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The American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Alaska Section announces a call for abstracts and registration to the 2015 Alaska Section Annual Conference to convene 13-16 May 2015 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The AWRA Annual Conference brings together policymakers, managers, and researchers from across the state of Alaska in order to advance the understanding, use, and management of Alaska's water resources.

Session and workshop topics for the 2015 conference include:

• Remote sensing: towers, planes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and ground to satellite observations; and
• K-12 water resources education: University of Alaska EPSCOR Sandbox Terrain Model and the Geo-Watershed Scientific Groundwater Model.

Workshop and keynote speakers include:

• Reginald Muskett, University of Alaska Fairbanks;
• Jessica Cherry, University of Alaska Fairbanks;
• David Swanson, National Park Service;
• Pam Sousannes National Park Service;
• Jordi Cristobal Rosello, University of Alaska Fairbanks;
• Keith Cunningham; and others.

Organizers invite abstract submissions for poster presentations related to remote sensing and/or water resources. Membership in the Alaska section is not a requirement for submittal of an abstract, although organizers encourage everyone to consider joining the Alaska Section of the AWRA and supporting the water resources profession in Alaska.

Poster Sessions will be from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 13 and 14, May. Two student posters and two member posters will be selected for $250 awards. Poster awards will be given Thursday, 14 May 2015.

All presenters must submit their abstract for review and acceptance by the Alaska Section. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words.To submit an abstract, please use the online form found at: http://www.awra.org/cgi-bin/alaska_abstract2015.cgi

Important Dates:

Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, 4 May 2015.
Early Registration Deadline: Friday, 1 May 2015.
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, 13 May 2015.

Limited travel scholarships are available for students located outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. For further information and to submit an application, please go to: http://state.awra.org/alaska/ameetings/2015am/travel_grants.shtml.

For more information about the conference, please go to: http://state.awra.org/alaska/ameetings/2015am/index.shtml.

For questions, contact:
Ryan Toohey
Email: rtoohey [at] usgs.gov
Phone: 907-786-6774

Organizers of the 30th Wakefield Fisheries Symposium announce a call for abstracts. The theme for the 2015 symposium is "Tools and Strategies for Assessment and Management of Data-Limited Fish Stocks." It will be held 12-15 May 2015 in Anchorage, Alaska.

The symposium will bring together fishery and social scientists, managers, fishermen, and others from around the world. Organizers invite abstract submissions in the following topic areas:

• Potential new types of data for assessment and management
• Alternative stock assessment methods
• Methods to incorporate uncertainty in assessment and management
• Integration of social and economic considerations into management
• Strategies for the management of mixed commercial, recreational, and/or subsistence fisheries
• Methods for determining catch limits and alternative management measures

To contribute an oral or poster presentation, submit an abstract using the submission form on the symposium website. Abstracts must include:

• Type of presentation preferred (oral or poster).
• Topic area from the above list, or suggest a topic.
• Title, 10 words or fewer.
• Author names, affiliation, city, country, and email.
• Name of presenter and contact person.
• Text of abstract in 250 words or less; please do not include any headings, tables, figures.

Submission deadline: Friday, 30 January 2015.

The 45th International Arctic Workshop will be held 10–13 May 2015 at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Please join our annual gathering of international researchers to present your work on any aspect of high-latitude environments (past, present, and future). We strive for a relaxed, friendly, and interactive experience, fostered in part by our relatively small size. And unlike most meetings, you can present your very latest research; the abstract deadline is only a few weeks before the Workshop. Student participation is strongly encouraged, with partial support available to those making presentations.

The meeting is open to all interested in the Arctic, and will consist of a series of talks and poster sessions covering all aspects of high-latitude environments. Previous Arctic Workshops have included presentations on arctic climate, glaciology, environmental geochemistry, geomorphology, hydrology, soils, ecology, oceanography, Quaternary history, and more. A traditional strength of the Workshop has been Arctic paleoenvironments, both marine and terrestrial.

The number and types of sessions will be determined after the abstract deadline. We expect sessions on Glaciology, Geomorphology and terrestrial environments, Paleoceanography, Paleoclimate, Climate-system variability and processes, and more. This year, there will also be a special session on the theme of “Changes in Arctic hydroclimate”.

For more information, please visit the conference website.

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History will host an educational weekend event celebrating Arctic peoples, cultures, and science. The event coincides with the launch of the United States' 2015-2017 chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the international governmental body coordinating Arctic policy. When the US last chaired the Arctic Council (1998-2000), the Arctic was considered to be at the edge of the world's concerns. Now it is front and center in terms of environmental change and geopolitical importance. Arctic Spring will feature educational programs including a symposium, science displays and interactives, family events, artifacts and art, cultural and musical performances, and films. Activities will occur throughout the museum over a three-day period. Museum scientists, cultural experts, Arctic residents, government agencies, artists and photographers will present research findings and engage visitors in exploring what is known and still needs to be known about the Arctic, its lands, ocean, animals, cultures, and peoples.

For more information, please visit the festival webpage.

The University of Alberta, in collaboration with the Cold Regions Geo-technology Division of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, is organizing again the International Short Course on Permafrost Engineering - Effective Design and Construction in Permafrost Regions Date: May 8 - 13, 2015 Location: Edmonton, Alberta

For more information, please contact Sally Petaske at sally.petaske [at] ualberta.ca (+1 780-492-2176)

The next Alpine Glaciology Meeting (AGM) will be held in Milano, Italy on 7 and 8 May, 2015, with a field trip on 9 May at Forni Glacier (Stelvio National Park). As usual, this meeting serves as informal exchange platform for researchers working on snow, glaciers or permafrost. Oral and poster presentations are welcome, and young scientists are especially encouraged to present their work in progress.

The meeting will be held at University of Milano (Italy) (Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Festa del Perdono, 7).

The deadline for registration and for abstract submission is posponed to 17th of April 2015 (no registration fees). Please send the abstracts to alpglaciomeet2015 [at] gmail.com.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at: alpglaciomeet2015 [at] gmail.com

APECS online webinar is pleased to introduce the last webinar of the 2014-2015 series:“Tell me more!”: Connecting with Lay Readers through Plain Language (Webinar on plain language).

• Would you like to share your research with popular audiences?
• Do you find it challenging to write lay summaries for grant applications?

This webinar should help you better respond to both of these situations: in it I outline the basic principles of plain language—simplicity, brevity, and clarity—and show you how to achieve them in writing. We will work with examples from your areas of expertise to illustrate how to apply these principles to scientific discourse. You should leave this webinar with a clear understanding of how to apply these principles to your own writing to communicate effectively with non-specialist readers.

If you would like to see worked examples from your own writing, please email a manuscript draft or publication to heather.graves [at] ualberta.ca, and I will use some of your text in my illustrations.

Heather Graves is a professor at the university of Alberta working in the following areas: Rhetoric, writing studies, technical communication, business and professional communication. Her specialties are the rhetoric of science, writing studies in Canada, writing theory and pedagogy.

Webinars are interactive presentations and workshops, for which APECS uses the online conferencing program “GoToMeeting”. This live presentation platform allows participants to hear the presentation, see the power points slides and interact via chat box with the presenter the entire time. Webinars allow people to connect and participant in high quality research and skill training discussions from the comfort of their desk!

How to participate? Register and reserve your spot here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2236803940579207681

For more information about this Webinar, contact chavarie [at] ualberta.ca.

On behalf of APECS, Thank you for attending our webinar!

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces a call for proposals for a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) National Communications Office. Full proposal submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. (proposer's local time) on Wednesday, 6 May 2015.

The National Communications Office will coordinate research, education, and outreach programs across the current 25 LTER projects; communicate these activities to diverse audiences; and provide centralized representation of the LTER network to the broad scientific community and the public. The lead PI of the successful proposal will serve as the Office Director and will work with the LTER Science Council and research community to develop and implement strategic goals and future initiatives. The Office will serve as the primary point of contact for information about the LTER program.

A single award to establish one LTER National Communications Office, for a maximum of $800,000 per year and for up to 4 years, will be made pending availability of funds and the quality of the proposals submitted.

Proposal submission deadline: 6 May 2015.

For the full solicitation, please go to: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15535/nsf15535.htm.

Todd Brinkman, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, will present a webinar entitled "Climate-Driven Changes in Interactions Among Hunters, Wildlife, and Habitat".

Todd will present research that explores how climate-driven changes in the environment have influenced hunter-wildlife interactions across Alaska. Based on findings, he has concluded that recent environmental changes have challenged common hunting practices primarily by disrupting access to harvest areas. He suggests that a combination of innovative research, local adaptation, and flexible policies are required to address current and future challenges relating to hunter access to wildlife resources.

Pre-registration for webinars is strongly encouraged. The audio portion of the call is through a toll-free phone line and the slide presentation is streamed via computer. For instructions on participating through your home office or at a satellite viewing location with others in your community, please see our webinar information page (https://accap.uaf.edu/?q=webinars).

The purpose of this conference is to bring researchers, practitioners and policy makers to a world-wide platform to share research and discuss creative solutions related to global climate change impacts. The conference will emphasize the importance of global climate change impacts on agriculture while covering a range of topics related to climate change impacts on land and water resources.

Global Climate Change has been related to increases in temperature, prolonged wet and dry hydroperiods, and an increase in climatic extremes. In the US, the recent 2014 US National Climate Assessment report (http://nca2014.globalchange.gov) recognizes that effects of human-induced climate change are being felt in every corner of the United States, with water growing scarcer in dry regions, torrential rains increasing in wet regions, heat waves becoming more common and more severe, wildfires growing worse, and forests dying under assault from heat-loving insects. Such extreme events are already impacting our ecosystems (e.g., agricultural, urban/suburban, aquatic, wetlands, forests, coastal, etc.). Melting of glaciers, sea level rise, and salt water intrusion in coastal areas are stressing our water resources. Recent literature indicates that to combat climate change, two approaches must be applied, those of adaptation and mitigation. Considering that the impacts of climate change are already being observed, we must develop adaptation strategies to cope with existing impacts while developing mitigation strategies to reduce future impacts. The first day of the symposium will focus on Adaptation to Climate Change while the second will focus on Mitigation of Climate Change.

For more information, please visit the symposium website.