special issue on the workshop topic in either Annals of glaciology, The Cryosphere, Frontiers in Earth Sciences.

A range of hotels and hostels exist near the workshop location. Public transit is very efficient, including bike rental. Booking these early is recommended due to extra demand from the high tourist season.

This webinar will review the U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS) report, "A Ten-Year Prioritization of Infrastructure Needs in the U.S. Arctic". Please join for an Overview of the Report and answer questions from Tribal interests and maritime stakeholders. The report may be found at:
http://www.cmts.gov/Bulletin.aspx?id=115

For questions, please contact:
ArcticMTS [at] cmts.gov

This is a public webinar, so please share with anyone who would have an interest in participating. We look forward to your participation!

To join the webinar:

• Follow the link above. You will be directed to the online page, where you will be asked to insert the meeting number and participant code.
• Meeting Number: 8773361839
• Participant Code: 7705293
• When inserting your name, please write your name and agency/ organization in parenthesis such as: John Smith (CMTS). This is the name we will see listed in the webinar chat box.
• Sign in as a “participant.”
• Login SIMULTANEOUSLY by conference line OR use the conference line alone if preferred.
• Phone conference number: 877-336-1839
• Phone conference access code: 7705293#
• Join the conference as a participant when prompted.
• The webinar may end early when no further questions or comments are provided.

The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) will host a webinar entitled "Systematic Improvements to Reanalyses of the Arctic (SIRTA) White Paper Review and Discussion".

The Interagency Arctic Research and Policy Committee (IARPC) working group on Systematic Improvements to Reanalyses of the Arctic (SIRTA) will present a preliminary draft white paper on atmospheric reanalyses, with a focus on issues related to Arctic reanalyses. The working group welcomes comments and input for further development of the white paper.

For questions, or if you are unable to attend the online meeting, comments on the white paper may be sent by email to:

Sara Bowden
Email: bowden [at] arcus.org

The Alaska Satellite Facility will be hosting an open house in honor of their 25th Anniversary on June 3, from 4-7 p.m. This is a free all ages event on the West Ridge of UAF campus. First Friday art show featuring imagery from the Alaska Satellite Facility, including radar images of Earth Activities and exhibits including coloring books, satellite models, unmanned aircraft, rocketry, and more scientific posters featuring research using synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

Organizers of the Polar Weather and Climate Week 2016 announce a call for registration and abstracts for associated workshops and meetings.

Workshop registration and abstract submission deadline: 9 May 2016.

Polar Weather and Climate Week 2016 will include the following workshops:

International Workshop on Coupled Modeling of Polar Environments
4-5 June 2016
Organizers invite contributions on the use and development of fully coupled models in high northern and southern latitudes, including those based on the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport model (COAWST), the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM), and the Model Prediction Across Scales (MPAS). Organizers hope to attract broad interdisciplinary modeling participation from atmospheric scientists, physical oceanographers, sea ice specialists, land surface scientists, etc. The workshop goal is not only to discuss scientific advances but promote collaborative work.

The 11th Antarctic Meteorological Observation, Modeling & Forecasting Workshop
6-8 June 2016
This workshop will bring together investigators with research and operational/logistical interests in Antarctic meteorology, forecasting, and related disciplines. The annual activities and status of Antarctic observing and modeling efforts will be addressed, and feedback and results from their user communities will be solicited. More broadly, this workshop will provide a forum for current results and ideas in Antarctic meteorology, numerical weather prediction, and weather forecasting, from contributors around the world.

International Symposium on Atmospheric Boundary Layers in High Latitudes
9 June 2016
This symposium will focus on the atmospheric boundary layer over snow, ice, and water in high latitudes with the scientific focus from small to large scale processes that are responsible for control exchanges through the boundary layer. The symposium is intended to provide an interdisciplinary forum to bring together researchers working in the areas of high-latitude experimental and theoretical studies of the stable and unstable boundary layers over land, ice, water and sea ice, including atmospheric chemistry.

Please note: The Year of Polar Prediction Southern Hemisphere (YOPP-SH) Planning Meeting will convene 6 June 2016.

For more information on the YOPP-SH Program, go to:
http://polarmet.osu.edu/YOPP-SH/

To register for any of the meetings and workshops or to submit an
abstract, go to: http://polarmet.osu.edu/AMOMFW_2016/registration.php

Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) collects and analyzes information on the long-term state and health of the ecosystemic and socio-economic environment in the Nunavut Settlement Area.

The information collected by the NGMP helps support responsible and sustainable development by offering insight into the territory's ecosystemic and socio-economic landscape. It can be used to inform strategic planning by government, Nunavut's co-management system, and Nunavummiut and contributes to regulatory improvement by providing access to credible Nunavut monitoring information.

The NGMP is now accepting funding proposals for 2016-17. The deadline for sending the funding proposal is June 5th 2016. All interested and qualified applicants are encouraged to apply. For more details, please refer to the Nunavut General Monitoring plan Call for Proposal Guidelines 2016-17:

http://www.nunavut.ca/files/IQALUIT-996616-v15-2016-17_NGMP_CALL_FOR_PR…

In recent years with rapid changes of climate and environment in the Arctic region and China’s economic growth, the interaction between China and the Arctic has been increasingly deepened, which calls for a coherent and sustainable development of the Arctic and China.

China-Nordic Arctic research cooperation has been intensified over the past few years and during that period Chinese institutes such as the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) and Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS) have strengthened their ties with international counterparts.

The 4th China-Nordic Arctic Cooperation Symposium (CNARC) will take place in the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland from the 6th to 9th of June 2016 under the theme "The Sustainable Arctic - Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization".

CNARC and the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland cordially invite proposals from researchers affiliated with Nordic and Chinese universities, research institutes, think tanks and organisations to the following sessions:

1) Arctic tourism
2) Arctic sustainability
3) The GlobalArctic: Globalization and the Arctic
4) China, Nordic countries and the Arctic

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 25 February 2016

Acceptance of abstracts: 20 March 2016

Please submit the abstracts (250-400 words) to:
Ms. Malgorzata Smieszek, Arctic Centre: malgorzata.smieszek [at] ulapland.fi
Mr. Deng Beixi, CNARC: dengbeixi [at] pric.org.cn

The call for abstracts with detailed descriptions of the sessions can be found here:
http://www.cnarc.info/images/dl_files/CNARC2016-Call-For-Abstracts.pdf

Registration for participants will open later.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 1 February 2016

The course is intended to provide glaciology graduate students with a comprehensive overview of the physics of glaciers and current research frontiers in glaciology with focus on quantitative glaciology, modeling and remote sensing of glaciers and ice sheets. The course is taught by glaciology faculty of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and several invited guest lecturers.

Current sponsors include NASA, the International Glaciological Society (IGS), the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) and the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Instructors:
Andy Aschwanden, Ed Bueler, Mark Fahnestock, Regine Hock, Martin Truffer (UAF),
Gwenn Flowers (SFU, Canada)
More instructors are being recruited.

The US is Chair of the Arctic Council—an intergovernmental body to promote international cooperation and advance Arctic issues—until 2017. The Arctic matters for our economy, security and environmental well-being as a country. The Arctic is increasingly opening up to shipping and tourism traffic. The region is a growing focal point of international cooperation as more countries take an interest in the region. And, it is experiencing dramatic environmental effects of climate change.

To learn more about US priorities in the Arctic and the progress made during the US Arctic Council chairmanship, please join us on June 7 at 2:00pm in 2253 Rayburn House Office Building.

Panelists:

• Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, Chair, Arctic Executive Steering Committee
• Dr. Adrianna Muir, Deputy Senior Arctic Official, US Department of State
• Mr. David Kennedy, Senior Advisor for the Arctic Region, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Captain David C. Barata, US Coast Guard

The Arctic Working Group seeks to help members of Congress better understand the opportunities and challenges for the US as an Arctic nation. Please join us for what we hope will be an informative presentation, open to staff, interns and the interested public. If you have any questions, would like to attend, or if you would like to join the Arctic Working Group, please contact Kim Conrad of Rep. Larsen’s staff atkim.conrad [at] mail.house.gov or (202) 225-2605, or Alex Ortiz of Rep. Young’s staff at alex.ortiz [at] mail.house.gov or (202) 225-5765.