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In July, 2012, the world witnessed a shocking event when widespread melting occurred over the surface of 97% of the Greenland Ice Sheet. According to ice core records, the last time such widespread melting occurred was in 1889. What caused such widespread melt? Was it just the warm temperatures, or is it a more complicated situation?

Join Dr. Mary Albert, Alden Adolph and Linda Morris for this 90 minute webinar for K-12 Educators. Use the above link to register for this webinar. Upon registering you will receive an e-mail confirmation including information about the program and suggested links to visit in preparation of the event. Additional information about the web seminar will be e-mailed to you days before the program.

The 7th AOS / ISAC Town Hall meeting will take place at the upcoming Arctic Science Summit Week 2015 in Toyama, Japan, and is open to everyone. We seek input from the Arctic community, researchers, managers and decision makers to participate in the guidance and development of a sustained, collaborative and international Arctic Observing Systems network (the focus of the biennial Arctic Observing Summit). Join us on Tuesday April 28th, 2015 (5:30 to 7 pm), Toyama International Conference Centre, room 205.

ASSW is the annual gathering of international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating Arctic research. The purpose of the summit is to provide opportunities for coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all areas of Arctic science. IASC's (International Arctic Science Committee) 25th anniversary will be celebrated during ASSW2015. The summit presents an opportunity to review IASC contributions and recognize those who have been instrumental in its founding, development and growth. ASSW2015 will also include the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III) and the 4th International Symposium on the Arctic Research (ISAR-4). These four-day symposia create a platform for exchanging knowledge, inspiring cross fertilization, and promoting collaboration. The summit attracts scientists, students, policy makers and other professionals from all over the world.

The combined four day ISAR-4 and ICARP III Symposium will be composed of plenary presentations, panel discussions and parallel sessions addressing both the ISAR-4 theme “Rapid change of the Arctic climate system and its global influence” and the ICARP III theme “Integrating Arctic Research: a Roadmap for the Future”. It will also present an opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and to recognize those who have been instrumental in its founding, development and growth.

The ISAR-4 part of the symposium will be directed to detecting and understanding recent changes in the Arctic, with a specific focus on processes affecting the global system. It also aims to facilitate scientific discussions and to enhance further national and international cooperation and collaboration, in particular between Arctic and non-Arctic countries. The discussions will include the direction and expected outcomes of Japan ́s Green Network of Excellence (GRENE) Arctic Climate Research Project.

ICARP is an Arctic Science Conference, convened periodically by IASC and its partners to identify key scientific ques- tions and issues. Ten years after ICARP II and building on the outcome of the IPY 2007/2008, ICARP III provides a framework

• to identify Arctic science priorities for the next decade;
• to coordinate various Arctic research agendas;
• to inform policy makers, people who live in or near the Arctic and the global community and
• to build constructive relationships between producers and users of knowledge.

ICARP III was formally launched at the ASSW 2014 and includes a series of events and activities in 2014/2015. The ISAR-4 and ICARP III Symposium at ASSW 2015 will mark the closure and culmination of ICARP III and the sympo- sium will present and discuss the outcome of the planning process, namely a consensus statement identifying the most important Arctic research needs for the next decade and a roadmap for research priorities and partnerships.

Important Dates:

• 30 June 2014 – Call for Sessions closes
• September 2014 – ASSW2015 Third Circular opens, Registration starts, Call for Abstract starts
• November 2014 – Call for Abstract closes
• December 2014 – Acceptance Notice for Abstract
• Early in February 2015 – Program opens
• Late in February 2015 – Early-bird closes
• Late in March 2015 – Registration closes

The session proposal website for this year’s AGU fall meeting is open until April 22nd.
Criteria and guidelines are available at http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2015/sessionproposals/

Things to note:

• If appropriate, sessions may now be identified as “co-organized” or as “cross-listed.” “Co-organized” sessions are those that are truly interdisciplinary and that don’t fall neatly into just one section or focus group. Co-organized sessions must include conveners with primary affiliations in more than one section or focus group. “Cross-listed” sessions are sessions that are likely to be of interest to meeting attendees in multiple sections or focus groups. We have been assured that, for this year’s meeting, the search functionality within the meeting website will be enhanced to better identify these new session designations.
• The primary convener of a proposed session must be an AGU member.
• The option for SWIRL themes of previous years continue. Now, to allow for themes to emerge more from the membership, there is an option to suggest a theme that your proposed session might fall within.
• Conveners will be notified regarding the status of their session proposal in early June.

The Polar Geography and Cryosphere Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers call for papers for the 2015 Annual Meeting of the AAG under the following areas:

Polar Geography Sessions

Current Topics in Human-Environment Interactions:

• Issues pertaining to sustainable Arctic environments, cultures and economies amid climate change and globalization
• Observed and anticipated impacts of a warming climate on natural and human systems in high latitude regions

Current Topics in Politics, Resource Geographies, and Extractive Industries:

• Recent developments in the political landscape and governance of polar regions
• Examinations of development trends in and between Arctic communities
• Exploring the past, present and future of resource extraction in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions and its role in local and global economies

Current Topics in Antarctic Research:

• Dynamics of Antarctic atmospheric and oceanic systems
• Mechanisms and implications of Antarctic ice sheet recession

Send abstract and PIN to stephenson [at] uconn.edu Cryosphere Sessions

Advances in Cryosphere Research

• Recent developments in remote sensing and modeling methodologies for any aspect of the cryosphere

High Latitude Environments in a Changing Climate

• Impacts of climate change on high latitude hydrologic, atmospheric, and terrestrial systems, including polar ice sheets

Mountain Ice and Snow

• Glacier environmental change and impacts on water resources
  Send abstract and PIN to venachu [at] ucla.edu

Other sessions will be considered if there are sufficient submissions. Graduate students and young scholars are encouraged to apply.

Please contact the organizers if you have any questions. If you wish to be included in one of these sessions, please register on the AAG website (http://www.aag.org/), and then submit your abstract and PIN to Scott Stephenson (stephenson [at] uconn.edu) or Vena Chu (venachu [at] ucla.edu). The deadline for submitting abstracts is November 5, 2014.

We are happy to announce that first Students In Polar Research Conference will take place in Brno, Czech Republic between April 20 and 22, 2015. The Department of Geography and Faculty of Science at Masaryk University will host the conference, which aims to introduce actual topics in Polar geography and ecology research, enhance the exchange of information and ideas among young researchers, and offer the opportunity to strengthen existing and establish prospective collaboration. We believe, the event will represent a springboard for annual tradition of meetings, when graduate and postgraduate students will discuss various interesting topics on the most beautiful regions of our planet.

Program will be divided into two polar geosciences and two polar biosciences sections. Each section will commence by oral presentation of invited speakers who will be established Czech researchers working either in Svalbard or Antarctica. Preliminary, first day of conference (20th April) will be dedicated to polar geosciences, second day (21st April) to polar biosciences and on third day, excursion to environmental and cultural heritage of Palava region is planned. More information about program will be provided in the Second Announcement.

Important dates
February 9, 2015: Registration open
March 10, 2015: Second Announcement with detailed information about program, conference venue, and invited speakers
April 3, 2015: Deadline for sending abstracts and registration

Register today for upcoming PolarConnect event on Saturday, 18 April 2015!

Celebrate Earth Day by joining a PolarConnect Event with teacher Dominique Richardson in East Antarctica and the team aboard the R/V Palmer in the Southern Ocean. This is sure to be a unique event! The event starts at 12:00 PM Alaska Daylight Savings Time [1PM Pacific DST, 2PM Mountain DST, 3PM DST, 4PM DST]. All participants need to register. More information can be found here: http://www.polartrec.com/polar-connect/register

Join a panel of Arctic experts for a webinar to explore a new booklet that introduces the threats and opportunities of the Arctic’s rapidly changing environment and explains why the Arctic matters — to all of us.

Viewed in satellite images as a jagged white coat draped over the top of the globe, the high Arctic appears distant and isolated. But even if you don’t live there, don’t do business there, and will never travel there, you are closer to the Arctic than you think.

Arctic Matters: The Global Connection to Changes in the Arctic is a new educational resource produced by the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council (NRC). It draws upon a large collection of peer-reviewed NRC reports and other national and international reports to provide a brief, reader-friendly primer on the complex ways in which the changes currently affecting the Arctic and its diverse people, resources, and environment can, in turn, affect the entire globe.
Topics in the booklet include how climate changes currently underway in the Arctic are a driver for global sea-level rise, offer new prospects for natural resource extraction, and have rippling effects through the world’s weather, climate, food supply and economy.

The webinar will feature a presentation and Q&A session with:

• Julie Brigham-Grette, Professor of Quaternary/Glacial Geology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Chair of the National Research Council’s Polar Research Board, and Co-Chair of the authoring committee of Lessons and Legacies of International Polar Year 2007-2008.
• Stephanie Pfirman, Professor of Environmental Sciences at Barnard College and Co-Chair of the authoring committee of The Arctic in the Anthropocene: Emerging Research Questions.
• James White, Director of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Chair of the authoring committee of Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises.

For further information and to register for the webinar, please click on the link above.

ARCTIC STATES, a three-day symposium at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, brings together an international consortium of leading designers and colleagues from allied disciplines to posit the role of design in the rapidly transforming region, and generate critical discussions by sharing recent work that will trace, critique and speculate on its past, present, and future. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information and to register, please visit the link above.

On April 24-25, 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry, his fellow Arctic Council Foreign Ministers and indigenous representatives will gather in Iqaluit, Canada when, at the conclusion of the ministerial meeting, the United States will assume its two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The United States has outlined an ambitious chairmanship agenda to include a strong focus on addressing the effects of climate change, particularly the impacts of pollutants; improving ocean stewardship and maritime safety; and improving the health and well-being for those who live in the Arctic region. Please join us for keynote remarks by Senator Lisa Murkowski followed by a discussion on the future of offshore energy development in the American Arctic based on the recent release of the National Petroleum Council’s Arctic Study as well as a discussion on developments in Arctic health and well-being upon the occasion of the release of a new CSIS policy report on Arctic Health and the U.S. Arctic Council Chairmanship.