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The University of the Arctic, Thematic Network on Permafrost offers an international bachelor permafrost summer field school in Svalbard 12 June to 3 July 2015 to be taught be a group of international permafrost researchers. We welcome senior bachelor students, who are interested in obtaining an overall knowledge about permafrost. The course will offer insights into:

• Permafrost basics and its distribution globally
• Permafrost temperatures in various parts of the World – climatic and other controls
• Methods of permafrost observations, focusing on drilling, coring and instrumentation
• Permafrost databases and their use in permafrost analyses
• How does permafrost affect local community infrastructure and cultural life?
• Interaction between carbon and water in permafrost landscapes
• How sensitive are permafrost landforms towards climate change?

You can take this course either as a 5 ECTS point course, finishing with an oral presentation in the summer school. Or you can do an individual science project based on the course knowledge, to be submitted by the end of the autumn/fall semester following the summer field school and then graded, and you will obtain 10 ECTS. Students doing 10 ECTS will be given preference to the course.

Application deadline: 15 February 2015, using the UNIS online application system (http://www.unis.no/10_STUDIES/1020_Courses/Arctic_Geology/ag_218.htm). There is no tuition fee for this course. Accommodation for students during the course in student housing in Longyearbyen, and it will cost 3900-4600 NOK, corresponding to app. 490-575 Euro, depending on the type of room chosen.

Related Link:

Contact for further questions:
Hanne H. Christiansen (hanne.christiansen [at] unis.no) and
Kenji Yoshikawa (kyoshikawa [at] alaska.edu)

On April 24, 2015 the United States began its chairmanship of the Arctic Council for a period of two years. The US agenda has three focus areas: economic and living conditions for Arctic communities; Arctic Ocean safety, security and stewardship; and addressing the impacts of climate change. To discuss these issues and other Arctic geopolitics themes with scholars, students and various stakeholders from the general public, US Special Representative for the Arctic, Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., USCG (Ret.). will be a keynote speaker. This event is hosted by CIRRICQ.

The 52nd Annual Conference of the Animal Behavior Society will be held in Anchorage, Alaska from Wednesday, June 10th through Sunday, June 14th, 2015.

The Animal Behavior Society was founded in 1964 to promote the study of animal behavior in the broadest sense, including studies using descriptive and experimental methods under natural and controlled conditions. Current members' research activities span the invertebrates and vertebrates, both in the field and in the laboratory, and include experimental psychology, behavioral ecology, neuroscience, zoology, biology, applied ethology, and human ethology as well as many other specialized areas.

Online Abstract Submission and Registration is open. For more information and to register, please use the link above.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) announces a 21-day summer course entitled "Arctic Alaska Environmental Change." Open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in Arctic environmental change, the course will be held 10-30 June 2015.

The class includes three days of classroom instruction and local field trips in the Fairbanks area, a 15-day field excursion to Alaska's North Slope, and 3 days for student presentations and local field trips at the end. 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.

Twelve days will be spent camping at different locations along the route. We will also stay at Toolik Field Station, a world-renowned Arctic research station. Guest instructors will discuss Arctic ecology, permafrost, life in Arctic communities, and environmental issues related to oilfield development and other aspects of Arctic social-ecological systems.

The cost of meals, lodging, and travel between the field sites is included in the course fee. Students will need to bring all-weather clothing including winter jackets and rubber boots, and a warm sleeping bag. Expedition tents will be provided. To register, please pay close attention to the specific registration instructions at: http://www.uaf.edu/summer/arcticveg.

The course is limited to 15 undergraduate and/or graduate students. International students must apply by 15 March 2015 and meet University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Sessions' guidelines for attending school in the United States. A scholarship is available for an Alaska Native student with an interest in biology.

Registration begins: 23 February 2015.

The InternationaI Congress on Circumpolar Health (ICCH) series are arranged every three years in Arctic countries or countries related to Arctic issues. First congress of the series was arranged in 1967, and it was previously hosted by Oulu in 1971.

The congress will focus on human health and well-being in the Arctic and northern areas. It is open for everyone interested in Arctic issues, especially scientists, researchers, health care professionals, policy analysts, government agency representatives and community leaders.

The congress is organised by the Thule Institute, University of Oulu in collaboration with the International Union of Circumpolar Health (IUCH), the Nordic Society for Circumpolar Health, the Society of Arctic Health and Biology, and the Rokua Health & Spa.

The courses are designed to provide students with the tools to effectively work with northern communities within their research and also gain a greater understanding of current issues in the north. Ideas will be exchanged from the different perspectives of advanced Masters students, PhD students and post-doc or early-career researchers from the various Arctic countries. Students from multi-disciplines (Health Science, Public Health, Political Science, and Social Science) are invited to take part in two summer courses which will be offered prior to the ICCH16, the courses may be taken together or separately.

The first course, Community Based Participatory Research Principles and Practices in the North, uses case studies and individual and group work as teaching methods. The second course: Healthy populations in the Arctic, utilizes lectures and breakout sessions/group work led by senior researchers as mentors. The key focus of both courses is the direct contact with senior researchers and graduate students.

Note: Deadline for Summer School applications has been extended to 31st March, 2015.

The Economist Events' third World Ocean Summit ambitiously aims to set a new global agenda for the ocean economy.

BLUE ECONOMY; BLUE GROWTH
The ‘blue economy’ is nascent and not yet clearly defined, but it offers a vision of the ocean and coasts as a new source of economic growth, job creation and investment. Viewed narrowly, this could simply mean the beginning of a new and intensified phase of conventional economic activity. Yet a more expansive interpretation sees a blue economy in which economic opportunity is balanced by responsible investment in a sustainable ocean economy— a ‘win-win’ scenario where the private sector, acting through enlightened self-interest, is a catalyst for both economic development and environmental protection. In this vision, the blue economy is in itself a source of opportunity, investment and growth.

World Ocean Summit will convene more than 250 global leaders from various sectors with direct interests in the oceans and igniting a constructive dialogue on solution.

Organizers of the 7th International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM VII 2015) announce a call for abstracts. The meeting will be held 2-5 June 2015 in Trondheim, Norway.

Abstracts are accepted for both oral and poster presentations. Presentations will be selected to cover the conference scientific themes:

• New data on seafloor geology and deep structure of the Arctic Basin and adjacent areas (their implementation in international projects, with sub-session on planned field activities)
• Circum-Arctic onshore-offshore structural relations
• Stratigraphy, paleo-environments and geological history of the Arctic basin and adjacent areas
• Arctic Large Igneous Provinces and their geodynamic significance
• Plate reconstructions and lithosphere evolution of the Arctic region
• Glacial events and their geological consequences (with sub-session on origin of bottom sediments)
• Arctic Gas Hydrates

Submission deadline: 15 April 2015.

Send abstract submissions to:
Morten Smelror
Email: Morten.Smelror [at] ngu.no

Questions or suggestions regarding ICAM VII can be sent to:
Tove Aune
Email: tove.aune [at] ngu.no

Morten Smelror
Email: morten.smelror [at] ngu.no

Oleg V. Petrov
Email: vsgdir [at] vsegei.ru

Organizers announce that a workshop of current and future changes of the Greenland and Arctic cryosphere will be held in Ilulissat, Greenland on 2-5 June 2015. Abstract submissions from the Arctic community are invited.

The workshop will highlight overviews of current changes, as measured from space, airborne, and in-situ methods, and future projections of changes. The meeting is a follow up on the similar event 'Nuuk Climate Days 2009' and will involve both scientists and stakeholders in discussions on cryosphere changes, and their effects on the Greenland environment and society.

Ilulissat Climate Days is timed with air connections from Denmark and Iceland, and is arranged by a committee from Danish, Greenlandic, and Icelandic organizations. The activities will also include the final conference for the Nordic Centre of Excellence SVALI (Stability and Variations of Arctic Land Ice) as well as meetings related to the ESA Climate Change Initiative.

The workshop is being developed by an International Science Committee, and will consist of both invited science/stakeholder talks as well as submitted presentations.

Abstract submission deadline: 30 January 2015.

The Polar Research Board is a part of the Division on Earth and Life Studies of the National Academies. The Polar Research Board will host its spring meeting at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C. Please visit the webpage for the agenda and further information.