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G. Carleton Ray from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia will be speaking at 3:30 pm at Elvey Auditorium at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

The term "seascape" relates the natural history of ice-dependent pinnipeds to their sea-ice environments, following concepts of landscape ecology. Seascape habitats are characterized by heterogeneous but repeatable structures of sea ice. Demonstrable habitat partitioning among the five species of Beringian pinnipeds is important for understanding and projecting species' responses to change under current climate-change scenarios. The seascape approach also calls for a revised research agenda. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 required a science-based ecosystem approach for conservation and management. The MMPA established the concept of optimum sustainable population (OSP) for marine mammals as significant functioning elements of ecosystems and placed ecosystem health as a first priority.

It also adopted a precautionary approach by shifting the burden of proof to the user, thereby restricting human intervention where such actions might otherwise disadvantageously affect species or populations of marine mammals. How these policies might be carried out under a scenario of climate change will be critical for future conservation of Beringian pinnipeds and their ecological role in the Beringian ecosystem.

Since November 2006 Dr. Jeffries has lived in Washington, DC, and worked in northern Virginia, first for the National Science Foundation (2006-10) and then the Office of Naval Research (2011-present). All the while he remained a professor and employee of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In this seminar he'll explain how one can work for the Federal Government and remain a university professor, describe what a science and technology program officer does, highlight differences between agencies, and suggest why it's important that academic researchers know and understand these differences. He will conclude with a few lessons he's learned that he believes can improve grantsmanship and proposal success.

This seminar takes place in the Elvey Globe Room at 3:30 PM on the UAF campus.

Join us on Friday, October 5, 2012 at the GeoData Center in the International Arctic Research Center for "Snow & Ice" – a First Friday Art Show. The event will run from 5 to 7 p.m. on the West Ridge of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

"Snow & Ice" features ice-inspired photography by USGS Scientist and Photographer Austin Post, Adam Hughes, a local nature photographer, and the work of faculty, staff and students of the UAF Geophysical Institute. Come see a wide range of snow and ice – from colorful satellite imagery of Alaska glaciers, scenic shots of radiant icebergs to microscopic images of ice crystals that resemble a colorful mosaic.

The First Friday event is free and parking is available just outside the International Arctic Research Center. Refreshments will be served and items will be for sale. Orders for additional photographic and canvas prints of the featured photography can be ordered through GI's Design Services. Come support your friends and colleagues at this unique event and pick up some beautiful, yet affordable artwork.

The event is sponsored by the UAF Geophysical Institute and the International Arctic Research Center.

More information is available by emailing info [at] gi.alaska.edu.

Alaska’s IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society is announcing an upcoming lecture of its Luncheon Lecture Series on: “Remote Sensing of the Last Frontier”.

Unlike passive instruments such as radiometers or optical imagers, radars carry their own source of illumination and measure the scattered energy from an object or surface; in a sense reaching out and touching it. With control over various system parameters, radars can be designed to measure a broad variety of geophysical phenomena relating to oceans, atmospheres, land cover, and ice sheets. For over 40 years, the Radar Science & Engineering Section at Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been designing and building radar missions to probe the planets and better understand our changing Earth.

Alaska has some of the richest and most challenging terrain for remote sensing, from steep and glaciated mountains to fast-changing coastal dynamics and varied ecosystems in between. So naturally, JPL has favored Alaska as a natural laboratory for many of its airborne and spaceborne campaigns, and has worked closely with research institutions in the state, most notably the Alaska Satellite Facility and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

This talk will present an overview of the radar program at JPL, and will highlight some of the advances in technologies and techniques that have led to breakthrough measurements and discoveries in understanding our solar system.

The challenges facing the Arctic during a time of change and global warming uncertainty will be the subject of frank and lively debate between policymakers, Ambassadors from European Union and Arctic nations, polar scientists, and representatives industry and Arctic indigenous peoples groups, at the 2012 Arctic Futures Symposium, taking place in Brussels on October 4th and 5th. High-level speakers include Prince Albert II of Monaco, Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Belgian Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs Didier Reynders, and Charles Emmerson, Chatham House Senior Research Fellow on Energy, Environment and Resources, and author of The Future History of the Arctic. Guest speakers will also include Sweden's Arctic Ambassador Gustav Lind, Greenland's Deputy Foreign Minister Inuuteq Holm Olsen, Robert Blaauw, Senior Advisor to Shell's Arctic programme, Bernard Funston, Chair of the Canadian Polar Commission, British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Prof. David Vaughan and Lars-Anders Baer, chair of the Working Group of Indigenous Peoples in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region.

The conference, entitled "Pathways to Arctic Innovation," will focus on challenges, lessons learned, and innovations in wildlife conservation and co-management across the Canadian Arctic.

Unmanned aerial systems couple innovative design and construction to assist business, science, the military and even ensure public safety from the air. Alaska offers a vast landscape in which unmanned aircraft can work. Whether it's monitoring the state's wildlife, gathering data on precious resources or assisting public safety efforts, these aircraft are proving themselves a crucial component of living and operating in the far north.

Now is your opportunity to participate in a forum dedicated solely to setting goals for unmanned aircraft in the Arctic. From Sept. 25 – 27, 2012, the Alaska UAS Interest Group will host its annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. Registration is currently underway at http://www.uasalaska.org. The cost to attend is $175. Commercial and government stakeholders are welcome.

The Alaska UAS Interest Group Annual Meeting will take place at the Embassy Suites Anchorage, located at 600 East Benson Boulevard. Rooms at the Embassy Suites are available at a discounted price when secured by Friday, September 14.

The  European Space Agency, in collaboration with the French Space Agency, CNES, is organising an exceptional Symposium on "20  Years of Progress in Radar  Altimetry". This event will be sponsored by other partner agencies and organizations supporting the development of altimetry. Along with this symposium, several related events will take place on the same week, including the annual meeting of the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team (OSTST) and the International Doris Service (IDS) workshop, as well as other thematic workshops still to be organised, such as, Sea Level for Climate, Coastal Zone, Space for Hydrology, Argo, etc. These events will be held over 6 days, from 24 to 29 of September 2012, in Venice-Lido, Italy.

More information will be forthcoming.

Knowledge and understanding of processes and products linked to land to sea coupling are essential for the geological approach to earth system research. Crustal movements, material fluxes, sea-level fluctuations and climatic processes interact to determine environmental conditions and distribution of georesources. The international annual meeting of the Geologische Vereinigung and the SEDIMENT in Hamburg in 2012 will focus on these topics. In the course of the meeting we want to provide a forum for interchange and discussion of new knowledge about land to sea coupling through Earth history and to put the geological view in perspective of comprehensive earth system research. We are looking forward to welcome you in Hamburg in 2012!

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) initiative is a multidisciplinary research program designed to answer two critical, interrelated climate questions: How will the unstable West Antarctic ice sheet affect future sea level? How do rapid global climate changes occur?

The registration deadline for this workshop is August 1st; abstracts are due August 25th.