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The Federal Maritime Commission's Maritime Environmental Committee will be hosting a Brown Bag Speaker Series with a presentation by Dr. John Farrell, Executive Director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, and Captain David Murk, Senior Maritime Safety and Security Advisor to the Secretary of Transportation at the U.S. Department of Transportation. The speakers will discuss the environmental impact commercial shipping may have in the Arctic, United States' interests in the Arctic, and the viability of commercial shipping in the region.

Please RSVP to Lauren M. Engel: LENGEL [at] FMC.GOV or (202) 523-5740.
Walk-ins welcome.

As a continuation of the very first SPE Workshop to be arranged by SPE Northern Norway, we are happy to invite you to the 2014 SPE Workshop in Arctic Norway.

As opposed to the previous workshop, it is decided to focus on geographical region; the Barents Sea. The main object will be to look at the special challenges encountered in the Barents Sea which are different from other places on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. This will range from logistics, climate and political impact to very specific petroleum engineering subjects:

• Reservoir Drainage Strategy and Reservoir Management
• Drilling & Well, Subsea and Hardware

In addition to the workshop, there will be time to enjoy the spectacular nature and the blue light that is so special at this time of year. Wednesday evening, all delegates are invited to the Hunting for the Aurora Borealis event.

Harstad, the oil industry capital in Northern Norway, is located north of the Lofoten Islands surrounded by mountains and sea. Several oil- and service companies are settled in Harstad, representing the full value chain from exploration and field development to operations. Statoil is the major operator. However, companies like Det norske, Total and Lundin are also present. In addition, the Norwegian authorities are represented by a branch of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

This annual conference brings together major interested parties in the region development - leading politicians, academics, business executives and the future leaders of the High North represented by Master- and PhD students from all over the world. The topic of the conference is “Arctic in a Global Perspective - Resources”. In 2014, the Arctic Dialogue has a special focus on challenges and opportunities of exploration and utilization of the resources in the Arctic. The aim of the event is to create a platform for discussion of the opportunities for value creation in the Arctic in an international context.

Please note that students (Master and PhD) are encouraged to sign up for the Arctic Dialogue Master/PhD Course, taking place 17-21 March, and where the AD2014 conference is part of the course. Contact Natalia Andreassen (natalia.andreassen [at] uin.no) for more information about the course.

The NSF Arctic Observing Network (AON) announces the next thematic webinar in the series on Long-Term Observing Management and Governance. This event will focus on Award Structure and Management, and will be an interactive panel discussion held on Tuesday, 18 March 2014 at 1:30 p.m. EDT. This event has been rescheduled from February.

The webinar will be held via WebEx. The panel will be moderated by KnowInnovation and will include a question and answer session. Panelists will be providing perspectives on a wide range of approaches to funding for observations, and will address questions such as:

• How might long-term observing systems be managed?
• What are the benefits of utilizing different management structures?
• Should critical path planning be used to advance observing efforts?
• Are there cost savings from non-traditional methods, such as crowdsourcing?
• What are the realities of multi-agency funding of observations?
• Should interdependent infrastructure be encouraged to reduce redundancy and answer more integrated questions?

Please register with the ArcticHub (http://www.arctichub.net) to view future events and subscribe to the calendar of webinars. An associated funding opportunity to continue the discussion beyond the webinar timeframe can be found at: http://www.arcus.org/search-program/aon/discussion-funding-form.

We look forward to your participation and questions on February 18th.

Meeting Number: 747 423 290 Meeting Password: arctic

To join the online meeting, go to: https://nsf.webex.com/nsf/j.php?MTID=m67384577ea6cdbbfd3feda15f2e783ac

To join the teleconference only: Toll Free (US/Canada): 866-844-9416 Toll Local (US/Canada): 203-369-5026

Announce Attendee Password: arctic

State your name with spelling to the operator to be joined to the meeting in listen only mode until Q&A is announced.

If you are calling in from outside of the US, please refer to the Global Access numbers on the Arctic Hub.

For assistance: 1. Go to https://nsf.webex.com/nsf/mc 2. On the left navigation bar, click "Support".

To update this meeting to your calendar program (for example Microsoft Outlook), click this link: https://nsf.webex.com/nsf/j.php?MTID=m33a1bc5282fa4a121862e19e8260683b

To check whether you have the appropriate players installed for UCF (Universal Communications Format) rich media files, go to: https://nsf.webex.com/nsf/systemdiagnosis.php.

This conference will cover various topics related to physical and chemical properties of ice in condensed matter physics, surface science, chemistry, geophysics, space science, biology, and materials science. Sessions will be organized so as to promote interdisciplinary discussion of the physics and chemistry of ice. Session topics include:

• Stable and metastable phases of ice
• Bulk properties of ice
• Surface properties of ice
• Defects in ice
• Phase transition of ice and snow and crystal patterns
• Clathrate hydrates
• Ice and biology
• Ice thin film
• Ice in space and in the atmosphere
• Chemical and physical reactions on ice
• Applied physics of ice and snow
• Others

Important dates include:

• Call for abstracts opens: August 1, 2013
• Abstract submission deadline: November 20, 2013
• Travel fellowship application due: November 20, 2013
• Early bird registration opens: December 1, 2013
• Notification of acceptance of abstract: December 15, 2013
• Paper submission opens: December 16, 2013
• Paper submission deadline: February 15, 2014
• Last date for early bird registration: March 2, 2014

The Arctic market is different from anything we’ve ever seen before. The business opportunity, driven by vast natural resources and new transportation routes, is enormous – this much we know for sure. The Nordic countries and Russia alone will invest an estimated 100 billion euros in it by 2020. Already now, there is a high demand for clean technology and other sustainable solutions. It is quite clear that, whether in production, technology sector, or business services, it is crucial to follow the new market closely and proactively. Join us at the next ROI Finland meeting in the city of Rovaniemi. Connect with colleagues, visit businesses in the Arctic and get to know the local business-development players. The full-day program will be held in conjunction with the Arctic Business Forum, the leading conference on the Arctic economy.

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 two weeks before the Workshop.

This year's theme is "Arctic's New Normal - shifting environmental baselines over decades to millennia and comparisons with the Antarctic." Although not required, we encourage participants to tie their talk to changing environmental conditions in the Arctic. Contributions documenting changes in and around Antarctica and comparisons of responses between the two polar regions are also encouraged.

The Arctic Workshop is open to all interested in high latitude environments, including those of the past, present, and future. Previous Workshops have included presentations on Arctic and Antarctic climate, atmospheric chemistry, environmental geochemistry, paleoenvironment, archeology, geomorphology, hydrology, glaciology, soils, ecology, oceanography, Quaternary history and more.

Assistance is available for a limited number of students from any country giving a talk or presenting a poster. Such support will help cover most of registration, meals, and more.

In the 7th thematic webinar, concepts of information sharing and communication will be discussed. Questions will focus on the role of observers in mediating the information stream, both through development of data streams, products, and interaction with communities, as well as acceptance of input from interested parties and stakeholders.The webinar will be available through Webex (details available at www.arctichub.net).

Background: On October 31, 2013, a kick-off webinar was held by the National Science Foundation to introduce 35 questions grouped in 8 thematic areas which address best practices for long-term observing management and governance. Over the next 20 weeks, 9 webinars will be held to further delve into each of the 8 themes: (1) Definition, (2) Life cycle and horizons, (3) Review: frequency, criteria, and process, (4) Network relevance, (5) Funding models, (6) Award structure and management, (7) Information sharing and communication, and (8) National and global connectivity. The ninth webinar will be a wrap-up discussion and assessment of current exchanges on these 8 themes. For a list of the 35 questions within these 8 thematic areas, please visit www.arctichub.net and click on the "Long Term Observing Management Discussion Group" link on the home page and then click Discussion on the left-hand side of the group page.

The webinars will introduce the themes and questions in detail, but the discussion continues beyond the webinar timeframe. Interested persons who would like to lead discussions on one or more of the 35 questions are encouraged to apply for discussion funding support through an online application at: http://www.arcus.org/search/aon/discussion-funding-form. Funding details and eligibility are on the form webpage. The discussion content provided through this activity will inform best practices and lessons learned in long-term observing from the viewpoint of the wide range of actors involved in natural and social observing, its management, support, and development.

The 4th European Marine Board Forum will bring together Arctic stakeholders from multiple sectors (science, industry, policy & governance, NGOs, etc.) to:

• Discuss current trends and patterns of change in Arctic Ocean ecosystems, including human activity;
• Identify possible "2050" scenarios for Arctic Change and the corresponding implications for human health and well-being;
• Highlight key research gaps, needs and challenges in support of understanding, mitigating against, or adapting to Arctic change;
• Stimulate dialogue across sectors to aid common understanding, collaborative actions and sustainability targets;
• Promote the need for a sustainable ecosystem-based management of the Arctic Ocean.

Moderated by David Shukman, BBC Science Editor, the programme will include David Vaughan (British Antarctic Survey), Paul Connolly (President of the International Council for Exploration of the Sea), Antje Boetius (Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research), Kári Fannar Lárusson (Arctic Council), Robert Blaauw (Shell Den Haag) and Kurt Vandenberghe (European Commission, DG Research & Innnovation). The event will conclude with a high-level panel discussion with participation from science, industry and policy.

The Forum will take place in the centre of Brussels, at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts (KVAB, Hertogsstraat 1, 1000 Brussels), on Wednesday 12 March 2014. The Academy is situated to the left from the Royal Palace, across Hertogsstraat.

Further information on registration can be found at www.marineboard.eu/4thforum.

The 4th European Marine Board Forum will bring together Arctic stakeholders from multiple sectors (science, industry, policy & governance, NGOs, etc.) to:

• Discuss current trends and patterns of change in Arctic Ocean ecosystems, including human activity;
• Identify possible “2050” scenarios for Arctic Change and the corresponding implications for human health and well-being;
• Highlight key research gaps, needs and challenges in support of understanding, mitigating against, or adapting to Arctic change;
• Stimulate dialogue across sectors to aid common understanding, collaborative actions and sustainability targets;
• Promote the need for a sustainable ecosystem-based management of the Arctic Ocean.