Search Events

The University of New Hampshire Center for Spills in the Environment and the School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering will host a forum entitled "Oil Spill Response 25 years After the Exxon Valdez and in the Wake of Macondo 252, What Have We Learned and What Are We Missing?".

Questions to be addressed include:

• What have we learned from these two spills?
• How can they inform future spill response?
• What should we do differently to address the spills of the future?

Topics covered will include a) the types of spills that could occur in the future and the challenges they pose for response; b) the improvements needed in communication among responders, scientists, the public and politicians; c) the role of academic science in spill response; and d) the impacts of new scientific methods, such as molecular biology, on impact assessment and restoration.

The forum will feature an array of speakers who played key roles during the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills. After an opening overview of oil spills by Gary Shigenaka, NOAA Office of Response and Restoration, Captain Ed Page, Chief of Coast Guard Operations during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and Dr. Robert Spies, Chief Science Advisor to the Governments on the Exxon Valdez spill will kick off the discussion. Then Thad Allen, former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and Dr. Marcia McNutt, who was director of the U.S. Geological Survey, will present their perspectives on the Deepwater Horizon spill. Speakers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, U.S. Arctic Research Commission, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, the American Petroleum Institute, Ocean Conservancy, and many other experts will offer perspectives on oil spills in the United States.

The purpose of the annual Transatlantic Science Week (TSW) is to promote enhanced cooperation between Canadian, American and Norwegian stakeholders in research, innovation and higher education. TSW is an arena where different stakeholders can meet with the purpose of developing long-term collaborations or partnerships. The conference also hopes to strengthen the linkages that currently exist between the research and education domains. Finally, TSW also provides an excellent arena for dialogue between the research communities and policymakers.

The Royal Norwegian Embassies in Ottawa and Washington, DC are co-organizers of TSW this year. The conference is made possible by generous contributions from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, the Research Council of Norway, the National Research Council Canada, and the University of Toronto.

This year's TSW marks the13th annual conference and will focus on challenges and opportunities in the Arctic, with a special look at Arctic societies, sustainability and safety.

Conference participation is free, but registration is mandatory due to limited seating.

IMO in cooperation with CSC (Finland) and LGGE (France) will organize a 2-day Elmer/Ice course on the 27th and 28th of October 2014, just before the Nordic Branch IGS meeting in Iceland. The course is intended for persons who want to start using Elmer/Ice in their research projects with an option to go into special details on the second day. The course is sponsored by the Nordic Centre of Excellence, SVALI. There are in maximum 18 seats which by preference will be offered to SVALI members. The rest of the seats are given on a first-come-first-get principle. The course itself is free of charge. Participants are responsible for their own accommodation and travel (see instructions below). Further it is expected, that participants bring along their own laptop with a working Elmer/Ice environment installed (instructions will follow later).

Lectures are in English.
Lecturers: Olivier Gagliardini and Thomas Zwinger.
Venue: IMO, Bústaðavegur 9, Reykjavík.
Travel: For air travel to Iceland see “icelandair.com” and “dohop.com”.
Accommodation: For reasonably priced guesthouses check “kexhostel.is/” and “guesthousereykjavik.com/”.
Registration: By email to Anna Sinisalo (a.k.sinisalo [at] geo.uio.no), latest by 11th October, 2014.

About the Workshop:
Conservation innovation is woven through our nation’s heritage. It is today and will be for decades and centuries to come an essential element of our future. Large landscape collaborative conservation is a fresh approach to the conservation challenges of the 21st century, linking public, private, non- profit and academic resources in novel, strategic, and enduring ways.

Join conservation practitioners and policy makers from across North America in Washington, DC for this two-day event, October 23-24, 2014. Share ideas on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in implementing large landscape conservation, as well as the most effective tools, strategies and science available to inform large landscape initiatives.

Timeline and Due Dates:

• May 31, 2014 – All proposals due
• July 15, 2014 – Submitters notified of selection status.
• August 31, 2014 – Final program posted at http://www.largelandscapenetwork.org/2014-
  national-workshop/

QUESTIONS?
For additional information about the conference, please contact:
Greg Wathen, Program Committee Chair, greg.wathen [at] tn.gov or (615) 781-6670

This series of three workshops will include presentations and discussions of how coastal erosion on the North Slope of Alaska impacts local communities, potential responses to those impacts, related cultural and economic factors, and best practices for a long-term observing (LTO) network that could contribute to community planning and response. Anne Garland of Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc., will be speaking on community-based monitoring of critical coastal infrastructure for the City of Barrow.

General questions for discussion:
1. What are the best practices for a long-term observing network so that it contributes to community understanding and planned response to coastal erosion?
2. What are the best strategies for informing and engaging the community?

For more information, please contact Kathleen Fischer at kmbfischer [at] comcast.net.

The Canadian Risk and Hazard Network holds an annual conference each year. This year the event is being held in Toronto, Canada. As part of this conference David Diabo (Assembly of First Nations) and Brenda Murphy (Wilfrid Laurier University) are running a series of five special sessions called: Promoting Aboriginal Resilience: Sharing Knowledge to Increase Disaster Risk Reduction. In the first session we are partnering with the Arctic Observing Network and Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc. to offer a webinar of the first presentation (see details below). This will be a one hour presentation starting at 2 pm on Wednesday October 22. The presentation includes a half hour question and answer session. This is a free session and we hope you can join us!

Presentations Details:
Arctic Observing Network Observing, Management, and Governance Discussions
Arctic Observing Network (AON), http://www.arcus.org/search-program/aon, is seeking discussions and input for long term observing, management, and governance. ARIES (Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc.) was granted a long term observing discussion award to discuss the following queries in relation to Risk and Disaster Management across multiple jurisdictions, http://www.arcus.org/search-program/aon/discussion-funding-form. This webinar is provided through the AON funding. After the presentation, your input is requested during the webinar Q&A and the HERMYS Forum at www.arctichub.net.

See below the 3 queries ARIES selected for the Arctic Observing Network discussions. While the AON queries are not necessarily about risks and hazards, ARIES selected three that are relevant to risk and disaster management, that is,

1. more applied research with local communities to assist operations, regulations, and management,
2. interdisciplinary research across social and natural sciences, and
3. integration across jurisdictions (interagency and regional partnerships).

Question(s) to discuss (maximum of three questions):

• Are the priorities for research networks different from those for operational, community, regulatory, and management observing systems? Can the two be resolved or shared? Should they
  be?
• How do we bridge the gap in funding between social science and natural science observations and observing networks?
• How to best employ interagency and regional partnerships? What role should regional centers play in directing observing activity?

For details on connecting to the webinar contact - awhgarland [at] yahoo.com

The Arctic in Rapid Transition initiative (ART, http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/ART), an official IASC network (http://www.iasc.info), the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS, www.apecs.is), and the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM, France, http://www-iuem.univ-brest.fr) organize a joint workshop on “Integrating spatial and temporal scales in the changing Arctic System: towards future research priorities” (ISTAS workshop), October 21-24 2014 in Plouzané, France.

This international workshop aims at discussing the integration of spatial and temporal scales to better understand the changing Arctic system as a whole, by including various Arctic research fields: physical oceanography, sea-ice, biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems functioning, marine biodiversity, land-ocean interactions, ocean-atmosphere exchanges and ocean acidification, paleo-reconstruction and biological archives, and social sciences. Results of the workshop will feed into the ICARP III (3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning) meeting in Toyama, Japan in April 2015 (http://icarp.arcticportal.org/).

Abstract submission and registration are now open under
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ekIJ10TWJhWO5evaJAL5JKrR4zicc0eEZ47lKu…
Please register and submit your abstract as soon as possible as the amount of space is limited.

Limited funding will be available for early career scientists.

For questions please contact: istasworkshop [at] gmail.com

For further information about the workshop go to the workshop link.

More information on ART activities may be accessed at: http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/en/ART.

The Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) is an international effort to focus on enhancing collaboration and coordination among Arctic marine and sea ice modelers, theoreticians and observationalists synthesize major results from the field studies and coordinated numerical experiments. The major themes of workshop include but not limited by studies focused on: predictions; Arctic observational and modeling initiatives; fate of sea ice in models and observations; atmospheric, sea ice and ocean dynamics; process studies and parameterizations; model validation and calibration; numerical improvements and algorithms; ecosystems, biological issues, and geochemistry.

The overall goal of FAMOS is a better understanding of the Arctic climate system (with a focus on marine environment) through the use of improving numerical models and observational tactics and strategies. The other project goals are to:

The project’s goals are to:

• Maintain and enhance in FAMOS the established AOMIP international collaboration to reduce uncertainties in model predictions (model validation/improvements via coordinated experiments and studies; reanalysis methods and products for correct initial and boundary conditions; design and implementation of the oceanic and sea ice remote and in situ observing systems);
• Support synthesis across the suite of Arctic models and observatories and/or observational projects and systems;
• Organize scientific meetings and workshops including virtual teleconferences;
• Conduct collaboration with other similar projects focused on other aspects of arctic/global climate (atmospheric, terrestrial, etc) with a special focus on model and data improvements and analysis;
• Disseminate findings of FAMOS effort to broader communities and involve the larger community in discussions, coordinated modeling and observational field experiments;
• Train a new generation of ocean and sea-ice observationalists and modelers continuing the practice of annual 1-2 day FAMOS workshop schools.

Program Title:

Arctic Research Opportunities
Arctic Natural Sciences; Arctic Social Sciences; Arctic System Science; Arctic Observing Network and Cyberinfrastructure
Synopsis of Program:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to conduct research about the Arctic. Arctic research includes field and modeling studies, data analysis, and synthesis about the arctic region.

The goal of the NSF Section for Arctic Sciences, Division of Polar Programs (PLR), is to gain a better understanding of the Arctic's physical, biological, geological, chemical, social and cultural processes; the interactions of oceanic, terrestrial, atmospheric, biological, social, cultural, and economic systems; and the connections that define the Arctic. The Arctic Sciences and other NSF programs support projects that contribute to the development of the next generation of researchers and scientific literacy for all ages through education, outreach, and broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Program representatives from polar and other non-polar NSF programs that support arctic research coordinate across NSF, including joint review and funding of arctic proposals and mutual support of special projects with high logistical costs.

Cognizant Program Officer(s):

Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing. See program website for any updates to the points of contact.

Renee D. Crain, Arctic Research Support and Logistics Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-4482, email: rcrain [at] nsf.gov

Henrietta Edmonds, Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7427, email: hedmonds [at] nsf.gov

Patrick R. Haggerty, Arctic Research Support and Logistics Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-8577, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: phaggert [at] nsf.gov

Robert Max Holmes, Arctic System Science Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-4897, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: rholmes [at] nsf.gov

Anna M. Kerttula de Echave, Arctic Social Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7432, fax: (703)292-9082, email: akerttul [at] nsf.gov

Erica Key, Arctic Observing Network Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7434, email: ekey [at] nsf.gov

Ming-Yi Sun, Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7437, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: msun [at] nsf.gov

Neil R. Swanberg, Arctic System Science Program Director, 740 S, telephone: (703) 292-8029, email: nswanber [at] nsf.gov

Marco Tedesco, Polar Cyberinfrastructure Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-7120, email: mtedesco [at] nsf.gov

William J. Wiseman, Arctic Natural Sciences Program Director, 755 S, telephone: (703) 292-4750, fax: (703) 292-9082, email: wwiseman [at] nsf.gov

Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):
47.050 --- Geosciences

Award Information
Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant or Cooperative Agreement

Estimated Number of Awards: 75 per year, pending availability of funds.

Anticipated Funding Amount: $25,000,000 per year approximately, pending availability of funds.

Eligibility Information

Who May Submit Proposals:
Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
Universities and Colleges - Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.
Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.
For-profit organizations: U.S. commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education.

Foreign organizations: For cooperative projects involving U.S. and foreign organizations, support will only be provided for the U.S. portion.
Other Federal Agencies and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs): Contact the appropriate program before preparing a proposal for submission.

Who May Serve as PI:
There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:
There are no restrictions or limits.

Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI:
There are no restrictions or limits.

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

A. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Full Proposals:
Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide, Part I: Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Guidelines apply. The complete text of the GPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg.
Full Proposals submitted via Grants.gov: NSF Grants.gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants.gov Guidelines apply (Note: The NSF Grants.gov Application Guide is available on the Grants.gov website and on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=grantsgovguide)

B. Budgetary Information
Cost Sharing Requirements: Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited.
Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations: Not Applicable
Other Budgetary Limitations: Not Applicable

C. Due Dates
Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time):

• October 20, 2014
• October 18, Annually Thereafter

Proposal Review Information Criteria

Merit Review Criteria: National Science Board approved criteria. Additional merit review considerations apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Award Administration Information
Award Conditions: Additional award conditions apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Reporting Requirements:
Additional reporting requirements apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information.

Organizers announce open registration and a call for abstracts for the 2014 Joint Meeting of the Alaska Sections of the American Water Resources Association, American Fisheries Society, and the Southeast Alaska Fish Habitat Partnership. The meeting, entitled "Bridging Disciplines to Solve Today's Challenges in Resource Management," will convene 20-24 October 2014 in Juneau, Alaska.

This meeting is focused on research and management in hydrology, fisheries, fish habitat, and other aspects of aquatic science and aquatic resources in Alaska. Plenary speakers include Alaska Department of Fish and Game Subsistence Fisheries Manager, Jim Fall; White House Director of Ocean Policy, Beth Kerttula; Earth Systems Institute geomorphologist, Lee Benda; and University of Alaska, Fairbanks ecologist, Terry Chapin.

Eight workshops are planned for Monday and Tuesday, 20-21 October. These workshops cover a number of topics from the application of unmanned aircraft systems to aquatic research and fisheries applications with ArcGIS. The meeting will include 34 special sessions representing a wide range of research and management topics, many of which will focus on interdisciplinary research.

The Alaska Section of the American Water Resources is offering a number of student travel grants to its student members to help defray the cost of conference attendance. There is no formal application process; applicants will be judged based on the abstracts they submit. Interested students should contact Trey Simmons (trey_simmons [at] nps.gov).

Early registration deadline: Friday, 26 September 2014.

Preregistration deadline: Friday, 17 October 2014

Abstract submission deadline: Monday, 15 September 2014.

For further information about abstract submission, registration, travel, and accommodations; see the conference website.