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Due to the current COVID-19 virus situation and the strong uncertainty of its worldwide development the local organizing committee has decided to postpone the 3rd IPICS Open Science Conference "Ice Core Science at the three Poles" scheduled for 18-23 October 2020 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland until October next year.

We also discussed other options including a remote solution. However, we think that apart from valuable scientific discussions a virtual conference cannot replace the in-person contacts and the get-together of the ice core community during coffee and lunch breaks, the conference dinner, and the excursions that have been essential for the success of the first two IPICS conferences.

We will provide information about the new dates in the nearest future. Please look for the new announcements around December, 2020. The local organizing committee has put together a great program, and we will be delighted to host the 3rd IPICS conference in October 2021!

Ice cores provide information about past climate and environmental conditions as well as direct records of the composition of the atmosphere on timescales from decades to hundreds of millennia. With the pioneering work of Hans Oeschger of University of Bern on carbon dioxide in polar ice cores, a long tradition of ice core research in Switzerland began. Less known is that Hans Oeschger also initiated a high-alpine drilling project on Colle Gnifetti in Switzerland in the 1970s. To acknowledge Hans Oeschger’s important contribution to these two ice core fields and to foster the link between the corresponding communities the theme of the conference is Ice Core Science at the three Poles.

Scientific Topics:

• Glacial / interglacial dynamics, interglacials, and sea level
• Holocene and last 2000 year climate forcings and variability
• Progress in proxy development and interpretation
• Ice dynamics, ice sheet instability and geophysics
• High-alpine ice cores
• Ice biology, basal ice, subglacial lakes
• Pollution records
• Advances in drilling engineering and borehole observations
• Time scales and methods for ice dating
• Rapid changes and teleconnections
• Biogeochemical Cycles in the Earth system – data and models
• New ice archives
• The Oldest Ice challenge, and the preservation of climatic signals in the deepest ice
• Open session

Important Dates:

Deadline for abstract submission: April 30, 2020
Early bird registration closes: July 1, 2020
Online registration closes: September 1, 2020

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 November and the early winter season. Join the gathering online to learn more about Alaska climate and weather.

Please follow the link above to register.

The EU-H2020 funded INTERACT (International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic) opens a call for research groups to apply for Trans-National Access and Remote Access to 52 (TA) and 33 (RA) research stations. The sites are located across the Arctic and northern alpine and forest areas in Europe, Russia and North-America and they represent a variety of glacier, mountain, tundra, boreal forest, peatland and freshwater ecosystems, providing opportunities for researchers from natural sciences to human dimension. Trans-national Access includes free access (either physical or remote) for user groups/users to research facilities and field sites, including support for travel and logistic costs. Overall, INTERACT provides three different modalities of access: Transnational and Remote Access that are applied through annual calls, and Virtual Access which means free access to data from stations, available at all times through the INTERACT VA single-entry point.

The current call for Trans-national and Remote Access applications is open until 15th October 2020, and it is for access taking place between April 2021 and March 2022.

Regarding COVID-19 and the ongoing call: we proceed with the call in a regular manner, but reserve the possibility to modify the call, postpone the granted accesses or negotiate shift from physical access to remote access if the situation and safety regulations so require. You can find the TA/RA Call information, descriptions of stations and their facilities, and registration to the INTERACCESS on-line application system from the INTERACT website.

An online webinar will be held on Tuesday 15th September at 10:00-11:00 (CEST, +1UTC) to provide information about the ongoing TA/RA call and for answering questions related to the application process and TA and RA in general.

Update: the convention will now be held virtually.

The annual convention serves as the principal forum and voice for the Alaska Native community in addressing critical issues of public policy and government. The convention convenes thousands of official delegates and participants from membership organizations across the state.

At the Convention, delegates discuss strategic opportunities and challenges, listen to memorable keynote speeches, hear reports from political leaders and presentations from expert panels, and share stories resilience, experiences, strengths, knowledge and hope for the future.

The resolutions passed by the voting delegates set the priorities for the year and guide AFN’s efforts. The Convention is the largest representative annual gathering in the United States of Native peoples.

In addition to the plenary sessions, the Convention features a trade show of 100 exhibitors and 170 artists in the renowned Customary Native Arts Show. Evening cultural performances, known as Quyana Alaska, present our traditional dances and sell out 2,500 tickets per night. In partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Southcentral Foundation, AFN hosts a health fair and a walk-in legal clinic with Alaska Legal Services Corporation. The closing banquet provides an opportunity for leaders and partners to gather for a social evening of entertainment and celebration.

The Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the Polar Research Center in cooperation with The Committee on Polar Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Polar Consortium jointly organise the 38th International Polar Symposium "Environmental changes in polar regions: New problems - new solutions" to be held on 13-15 May 2021.

The Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the Polar Research Center in cooperation with The Committee on Polar Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Polar Consortium jointly organise the 38th International Polar Symposium.

The IPS is a recurrent bi-annual scientific conference on widely understood polar topics. The conference has been very popular within the research communities in Poland and abroad for years. Now it gives again a great opportunity to exchange experiences, to discuss and to integrate experts from various fields who conduct their research in the Arctic, the Antarctic and elsewhere in the world.

The IPS in 2020 is exceptional, since accompanied with a plenary meeting under an umbrella of the European Polar Board. We expect researcher from numerous countries, who will be participating in special topic sessions.

Last but not least, the 45th anniversary of the NCU Polar Station on Spitsbergen will be celebrated during the IPS.

Alaska's Arctic communities are innovating toward new and renewable energy opportunities. This panel will provide an overview of the trends that are driving clean energy and electrification projects in the Arctic as well as showcase several projects that demonstrate how communities and energy providers are using the Arctic environment and new technologies to expand electrification, decarbonization, and a brighter energy future.

Speakers:

• Rob Roys, Deployment Driector - Launch Alaska
• Ingemar Mathiasson, Energy Manager - Northwest Arctic Borough
• Matt Bergan, Wind Farm Project Engineer - Kotzebue Electric Association

The program is free of charge but please register to receive login details.

The second Arctic Resilience Forum will be held online as a series of ten weekly webinars launching on October 7, 2020. Each session touches on a specific aspect of Arctic resilience, ranging from food security and Indigenous youth leadership, to gender, energy and connectivity. The forum seeks to actively engage participants in conversations about how to build resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems. It offers the opportunity to discuss concrete best practices and experiences from the Council and the broader community of circumpolar experts and knowledge holders. The Arctic Resilience Forum aims to continue to strengthen cooperation on resilience work.

The Arctic Resilience Forum will be convened every Wednesday from 11:30am – 1:00pm (EST) over a series of ten weeks, beginning October 7, 2020. The online series seeks to engage a broad audience in conversations about how to build the resilience of Arctic communities and ecosystems across a variety of focus areas, including:

• October 7: Indigenous Youth Leadership
• October 14: Food Security
• October 21: Renewable Energy
• October 28: Human Health and Pandemics
• November 11: Broadband Connectivity
• November 18: Gender
• November 25: Socio-Ecological Resilience
• December 9: Infrastructure
• December 16: Respecting Traditional Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Follow the link above to learn more, register, and to get updates for the whole Arctic Resilience Forum series. Individual session pages will open up with registration for specific events approximately one week in advance. Russian language translation will be available for all session.

Unlike the passive microwave satellite record of Arctic sea ice extent, long-term observations of sea ice thickness remain quite limited. In this webinar, I’ll discuss the different methods (satellite instruments and model simulations) of observing sea ice thickness in order to understand changes in the recent Arctic amplification era. I’ll also highlight the large-scale environmental and societal consequences of a thinning Arctic sea ice cover.

Please follow the link above to register.

International Glaciological Society Global Seminar #24:

Speaking: Ellyn Enderlin, Boise State University: "Exploring Controls on Glacier Dynamics: What Remotely-Sensed Iceberg Calving, Submarine Melting, and Frontal Ablation Datasets Tell Us About Ocean Forcing".

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 Alaska Sea Ice Program (ASIP) is a unique program within the National Weather Service. The program has seen many changes over the years, including evolving from hand drawn sea ice analyses using a light box to GIS-based digital analyses. We will take a look at where we started, where we are now and what we do, and where we hope to be in the future. We will also look at some times when sea ice in Alaska waters has caused problems for both Alaska residents and others operating within Alaskan waters.

Please follow the link above to register.