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Set in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Goldschmidt 2013 will be able to offer an outstanding science program alongside the opportunity to enjoy the many cultural riches the city has to offer.

Based in the heart of the city, the Firenze Fiera Congress and Exhibition Centre, will host all the scientific sessions in one complex. With two international airports within easy reach and an integrated public transport system, visiting the historic city of Florence is simple.

Abstract submission is now open, with the abstract submission deadline being April 12th (23:59 GMT) 2013. Registration, exhibition bookings and accommodation information is also available from the relevant pages on the site. Field trips and some Workshop registrations are also available on the site. Field trips must be booked by April 12th and bookings for workshops will close on June 25th.

Organizers of the conference entitled, "Climate Change in Northern Territories: Sharing Experiences, Exploring New Method,s and Assessing Socio-Economic Impacts," announce a first call for abstracts for general participation and young researchers. The conference, organized by the European Observation Network (ESPON)/Evidence in a North European Context (ENECON) in cooperation with the Northern Research Forum (NFR), will convene 22-23 August 2013 in Akureyri, Iceland.

The ENECON project addresses challenges and opportunities facing territorial development and spatial planning policies, and practices, particular to the vast territory of the very northern part of Europe. The goal of the conference is to turn attention to territorial challenges and the need for future research in the northernmost regions of Europe and the Arctic; and the challenge of translating scientific knowledge into action. The conference aims to bring together researchers who have similar backgrounds but focus on different problems and different methodological approaches. Regional and local stakeholders as well as state politicians and policymakers are also target groups for the conference.

Sub-themes of the conference include:

• Territorial socio-economic impacts of climate change,
• Methodologies for assessing socio-economic impact, and
• Adaptation to climate change in regions and local communities--examining methods and sharing knowledge.

Abstract submission deadline: 28 February 2013.

The International Arctic Research Center (IARC) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks announces a summer school on climate change in the Arctic Ocean. The class is intended for PhD students, postdocs, and early-career scientists. It will be conducted jointly with an arctic expedition as a part of the Nansen and Amundsen Basin Observational System (NABOS) project onboard the Russian research vessel "Akademik Fedorov." The National Science Foundation funds both the summer school and NABOS expedition.

The one-month summer school will bring graduate students and young scientists together with specialists in arctic oceanography and climate to convey to a new generation of scientists the opportunities and challenges of arctic climate observations and modeling. Specifically, young scientists will gain:

• Hands-on experience during the field campaign;
• Perspectives on the key issues in arctic climate from observational, diagnostic, and modeling perspectives; and
• Exposure to the methods used in addressing arctic climate and climate change.

The summer school will consist of background lectures, participation in fieldwork, and mini-projects. The mini-projects will be performed in collaboration with summer school instructors and members of the expedition. Key topics to be covered in the lectures include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Arctic climate: key characteristics and processes;
• Physical processes in the Arctic Ocean;
• Sea ice and the Arctic Ocean;
• Trace gases, aerosols, and chemistry: importance for climate changes;
• Feedbacks in the arctic system (e.g., surface albedo, clouds, water vapor, circulation);
• Arctic climate variations: past, ongoing, and projected; and
• Global climate models: an overview.

The 33-day long NABOS expedition will start on 22 August 2013 from Kirkenes, Norway, and return to Kirkenes on 23 September 2013. Participants will need to arrive at least one day before the departure and book return tickets at least one day after the ship's scheduled return. All participants will be accommodated onboard Akademik Fedorov in cabins for 2 or 4 people. IARC will issue partial travel grants for travel to/from Kirkenes, with amounts determined through an application process.

Application packages should include a curriculum vitae, a letter of interest, and a letter of support from the applicant's supervisor. The cover letter should include estimates for the participant's travel expenses to/from Kirkenes (including lodging in Kirkenes).

Application deadline: Wednesday, 15 May 2013.

Please send applications electronically, to: Tohru Saito Email: saito [at] iarc.uaf.edu

Join us in Edmonton for the Canadian Quaternary Association biannual meeting August 18-21, 2013. The meeting will be joint with the Canadian Geomorphology Research Group and hosted at the University of Alberta. The meeting includes 18 special sessions covering diverse areas of Quaternary science.

There will be also two pre-conference field trips:

• Jasper and the Athabasca glacier August 17-18 Led by Nat Rutter (University of Alberta) and Dan Utting (Alberta Geological Survey)
• Glacial geomorphology of paleo-ice streams of Southern Alberta August 16-18. Led by David Evans (University of Durham)

Abstract Deadline: 15 April 2013

Snow remote sensing has been a 40-year effort, with some successes, but some big challenges remaining. This is not because of lack of effort, but rather because snow remote sensing is hard to do, and because what society needs to know ranges from assessing regional and hemispheric climate impacts of snow to specific basin runoff forecasts for water management. But there are new technologies, and innovative ways of working with older technologies, that are showing great promise today. In addition, data assimilation methods and modeling snow stochastically and physically have come a long way. The time is ripe to galvanize the community, provide a blueprint for action to stakeholders and agencies that is inclusive, comprehensive, and addresses multiple needs, and which can help accelerate the pace of delivering practical snow remote sensing products to a wide range of users. Please think about attending the NASA Snow Remote Sensing Workshop in Boulder CO. August 14–16, a key step in achieving these goals.

For more information contact:
Dr. Matthew Sturm (matthew.sturm [at] gi.alaska.edu)
Dr. Chris Derksen (Chris.Derksen [at] ec.gc.ca)
Dr. Mark Serreze (serreze [at] nsidc.org)
Dr. Jared Entin (jared.k.entin [at] nasa.gov)

Presentations, roundtable discussions and workshops are held as part of the Week of the Arctic, varied in form to reach different audiences and achieve multiple goals. The Robert O. Anderson Sustainable Arctic Award dinner is the signature event for the Week of the Arctic. In recent years, the Award has been given to Red Dog Mine (2012) and Jacob Adams (2011). The award was created in 2000 to recognize individuals and organizations that make outstanding contributions toward sustainable development in the Arctic. Join us as we present CH2M Hill this year's Award. The Week of the Arctic culminates on Sunday, August 18 with a champagne toast in celebration of the Governor Walter J. Hickel Day of the Arctic.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) announces that the Advanced Study Program 2013 summer colloquium will be held 29 July - 16 August 2013 in Boulder, Colorado. Entitled "Carbon-Climate Connections in the Earth System," the program will fund travel and living expenses for about 25 graduate student participants.

This colloquium is designed for graduate students who have completed at least one year in a field related to biogeochemistry or Earth system modeling. The colloquium will focus on the physical, biological, and chemical mechanisms that regulate the global carbon cycle. It will feature lectures from international experts on key aspects of the carbon cycle and its representation in Earth system models. Lectures will address both terrestrial and ocean biogeochemical systems, and include observational and modeling perspectives. Furthermore, lectures will be given on coupled climate modeling and analytical techniques relevant to carbon cycle science. Tutorials and computer-based exercises will provide experience working with models spanning a range of complexity. Student projects will examine the behavior of cutting-edge Earth system models in simulations submitted to phase five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5).

Attendees will obtain an integrated conceptual understanding of the processes regulating the global carbon cycle. Students will learn state-of-the-art modeling approaches used in Earth system models and recognize key elements contributing to uncertainty in future projections. Student will gain hands-on experience working with model output and the observational data sets used to calibrate and evaluate the models.

Application deadline: Friday, 15 February 2013.

The International Glaciological Society will hold an International Symposium on 'Changes in Glaciers and Ice Sheets: observations, modelling and environmental interactions' in 2013. The symposium will be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, from 28 July–2 August 2013.

Glaciers and ice sheets are important components that control sea level change. In response to a warming climate, Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets have significantly lost mass during the last decade, and mountain glaciers worldwide have rapidly declined. Changes in mountain glaciers have direct impacts on human activities, especially in mid-latitude regions, where high-altitude snow and ice contribute to the hydrological controls of human activity. Therefore, the symposium specifically includes topics pertinent to the Earth's 'Third Pole' (the high-altitude plateaus of Central Asia). To improve our understanding of the dynamics of cryospheric change, interactions with the climate and impact on the living environment of mountainous regions, it aims to provide a general discussion of changes in these components of the global cryosphere with broader aspects from recent in situ observations, remote sensing measurements and modelling efforts.

Please submit your abstract online and register your interest to attend at http://www.igsoc.org/symposia/2013/beijing/

I also encourage you to investigate your visa requirements. A detailed description of what is required can be found on the Local Organizing Committee's website http://iscgis.csp.escience.cn/dct/page/70014. Please note in particular what is required if you are planning to visit Tibet.

Please contact the LOC (iscgis [at] itpcas.ac.cn ) for further information.

Ice in the polar region, including ice sheet, ice shelves and sea ice are in constant motions, which are closely related to global change. Sea-level rise (SLR) is one of the consequences result from of global change. Recent study on SLR budget indicate that the contribution from land ice has increased by ~60% in the past decade. This workshop on ice in motion will take place right before the Beijing 2013 IGS symposium and will concentrate on the recent advance in remote sensing and observation of the cryosphere, especially the ice. Over 10 invited talks will be given by internationally known scientists, including Prof. Robert Bindschadler, Ted Scambos, Christina Hulbe, Regine Hock, Weili Wang, Yuansheng Li, Bo Sun, and Rongxing Li, et al.

The workshop is organized by the College of Global Change and Earth System Science (GCESS), Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the State key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science (SLRSS).

The Alaska State Society will convene again on Saturday, July 20, for another round of brunch and Qugruk conversation in the upstairs room at Mr. Henry's restaurant. This month's guest will be Fran Ulmer, the presidentially-appointed Chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission. As Alaskans know, Fran Ulmer has also been, at various times, the chancellor of UAA; the Lt. Governor of Alaska; an Alaska state legislator; and the mayor of Juneau. We'll brunch for 30 minutes, then give the floor to our speaker. Under the banner, "What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic," Commissioner Ulmer will address Arctic shipping, research, climate change, and oil-spill prevention and response--all followed by questions and answers from the audience.

*The qugruk, or tundra swan -- like many AKSS members -- regularly flies between Alaska and Washington, D.C.