Past Events

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) is pleased to announce the next Arctic Research Seminar Series event featuring Marlene Laruelle (George Washington University). The event will be held in the ARCUS D.C. office at 1201 New York Avenue, NW Washington D.C. on Tuesday, 6 March 2018 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET. This seminar will also be available as a webinar live-stream for those unable to attend in person. Instructions for accessing the event online will be sent to webinar registrants prior to the event.

The ARCUS Arctic Research Seminar Series brings leading Arctic researchers to Washington, D.C. to share the latest findings and what they mean for decision-making. These seminars will be of interest to federal agency officials, congressional staff, non-governmental organizations, associations, and the public.

This seminar titled “Russia's Arctic Ambitions: Domestic Factors and Foreign Policy Strategies” will discuss the dominant role that domestic factors play in Russia's foreign policy stances for the Arctic.

Please follow the link above to learn more about Marlene Laruelle and to register.

Following on from the "15 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry" Symposium in 2006, and the "20 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry" Symposium in 2012, both deemed a very successful landmark by the participants and the readership of the Proceedings, we have now reached the 25-year anniversary of the first supply of ERS-1 and TOPEX/Poseidon data products to the Altimetric Community.

To mark this occasion the European Space Agency, in collaboration with the French Space Agency, CNES, is organising an exceptional Symposium on "25 years of Progress in Radar Altimetry". This event will be sponsored by other partner agencies and organisations supporting the development of altimetry. Along with this symposium, related events will take place in the same week which includes the annual meeting of the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OSTST) and the International DORIS Service (IDS) Workshop. These events will be held over 6 days, from 24 to 29 of September 2018, in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores Archipelago (Portugal).

You are kindly invited to submit your abstract(s) not later than 8 March, 2018.

Please follow the link above for more information.

This is a regular quarterly planning meeting of the SEARCH Science Steering Committee and the SEARCH Action Team leads. Participation is by invitation only.

The Workshop 'Remote Sensing for Studying the Ocean-Atmosphere Interface', co-sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS).

Workshop Objective:

Facilitate the exchange of ideas and information about developments in remote sensing that can provide new information about the ocean-atmosphere interface, and to help forge collaborations between workshop participants and with the wider community.

Please see the link above for more information.

Submit an abstract by January 25, 2018.

The International Glaciological Society will hold an International Symposium on ‘Cryosphere and Biosphere’ in 2018. The symposium will be held at the heart of Kyoto, former imperial capital of Japan.

THEME:

The cryosphere is now acknowledged as a unique biome that, in spite of the cold and harsh conditions, is inhabited by a diverse range of micro- and macroorganisms. Since the organisms play important roles in the cycling of carbon, nutrients and other elements within and around the cryosphere, these processes have received significant research attention from biogeochemists and microbiologists. However, the presence
and activity of microorganisms within the cryosphere also demands attention from glaciologists with interests in the physical and chemical properties of snow or ice. This is because melting and the crystallization of snow and ice are enhanced or even induced by the presence and activity of organisms. For example, supraglacial microbes can darken and increase melting on glaciers and ice sheets, while some species of bacteria can act as ice nucleators. Their influence upon the chemistry of ice and ice crystal interstices also has relevance to the interpretation of ice cores. However, biological processes on, within and under the ice are still insufficiently understood for us to incorporate their direct and indirect effects into current models of the Earth system. Furthermore, most organisms in the cryosphere are physiologically adapted to low temperatures and an improved understanding of these mechanisms has great potential for application to agriculture, food science, medical and material engineering. This symposium will therefore provide an opportunity for glaciologists and biologists to meet and discuss the various phenomena associated with life in the cold. The goals of this symposium are: (1) to provide a forum for presenting the current knowledge of life and ecosystems in the cryosphere; (2) to discuss the important gaps in our understanding of interactions between biological activity and
physical/chemical phenomena in the cryosphere, from molecular to system level; and (3) to encourage participants to form a new scientific community, discussing the state and direction of glacial biology or bio-glaciology.

SUGGESTED TOPICS:

We welcome all submissions for presentation under the broad topics of glaciology in the biosphere and/or biology in the cryosphere. The key focus areas are:

1. Microbes and biogeochemistry in glaciers and ice sheets
2. The role of sea ice, icebergs and glacier calving fronts in marine ecosystems
3. Permafrost and terrestrial biota
4. Interaction between snow cover and forest
5. Cryosphere ecosystems and climate change
6. Biological ice nucleation
7. Biomarkers and biogeochemistry in ice cores and frozen ground
8. Physiology of cold adaptation and applications of biogenic material to low temperature technology
9. Emerging areas of cryosphere/biosphere research

Online abstract submission for the International Symposium on 'Cryosphere and Biosphere' is now open.

Abstract submission deadline: midnight on 21 November 2017 GMT.

The Nederlands Aardwetenschappelijk Congres (NAC) bring together all fields of research within the Earth Sciences. The NAC conferences aim to provide a true interdisciplinary forum for discussion and for young researchers to present their results in a way that is accessible to a broad audience.

The meeting consists of plenary sessions, with invited presentations by (inter)national speakers, parallel sessions with oral presentations and poster sessions.

Please see the website above for more information.

The University of Oulu and the University of Helsinki are excited to invite you to the second UArctic Congress, September 3-7, 2018 in Oulu and Helsinki, Finland.

The UArctic Congress 2018 will bring together key UArctic meetings and a science conference into one single gathering, including business meetings of the Council of UArctic, Rectors’ Forum, Student Forum, Thematic Networks, and UArctic Institutes Leadership Team.

The Congress is an integral part of the Finland’s Arctic Council chairmanship program, and open to the public. The event will highlight the themes and priorities of the Finnish chairmanship, including the goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

With the aim to foster contacts and enhance networking, the biennial UArctic Congress brings together institutional leaders, indigenous representatives, academics, scientists and students from around the circumpolar north and beyond. Together with partners, policy makers, and other actors, the Congress strives to take the Arctic agenda forward by creating and strengthening collaborations that produce new findings and solutions for the future of the Arctic region.

The UArctic Congress 2018 will feature Science and Meeting sections, including:

• Sessions aligned with the four priorities of Finland’s chairmanship; i.e. Environmental protection, Connectivity, Environmental cooperation, and Education.
• Acclaimed keynote speakers and scientific experts presenting their views and latest research.
• Formal meetings for representatives of the Council of UArctic and UArctic Rectors’ Forum.
• Side-meetings and events.
• A UArctic Student Forum with workshops.
• An exciting cultural and social program.

The call for abstracts for the UArctic Congress is now open until March 16, 2018.

Building on the tradition of excellence of the GRC Conference Series, the 2019 GRC on Polar Marine Science “Shedding Light on the Physical, Biogeochemical and Human Dimensions of Connectivity in Changing Polar Seas” will bring together leading investigators to present and discuss cutting edge research on both polar oceans. The unique GRC format, with invited speakers and discussion leaders, provides an avenue for scientists from different fields to brainstorm and create synergy across disciplines. Conference themes are explored in greater detail during the highly dynamic poster sessions. One-minute oral summaries of posters allow presenters to efficiently address the entire group, paving the way for enhanced interactions during the sessions. A GRC "Power Hour" will be held to help address the challenges women face in science and support the professional growth of women in our communities by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring.

Spatial and temporal connections within polar oceans and between these oceans, adjacent seas, land and the atmosphere are at the heart of variability and change in the Arctic and Southern oceans. Exploring and understanding these connections can provide powerful insights into the past, present and future state of polar marine ecosystems, including the local and regional aspects of ocean circulation, sea ice dynamics, biogeochemical fluxes, biodiversity, harvestable living resources and human well-being. Because the Arctic and Southern oceans are nexuses that collect and redistribute organisms, chemical constituents, freshwater and heat, their transformations are also expected to affect lower-latitude “downstream” ocean areas at a variety of scales. The 13th GRC will emphasize the multiple facets of connectivity through the presentation of new observations and findings, conceptual frameworks and numerical simulations that explore functional relationships between different components of the polar marine system or the linkages between polar oceans and the broader environment.

A Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will occur the weekend prior to the 2019 Polar GRC to provide a forum for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to connect with their peers, present their work, and interact with mentors while exploring one of the GRC's themes. The major focus at the 2019 GRS will be on “Linking Marine Science Disciplines to Enhance Our Understanding of Polar Oceans”. Financial support will be offered in priority to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows attending both the GRC and the preceding GRS.

The geothermal heat flux to the base of the Antarctic ice sheet is inherently difficult to measure, yet accurate estimates are necessary to better understand cryosphere dynamics. This is crucial to improve models of ice discharge and sea level change, and optimise site selection for ice core paleoclimate studies.

This workshop will include presentations and discussion around a new generation of Antarctic heat flux measurements, derivations and models, combining efforts to characterise and couple both deep (mantle) and shallow (crustal) heat flux. We will also discuss possible future international heat flux measurement initiatives in Antarctica. We invite interested researchers from the solid Earth, cryosphere and ice sheet modelling communities to join us in Hobart in March 2018.

Abstracts and registrations are now open.

Abstract submission deadline extended to 7 December 2017.

Early bird registration $250 (includes conference dinner).

Cross-track Infrared Sounder/Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (CrIS/ATMS) soundings processed though the NOAA Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System (NUCAPS) (i.e. NUCAPS Soundings) are currently available in AWIPS-II as vertical temperature and moisture profiles for forecasters to diagnose unique forecasting challenges. To further realize the potential of NUCAPS Soundings in the operational environment, a team of scientists and forecasters developed the capability to view 2-D gridded plan view and cross section displays of NUCAPS Soundings (i.e. Gridded NUCAPS) in AWIPS-II. The capability was initially developed in conjunction with the Anchorage, Alaska, Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) to diagnose layers of cold air aloft which are hazardous to aviation activities. This presentation highlights the collaboration with the CWSU, outlines additional applications, and explains recent activities to decrease the latency of NUCAPS data and baseline the Gridded NUCAPS in AWIPS.

Available in-person at: Room 407 in the Akasofu Building on the UAF Campus in Fairbanks.

The University of Utah’s Asia Center is hosting an interdisciplinary conference on Siberia, Central Asia, and the Russian Far East and North Pacific, organized around the theme of “Asia in the Russian Imagination.” The conference will be held at the University of Utah’s campus. Over the past three years, the Asia Center’s “Siberian Initiative” has sponsored talks on anthropology, environmental studies, history, film studies, and linguistics, and we are continuing this interdisciplinary approach to Russia in Asia/Asia in Russia at our conference.

We welcome proposals exploring political, economic, and socio-cultural interactions from a variety of fields and perspectives. We foresee extended discussions on Russian-Asian connections and networks, as well as policies, processes, and populations in “Russian Asia,” within the imperial, Soviet, or post-Soviet eras. We hope that this conference honors the interdisciplinary tradition established by the British Universities Siberian Studies Seminar, last held in 2007. Following the conference, the organizers intend to publish a selection of the essays either as a special issue of a journal or as an edited volume.

Please submit proposals for individual papers no later than 15 October 2017 to the Events Coordinator of Utah’s International Studies program, Rocío Torres rocio.torresmora [at] utah.edu. Please include a subject line of “Asia-Russia 2018” to make sure you receive full consideration. Submissions should include a 250-word abstract as well as a brief (1-2 page) C.V. The organizers will make their decisions by early December.

Advisory committee:

Jane Frances Hacking, University of Utah
Eric R. Laursen, University of Utah
Robert Argenbright, University of Utah
Marisa Karyl Franz, University of Toronto
Jessica Graybill, Colgate University
Lenore Grenoble, University of Chicago
Jeffrey F. Hardy, Brigham Young University
Matthew P. Romaniello, University of Hawaii
John Ziker, Boise State University

The tools and techniques for making monthly and season scale climate forecasts are rapidly changing, with the potential to provide useful forecasts at the month and longer range. We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for April and the late spring/early summer season. Feel free to bring your lunch and join the gathering in person or online to learn more about Alaska climate and weather.

Available in-person at: Room 407 in the Akasofu Building on the UAF Campus in Fairbanks.

Organizers invite registration for the International Tundra Experiment's (ITEX) 19th Open Science Meeting. This meeting will convene 25-27 April 2018 in Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom.

The main scientific themes of the meeting will include:

• Rates of change and whole‐ecosystem processes,
• Plant functional traits/"functional diversity change",
• Tundra data synthesis (e.g. including up‐scaling),
• Microbial ecology (including plant‐soil interactions);
• ITEX protocol development, and
• Other (to reflect submitted abstracts).

Poster submissions are welcome until the registration deadline.

Registration is open until 23 March, but is limited to 80 participants (due to the size of venues available) and is on a first-come-first-served basis.

For more information, including the conference program and registration, please follow the link above.

For questions, contact:
Philip Wookey
Email: philip.wookey1 [at] stir.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466967

Robert D. Hollister
Email: hollistr [at] gvsu.edu
Phone: 616-331-8582

The cold regions of the Earth – Arctic, Antarctica and the high mountain ranges – are exposed to fundamental changes due to global warming and direct anthropogenic pressures. The Arctic sea ice as well as glaciers in Greenland and Alpine mountains are not only losing huge areas, but also habitats for many unique organisms depending on the cold habitats. The terrestrial permafrost is thawing leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions. However, these changes ranging from loss in cryospheric extent to coastal erosion or neobiota have many but yet unknown consequences for polar physico-chemical, biogeochemical and geological processes as well as for polar organisms and their ecosystems.

Contributions are welcome in the field of polar and high mountain research covering the following and related topics:

• Cryosphere – Glaciology, Sea Ice, Permafrost
• Geology and Geophysics
• Climate and Atmosphere
• Polar Oceans
• Biological Responses, Acclimation and Adaptation
• Biogeochemical Cycles and Food Webs
• Modern Methods in Polar Research
• Historical and Socio-Economic Aspects
• Report Colloquium of the DFG SPP 1158
• "Cool Classes“: Polar Topics at Schools

Deadline for registration and submission of abstracts: extended to 22 December 2017.

This NSF-sponsored workshop will assess economic, environmental, and social impacts of Arctic change on New England and establish convergence research initiatives to prepare for, adapt to, and capitalize on these effects. Shipping routes through an ice-free Northwest Passage in combination with modifications to ocean circulation and regional climate patterns linked to Arctic ice melt will affect trade, fisheries, tourism, coastal ecology, air and water quality, animal migration, and demographics not only in the Arctic but also in lower latitude coastal regions such as New England. With profound changes on the horizon, this is a critical opportunity for New England to prepare for uncertain yet inevitable economic and environmental impacts of Arctic change.

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

The International Glaciological Society will hold an International Symposium on ‘Timescales, Processes and Glacier Dynamics’. The symposium will take place at the Lafayette Hotel in downtown Buffalo, New York, USA on 3–8 June 2018.

Theme:

The physical processes controlling glacier dynamics form the basis of modern glaciology. In spite of the rapid growth in observational data, the ultimate scientific challenge continues to be relating observations to processes. Time-series observational data are essential to understanding processes; however, their analysis often reveals processes operating on timescales ranging from diurnal to millennial. Individual processes may underpin long-term glacier stability, promote instability or drive natural variability in the glacier state. For example, gravitationally driven flow is among the most fundamental processes in glaciology and is controlled by ice-surface slope and thickness. The evolution of the ice surface, in turn, reveals processes related to the mechanical controls on ice flow, firn compaction, development of supraglacial meltwater flow networks, basal melt, isostasy and surface mass balance. Each of these processes alters the surface elevation and is characterized by a different timescale. Assessment of the processes producing changes over a particular time interval poses a major challenge. Hence, even routinely acquired data are difficult to reason about. Interpretation of other data, such as surface velocity, climatological data, radar stratigraphy, glacier history, ice core records, paleoclimate proxies and in situ observations, are also confounded by relations between processes and timescales.

Topics:

We seek papers and presentations that advance the understanding of ice sheets and glaciers and glacier dynamics on different timescales. Key focus areas include (but are not limited to):

1. Processes that control glacier dynamics and ice flow
2. Processes that reflect natural variability versus trends critical to glacier and ice-sheet stability
3. Processes that link climate and ocean changes with ice sheet and glacier evolution
4. Time-series data analysis of glacier and ice-sheet data
5. Process models for ice–ocean–atmosphere interactions, glacier–bedrock interactions, meltwater impacts, etc.
6. Processes and timescales associated with ice-sheet and glaciological hazards
7. Paleoclimate indicators of key-processes and changes in glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets and linking paleoclimatology to contemporary glacier studies.

Abstracts:

Participants who wish to present a paper (oral or poster) at the Symposium will be required to submit an abstract by 26 March 2018.

For more information, please follow the link above.

Communities in Alaska’s Arctic and Subarctic regions are at risk from environmental threats including flooding, erosion, and thawing permafrost. However, the character and relative magnitude of those risks can vary from community to community, and it is not always clear which environmental threats pose the greatest amount of risk. This presentation describes an ongoing project being conducted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the USACE Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, and the US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District. The project is sponsored by the Denali Commission. The purpose of the project is to use existing data to better characterize the threats to Alaska’s communities associated with flooding, erosion, and permafrost thaw, and develop a system by which stakeholders can evaluate the combined threat. The presentation will focus primarily upon consideration of the threats imposed by permafrost thaw, as that is the main focus of the UAF/CRREL component of the project.

Available in-person at: Room 407 in the Akasofu Building on the UAF Campus in Fairbanks.

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) announces the next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Matthew Jull from the University of Virginia. The event will be held in the ARCUS D.C. office at 1201 New York Avenue, NW Washington D.C.

This seminar will also be available as a webinar live-stream for those unable to attend in person. Instructions for accessing the event online will be sent to webinar registrants prior to the event.

Registration is required for this event.

The ARCUS Arctic Research Seminar Series brings leading Arctic researchers to Washington, D.C. to share the latest findings and what they mean for decision-making. These seminars will be of interest to federal agency officials, congressional staff, non-governmental organizations, associations, and the public.

This seminar, titled Arctic Design Group - Mediating Environments, will present the works of the Arctic Design Group that foregrounds design in the act of framing and re-imagining the potential futures of the Arctic, while offering ways of re-engaging with environmental phenomena as malleable design media.

For more information and to register for the event, please follow the link above.

The Arctic Data Center invites applications for their 2018 Data Science Training for Arctic Research. This workshop will convene 13-17 August 2018 in Santa Barbara, California.

The Arctic Data Center provides training in data science and data management. These are critical skills for the stewardship of data, software, and many other research products that are preserved at the Arctic Data Center. A goal of this center is to advance data archiving and promote reproducible science and data reuse.

Overview:
This 5-day workshop will provide researchers with an overview of best data management practices, data science tools and concrete steps and methods for more easily documenting and uploading their data to the Arctic Data Center.

Workshop topics will include:

• Arctic Data Center and NSF Standards and Policies
• Data Management Plans
• Effective data management for data preservation
• Storing and Preparing Data in Open Source Formats
• Stability, longevity, interoperability
• Metadata
• Publishing data at the Arctic Data Center
• Web-based submission
• Automating submission for large data sets
• Data and Metadata Quality
• Provenance for data and software

Eligibility:
Space for this workshop is limited. Both early career and established researchers from the Arctic research community are encouraged to apply. Participants will be selected on the basis of their current research or work activities; their previous experience with open science practices, data management techniques and analysis methods; and their current or former opportunities to access training in these areas. We will prioritize applications from individuals currently funded through NSF Polar Programs. International applicants are eligible however travel reimbursement will be restricted to that indicated below.

Application deadline: 5:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, 30 March 2018.