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Arctic Frontiers 2021 goes digital!

The COVID-19 crisis continues to change the world, including the Arctic. What the effects will be remains unclear. In these uncertain times, one thing we know for sure is that Arctic Frontiers 2021 will be different. While we believe now more than ever in the importance of bringing people together, we have decided to move the content of Arctic Frontiers 2021 online to ensure that no one will lose out on the Arctic Frontiers experience. So the Arctic family will meet from February 1-4 2021 in a slightly different way than what we are used to.

Registration is now open and we are looking forward to welcoming active participation from around the globe.

Arctic Frontiers Science conference is traditionally international and multidisciplinary, bringing together social sciences, humanities, physical and life sciences. The Arctic Frontiers Science is focusing on both fundamental and solution-oriented research with strong impact, which addresses growing societal challenges and needs in the Arctic region. Arctic Frontiers Science is developed with the guidance of the Strategic Science Committee of Arctic Frontiers.

This year under the banner of Building Bridges we have created four thematic days that bridge both plenary and science topics:

• Monday 1 Feb: Wellbeing and Societal Health
• Tuesday 2 Feb: Building the Future
• Wednesday 3 Feb: Ocean meets Coast
• Thursday 4 Feb: Business Solutions

From our Arctic Frontiers live studio at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, we will host our plenary discussions through a combination of live panel discussions and pre-recorded content relevant to the daily themes. We start each day at 12:00 CET and finish at 18:00 CET. With Tromsø as our backdrop we will invite a small number of guests to participate live in-studio and welcome other speakers from around the world. But key to making this year a success is you, our friends and participants, who we trust will engage with us on social media and via questions during our sessions.

Important dates:

• 25 September 2020: Abstract acceptance notification
• 5 October 2020: Tentative program is available online
• 6 October 2020: Abstract submission deadline

Due to the continued uncertainties created by the pandemic, we have made the decision, like many other events in 2021, to move the IBFRA 2021 Conference to an entirely online format. The dates for the conference remain unchanged, August 16-20, 2021.

This year's conference is all virtual, so you can share your research with an international community of scientists, policy makers, managers and other stakeholders of the boreal biome, directly from anywhere. You can apply for an oral or a poster presentation to one of this year's twelve sessions.

Abstracts are due before February 1st, 2021. Earlier submissions are encouraged.

Abstracts should contribute to the conference theme: "a changing boreal biome: assessing the vulnerability and resilience of boreal ecosystems to climate change and their socio-economic implications". A list of sessions have been developed by the Conference Committee members and external contributors. Sessions are covering topics such as the effect of climate and disturbances on ecosystem vulnerability to change, and the consequences of these changes on ecosystem services, from carbon sequestration, to wood production and management, to permafrost and hydrology and to people subsistence and economy. Depending on the abstracts we receive, adjustments may be made to the current list of sessions.

The long awaited multidisciplinary SIOS workshop on snow research in Svalbard will be held online 1-3 & 5 February. Registration is free and now open! Join us for 4 exciting mornings with focus on snow observations and research, technology development and many other topics.

Snow covers all of Svalbard for up to nine months and affects all spheres of the Earth System. However, we still lack a holistic picture of snow processes and need to develop tools to monitor these processes, and assess risks associated with snow.

This workshop aims to bring together people from different disciplines and backgrounds during 4 half-day sessions in order to develop specific targeted initiatives related to snow science in Svalbard. The focus will be on activities that provide answers to snow related science questions, with focus on activities that:

• help integrate cross-disciplinary studies
• help to develop technologies that can be used to address the above
• develop data management and metadata creation processes that ensure proper archiving, dissemination, and communication

The workshop will comprise two sections, (1) drafting of a research agenda for snow research in Svalbard, and (2) discussions on technology development in the area of snow physics, and will include panel discussions, selected short scientific talks, discussions in break-out groups, and writing sessions on the research agenda draft. Extra time will be allocated for discussions on other relevant topics (community-based observations, data management solutions, etc.).

Who is invited?

• Scientists from all disciplines affected by snow and local stakeholders in Svalbard.
• Engineers and enterprises interested in the development of scientific sensors and technology suitable for measuring physical snow properties under Arctic conditions.

The Joint Science Education Project (JSEP) is an international collaboration between Greenland, the United States, and Denmark to educate and train the next generation of polar and STEM professionals.

JSEP is currently seeking applications from U.S. high school students currently in 11th grade for the Joint Science Education Project. Selected students will join students from Greenland and Denmark for a 3-week field experience in Kangerlussuaq and Summit Station, Greenland. Students conduct independent research while learning about cutting-edge polar science and practicing communication skills in a multicultural classroom.

Application Deadline Date: Sunday, January 31, 2021.

Additional Details:

• Competitive applicants must possess a strong interest in the natural sciences, a passion for learning, a sense of adventure, and an openness to other cultures.
• Travel, accommodations, and meals are provided at no cost to participants.
• Tentative dates are late June and the first half of July 2021. The program will run in the remote format if COVID-19 travel restrictions remain in place.
• All students must have or be able to obtain a U.S. passport before the expedition. Your passport will need to be valid for at least 6 months after the date of the expedition.

At the moment POAC 2021 is planned as online conference. In case the situation will be developed in a positive way, we will change the format into on-site / hybrid format. The Organizing Committee has been closely and continuously monitoring the COVID19 situation as it has developed both globally and in Russia. We will inform You on the further decision on the meeting format (on site / virtual / hybrid) in early 2021.

Moscow State Lomonosov University welcomes you to Russia for the 26th edition of the International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions that will take place 14-18 June, 2021. Around 200 participants from over 30 countries are expected to participate in four days of exciting presentations and discussion of research ideas. In addition to the main sessions, our guests will be treated to a welcome party, technical tours and a gala banquet, in and around the beautiful city of Moscow.

Scientific Topics:

1. Arctic offshore strategy and technologies
2. Arctic materials
3. The Arctic sea routes
4. Shipping in ice conditions
5. Applied oceanography of marine ice regions
6. Ice physics and mechanics
7. Permafrost dynamics and its impact on coastal facilities
8. Environmental issues of the Arctic exploration

Extended abstracts deadline: January 31, 2021.

For public safety and health reasons, the 88th Annual Meeting of the Western Snow Conference will be held in a virtual format. The virtual format this year provides a unique opportunity to increase participation, particularly among those who would otherwise be unable to attend due to financial, geographic, or time constraints. You are invited to submit an abstract of 150 – 300 words for either oral or poster presentation by January 31, 2021. Those who submitted successful abstracts last year will be given preference as we prepare the 2021 conference agenda.

The theme for the 2021 Western Snow Conference is "Bridging the Gap between Research and Operations", however, all snow-related research in the context of measurements, modeling, and water supply are welcome. Keeping in line with the conference theme, papers involving connections between research and operations will be given priority. Papers accepted for presentation at the canceled 2020 Western Snow Conference will also be given priority. In addition to poster and paper presentations, a Monday short course is being planned entitled "A Round Table to Bridge the Research-Operations Divide", led by Dr. Sean Fleming (USDA-NRCS NWCC).

Please share this Call for Papers and Conference Announcement with colleagues, students and friends who may be interested. The virtual format this year provides a unique opportunity to increase participation, particularly among those who would otherwise be unable to attend due to financial, geographic, or time constraints.

Learn about the current status and future of cultural heritage protection in the Arctic region by participating in this virtual event.

Rapid changes in the Arctic pose many challenges and opportunities to cultural heritage protection in the region. Climate change and increased human activity in the Arctic threatens past, existing and future efforts to preserve cultural heritage. At the same time, increased attention to the Arctic, as well as technological advances, create opportunities for greater access to cultural heritage to a wider public and more sophisticated methods of protection. How can existing institutions promote international co-operation minimize threats and increase co-operation? Please join The Arctic Institute in conversation with experienced practitioners to discuss the current status and future of cultural heritage protection in the Arctic region.

Our speakers include:

• Dr. Susan Barr is an independent researcher in polar history and cultural heritage. She is the Founding President of the International Polar Heritage Committee. She was appointed the first full-time cultural heritage officer for the Norwegian Arctic (Svalbard and Jan Mayen).
• Dr. Frigga Kruse of Kiel University, Germany, is the current Chair of the Polar Archaeology Network. She has a background in geology and archaeology, and she applies her broad knowledge base in the building industry, academia, tourism, and voluntary youth work.
• Dr. Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi works in International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry (ICR) in Norway, Kautokeino as a project leader. He was president of Saami Parliament of Finland in 2008-2016. His educational background is cultural anthropology, Saami culture and language.
• Robbert Casier is Associate Programme Specialist at UNESCO’s World Heritage Marine Programme (Natural Heritage Unit), based in Paris. He works on the state of conservation dossiers, the UN Decade of Ocean Science, and capacity building initiatives in marine World Heritage sites.
• Dr. Christian Koch Madsen is Deputy Director of Greenland National Museum & Archives. He is an Arctic and landscape archaeologist whose research focuses on settlement, land- and sea use patterns, and long-term human ecodynamics in Greenland’s later prehistory (Norse and Inuit).

The planning of the 2021 field season is well underway, and several important Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) cruises will take place.

On this occasion we would like to invite you to join the SAS January Webinar, where we will be learning about some of these cruises, and the finer details that goes into biological sampling programs. We will also learn the latest about drivers of Arctic ocean acidification.

There will be time for questions and discussions after each presentation.

The Webinar will take place in GoToMeeting. Please submit your e-mail in the form to get the meeting ID and password (the contact will only be used for this webinar, and the list will be deleted after two months).

Presenters:

Pauline Snoeijs Leijonmalm (Stockholm University)
Organizing a biological core parameter program for the SAS-Oden 2021 expedition

Heidemarie Kassens (GEOMAR)
Arctic Century – International expedition onboard research icebreaker Akademik Tryoshnikov

Karl Adam Ulfsbo (University of Gothenburg)
Drivers of ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean

International Glaciological Society Global Seminar:

Speaking: Regine Hock, University of Oslo, "Assessing and Projecting Global Glacier Mass Changes".

Please register in advance for the seminars. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the seminar.

The seminar will also be available afterwards on the Friends of the International Glaciological Society Facebook page so that you can watch it there if technology fails or you can't make it.

The next SO-CHIC webinar will be 'Ocean Variabilities in the Southern Weddell Sea', with Shenjie Zhou (British Antarctic Survey, UK), Svein Østerhus (NORCE, Norway), Andrew Meijers (British Antarctic Survey, UK) and Casimir de Lavergne (Sorbonne Université, France). The webinar will discuss long-term observations from moored instruments and from ship-based hydrographic observations.

The SO-CHIC webinar series is hosted by the EPB. Recording of previous webinars in the series can be viewed here. For more information on the SO-CHIC project please visit http://www.sochic-h2020.eu