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Dates: 14-15 September 2017
Venue: St. Anne's College - University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

This workshop will bring together senior and early career scientists to gain insight into the rapidly changing pan-Arctic land surface and boundary layer. The workshop will review current representation of Arctic ecosystem, carbon, water and energy balance
processes in the land model component of Earth System Models, including land-atmosphere interactions, and the next steps to address knowledge gaps. The workshop will also focus on developing a pan-Arctic land model assessment that includes a broader range of models, and engage the data community to provide new validation products for the Arctic and sub-Arctic.

Core focus:

• Representation of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems in models
• Role of observations: calibration, validation, assimilation
• Water, nitrogen, carbon, and energy dynamics
• Land-atmosphere interactions and feedbacks across spatial and temporal scales
• Pan-Arctic land model assessment
• Arctic boundary layer processes
• Extreme/disturbance events
• Knowledge gaps

Deadline for abstract submission and registration extended until 31 March 2017

The Science Symposium will address the three sub-themes: (a) Changes in the Arctic, (b) Global Implications of Arctic Changes and (c) Impacts of Global Change on the Arctic.

To facilitate the participation of early career scientists and indigenous peoples, the organizers recommend that each session proposal includes one early career scientist co-convener and/or one indigenous co-convener, if applicable. Session proposals should also consider the overall geographic and gender balance of the proposed co-conveners.

Conference dates & deadlines:
Business Sessions: March 31 to April 2 2017
Excursions, Day Off: April 3 2017
Scientific Sections: April 4 to April 7 2017
Abstract submission deadline 10 January 2017
Early bird registration closes 17 December
Abstract acceptance notification 3 February 2017

Any questions should be directed to info [at] assw2017.eu

The SIMIP Workshop occurs after the Polar Prediction Workshop (29th noon - 30th noon) and is devoted to discussions about the sea ice simulations from the upcoming CMIP6 experiments (SIMIP), with three distinct aims:

• To discuss and define best practices for the evaluation of sea-ice simulations against observations
• To identify and define new remote sensing and in situ sea ice observations that will allow for improved model evaluation and initialization
• To discuss and coordinate the analysis of CMIP6 sea ice simulations for improved understanding of sea ice processes and improved sea ice projections.

The SIMIP workshop will primarily be a discussion meeting with a few invited presentations to set the scene. The SIMIP workshop is organized by the WCRP-CliC Sea ice and Climate Modeling Forum.

To register and/or submit an abstract please follow the link above and scroll down to the SIMIP Meeting section.

The British Antarctic Survey, working with the University of Leeds and Royal Holloway, University of London, will be hosting a workshop on the future of polar governance. The timing of the conference is not coincidental – sixty years ago, the International Geophysical Year (1957-58) initiated the promise of global scientific and political co-operation in the polar regions and their connection to planet Earth. The International Polar Year (2007-8) followed up on that promissory note. The promise of mineral resources in the Arctic also unleashed global speculation about a so-called ‘Scramble for the Arctic’ with fears that conflict, not co-operation, would prevail.

In our workshop, we wish to consider what and where might the future of polar governance lie? International organizations and forums such as the Arctic Council and Antarctic Treaty System are highly significant actors but they do not enjoy a monopoly on polar governance. Newer actors such as China, the European Parliament, the Arctic Circle, commercial operators and high value celebrities and philanthropists are also part of the equation along with indigenous, first nations and aboriginal peoples living in the Arctic for millennia. Historically, colonial and Cold War-era encounters and interventions have had a decisive impact on contemporary polar governance.

Science, resources, and geopolitics often worked together and sometimes against one another: as scientific networks and knowledge exchange came into contact with the national security and economic priorities of governments and the interests and wishes of communities. More recently, fears have been expressed about the role that ‘great powers’ such as Russia and China might play in both the Arctic and Antarctic, and the implications therein for consensus-based governance, resource management and international co-operation. It is also timely to explore the role of private actors in polar environmental governance given a rapidly changing climate, the vulnerability of polar ecosystems, the decline in Arctic summer sea ice, and increased economic activity in polar regions in areas such as tourism and resource development including biological prospecting. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic continue, meanwhile, to press for their cultural, legal and resource rights to be acknowledged and respected by all parties.

This is an interdisciplinary workshop. Proposals for contributions are welcomed from across the disciplines, and we particularly welcome contributions from PhD and early career scholars. The idea of the workshop is to encourage shorter presentations (in the format of 3 slides and 15 minute talks) in order to leave plenty of scope for discussion and interaction with participants. A web-based report will be produced following the workshop.

Possible topics could include:

• Polar governance and region-building
• Scales and site of polar governance: from the everyday to the global
• Climate change governance
• The science-policy interface
• Decolonizing polar governance and the role of indigenous/subaltern politics
• Nationalism and the role of polar environmental and physical sciences
• Environmental and resource governance regimes
• Private environmental governance
• Role of law in polar governance
• Asia and the Arctic/Antarctic
• Legacies of colonialism and/or Cold War
• Aesthetic and cultural engagements
• Celebrities and polar demands’
• The Polar Regions as global commons

Proposals of no more than 250 words should be sent to the William Davies (geo3wd [at] leeds.ac.uk) by the deadline of 31st January 2017. All submissions should include the name of the presenter, their institution, email address, a short biographical profile of the speaker, plus the title and 250-word summary of the proposed presentation. We are able to offer some travel bursary support to UK-based speakers attending the workshop.

There is also space for those who would like to attend the workshop without contributing a presentation. Please register your attendance with Eventbrite through the link above.

Deadline for registrations: Monday 6th March 2017.

Jointly organized by the Polar Climate Predictability Initiative (WCRP-PCPI; http://www.climate-cryosphere.org/wcrp/pcpi), the Polar Prediction Project (WWRP-PPP; http://www.polarprediction.net), and the Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN; https://www.arcus.org/sipn), the workshop will be hosted by the International Coordination Office for Polar Prediction at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany.

The workshop will build on a series of international workshops held in Boulder, USA (2014), Reading, UK (2015) and Palisades, USA (2016). As in previous years, the focus will be on environmental prediction in the polar regions on a wide range of timescales, thereby helping to build a "seamless" polar prediction community. Sea ice will again play a central role, with one desired outcome being the compilation of recommendations for the 2017 Sea Ice Outlook season. However, the workshop also aims to stimulate discussion on other interesting predict ands of the polar weather and climate system.

The focus of this workshop will be environmental prediction in the polar regions on subseasonal to interannual timescales. Sea ice prediction will also be a main focus, with a desired outcome being the compilation of recommendations for the 2017 Sea Ice Outlook season. In planning for the Year of Polar Prediction, officially launching in May 2017, this workshop aims to stimulate discussion about other relevant predictions of the polar weather and climate system.

A call for abstracts will be open 4-30 January 2017.

Abstract submission deadline: 30 January 2017.

Workshop Organizers:
Cecilia Bitz, Helge Gosling, Kirstin Werner,
Ed Blanchard-Wrigglesworth, Ed Hawkins, and John Fyfe

Members of the SEARCH Permafrost Carbon Network (Christina Schädel, Trevor Keenan, and Abhishek Chatterjee) will be hosting a session at the 2017 North American Carbon Program Meeting.

Session Description: Critical regions of North America are areas with high carbon storage or carbon uptake that are highly vulnerable to climate change and human disturbance and hence play key roles in the North American and global carbon cycle. High latitudes store immense amounts of carbon in permanently frozen ground (permafrost). With a warming climate, permafrost degradation and subsequent microbial decomposition are likely to increase, thereby releasing large amounts of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere. Tropical forests represent the largest sink for anthropogenic emissions on land, but large uncertainties exist in regard to the impacts of drought and climate change. Although coastal wetlands occupy a small percentage of the North American land area, they sequester large amounts of carbon that is threatened by sea level rise and human development. Understanding the fates of carbon sources and sinks within these highly dynamic regions of North America is important to establish the North American carbon budget and to inform global carbon-cycle models.

This session invites submissions that contribute to the understanding of losses and gains of carbon in high latitudes, tropical ecosystems, and other critical regions of North America. Studies may range from the micro to the global scale, using a variety of measurements including laboratory analyses, field and satellite observations, ecosystem manipulation experiments and process-based modeling. Contributions identifying gaps and applying new methods or combining different approaches (experiments, observations, modeling) for monitoring and quantifying carbon dynamics in these ecosystems are particularly welcome.

The workshop will take place 28 May – 1 June, 2017 in Yakutsk (Siberia), Russian Federation.

Changing climate conditions are driving the recent intensification of the high–latitude water cycle. Permafrost degradation leads to a transformation of landscape structure causing thermokarst development, enhancing the connectivity between surface and ground water, changing the regime of wetlands, lakes and aquifers, shifting streamflow seasonality and amplitude. New understanding of those processes is required for timely development of adaptation strategies and preventing threats to cold regions worldwide, including economically critical infrastructure.

The Workshop will address the following research topics:

• Observational evidence of change in coupled snow-frozen ground-hydrology-ecology system
• Present state and future projections of local, regional and pan-Arctic and Antarctic hydrology
• Modelling studies representing landscape evolution, dynamics of water storage and permafrost degradation
• Impacts of cold-region hydrology changes on ecology and local communities

Objectives:

• Build research capacity of early career scientists
• Create and develop research linkages between UK and Russian Federation

Fully funded places for early career researchers based in UK and Russia (travel, accommodation and meals) are available on competitive basis.

Applications open now to early career researchers. Deadline is 26 March 2017.

The 2017 GRC on Polar Marine Science "Understanding Polar Ecosystem Change Through Time Series Observations, Technological Advances, and Biophysical Coupled Modeling" will bring together leading investigators in Antarctic and Arctic marine research. Using a tradition of excellence facilitated by the Gordon Research Conferences (GRC), participants will present and discuss cutting edge interdisciplinary polar science observations, technological advancements and biophysical modeling activities associated with polar time series studies. The unique GRC format incorporates invited science talks by experts working at both poles, which are moderated by discussion leaders, and are followed by in-depth open discussion periods. We will have a highlight session daily for the afternoon poster session. The format of the GRC inspires scientists from different disciplines to synthesize new ideas and to brainstorm about the ongoing status and change in the polar oceans.

In both the Antarctic and Arctic, ecosystem variables such as sea ice dynamics, atmospheric and ocean exchange, biogeochemical cycles, food web dynamics, and sediment proxies have in the past and are currently responding to climate and environmental change. How the ecosystem is responding to ongoing stressors in the marine environment and devising appropriate modeling approaches to predict future change are important foci for polar science. The 11th GRC on Polar Marine Science will primarily discuss new findings and uncertainties in observing marine time series data, the use of developing technology for collecting those observations, and successes and challenges emerging from time series observations and biophysical modeling that can be used to accurately forecast future ecosystem response.

A Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will occur the weekend prior to the 2017 Polar GRC to provide a forum for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to present their work and interface with their peers and experts in variable disciplines. The major focus at the 2017 GRS will be on innovative marine technology including autonomous and remotely operated instruments, camera systems, advanced laboratory techniques, and numerical modeling. The early career scientists will present data and discuss how these technological advances improve the physical-biological understanding of polar marine ecosystems. Financial support will be offered in priority to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows attending both the GRC and the preceding GRS.

Interested persons must apply to participate in the seminar and conference. Those wanting to attend both, the seminar and conference, must apply to each separately. Early application is recommended, as the events will likely reach capacity. Refer to the application instructions on the website for more details.

Seminar abstract submission deadline: 25 December 2016
Seminar application deadline: 25 February 2017
Conference application deadline: 26 February 2017

The Gordon Research Seminar on Polar Marine Science is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present. It stimulates the exchange of new data and cutting edge ideas among young fellows.

In 2017, the major focus will be on innovative marine technology including autonomous and remotely operated instruments, camera systems, advanced laboratory techniques, and numerical modeling. The early career scientists will present data and discuss how these technological advances improve the physical-biological understanding of polar marine ecosystems.

The meeting will feature approximately 10 talks and 2 poster sessions. All attendees are expected to actively participate in the GRS either by giving an oral presentation or presenting a poster. Therefore, all applications must include an abstract.

The Chairs will select speakers from abstracts submitted by December 25, 2016. Those applicants who are not chosen for talks and those who apply after the deadline to be considered for an oral presentation will be expected to present a poster. In order to participate, you must submit an application by the date indicated in the Application Deadline.

Abstract submission deadline: 25 December 2016.

This GRS will be held in conjunction with the "Polar Marine Science" Gordon Research Conference (GRC). Those interested in attending both meetings must submit an application for the GRC in addition to an application for the GRS. Refer to the associated GRC program page for more information:

http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=12642

The Collaborative Innovation Centre for Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights (CICTSMR), the Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL), Wuhan University, China and the School of Law, University of New England, Australia are pleased to announce the call for papers for the “Conservation of Marine Living Resources in the Polar Regions: Science, Politics and Law” Conference.

Abstracts of no more than 400 words should be emailed to Dr Nengye Liu (nengye.liu [at] une.edu.au) by 15 September 2016. All abstracts will be peer-reviewed by an international panel of reviewers. Selected speakers will be notified by 15 November 2016. It is anticipated that an edited book of papers or a special issue of journal articles from the Conference would be published in 2018.

For more information, see the flyer at the link above.