News Archive

On 11 July 2019, Dr. Twila Moon of the SEARCH Land Ice Action Team took part in a hearing of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on glacial and ice sheet melt.

Arctic Futures 2050 is an international conference taking place 4-6 September in Washington, D.C. designed to facilitate dialogue and enhance collaboration between Arctic scientists from many disciplines, diverse Indigenous knowledge holders, and policy makers from all levels of government. Early bird registration rates for the event have been extended to 17 July 2019.

The Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 (SIPN2) announces the call for contributions for the 2019 Sea Ice Outlook July report (based on May and June data). The Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) provides an open process for those interested in Arctic sea ice to share ideas.

Pan-Arctic and Regional Sea Ice Extent Outlooks and any additional figures and gridded fields will be accepted for the 2019 July Outlook. We particularly encourage submissions for the Alaska region (i.e., Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas). For those interested, submissions for Hudson Bay are also accepted. Submissions that include spatial forecast maps are encouraged.

The 2019 SIO will also accept pan-Antarctic sea ice extent of the September monthly mean. Informal sea ice observations and other parameters not included in the regular monthly reports are also invited. All participants whose methods provide information at the local scale to are encouraged to provide full spatial fields via the SIPN Data Portal.

Submission deadline: 6:00 p.m. (AKDT) Friday, 12 July 2019 (firm).

Join PolarTREC for an upcoming live event with educator Amanda Ruland and the team studying Fire and Carbon in Siberian Forests on Monday, 8 July 2019 at 12 PM AKDT (1 PM PDT, 2 PM MDT, 3 PM CDT, 4 PM EDT). This event will be broadcast live from the Northeastern Science Station in Cherskii, Russia. To learn more about the science and what Amanda is learning, visit her expedition page here. Register today for this free 1-hour event!

ARCUS is conducting a brief survey to inform a new effort focused on helping individuals interested in interdisciplinary Arctic research opportunities connect more easily. By taking part, you will help ensure that the project is well-aligned with user needs. The survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete and will be open until 31 July 2019. We invite you to share the survey with any colleagues who might want to provide input or become involved.

The June 2019 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes an article, “Re-establishing an Arctic Research Station at Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska” discussing the re-establishment of a long-term observation site in northern Alaska that supports research focused on landscape and ecosystem changes in the Arctic.

The 2019 June Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) report is now available online. The Sea Ice Outlook, an effort managed by the Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 (SIPN2), provides an open process for those interested in Arctic sea ice to share ideas. The monthly reports contain a variety of perspectives—from advanced numerical models to qualitative perspectives from citizen scientists.

For the 2019 June report, 31 contributions were received that included pan-Arctic predictions, of those contributions six (6) also included pan-Antarctic predictions, and nine (9) included predictions for Alaskan waters. This year, for the first time, there are also seven (7) predictions for the Hudson Bay region.

For the pan-Arctic, the median June Outlook value for September 2019 sea-ice extent is 4.40 million square kilometers with quartiles of 4.2 and 4.8 million square kilometers (The individual outlooks are based on statistical, dynamical models, and heuristic methods. Projected extents are slightly lower compared with 2018 June outlook, but is about the same as in the 2017 June outlook (4.43 million square kilometers). he Sea Ice Outlook provides an open process for those interested in Arctic sea ice to share predictions and ideas; the Outlook is not an operational forecast.

Please join us next week for our first two live PolarConnect Events (webinars) – both broadcast from Toolik Field Station in Alaska.

Our first event will be on Tuesday, 25 June at 10 am AKDT with educator Ale Martinez and the Phenology and Vegetation in the Warming Arctic 2019 Team. Ale's team is studying environmental variability and increased temperature on tundra plant phenology, growth, species composition and ecosystem function. You can read more about her experience here.

Our second event will be with educator David Walker and the team studying Carbon in the Arctic. It will be held on Wednesday, 26 June 2019 at 4 pm AKDT. During this event, the team will share their recent research on how microbes and sunlight interact in the Arctic and where thawing permafrost soils release large amounts of carbon from land to water. You can read more about his experience and the research here. Register today!

The “Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic” conference will be held 23-25 September 2019 in Charlottesville, VA. This event will feature an interdisciplinary symposium and workshops, a musical performance and art exhibition, and poster sessions. The UVA Environmental Resilience Institute’s Arctic CoLab is organizing the event, with assistance from ARCUS. Funding is provided by NSF, with additional support from UVA’s Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures, and Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation. Registration is free.

The Spring 2019 issue of Witness the Arctic is now published online. This issue includes articles about Bering Sea conditions during the 2019 spring season, an ongoing study of catastrophic lake drainage in the Arctic system, a study of Arctic data portals, and observations from Arctic Indigenous scholar, Rosemary Ahtuangaruak; news from the Local Environmental Observer Network, the Polar Research Board, IARPC Collaborations, the SEARCH program, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, the Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2, and the ARCUS membership program; comments from the ARCUS Executive Director’s office, board members, and Board President Audrey Taylor; and a highlight of ARCUS member institution, the Sitka Sound Science Center.

The Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 (SIPN2) announces the call for contributions for the 2019 Sea Ice Outlook June report (based on May data). The Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) provides an open process for those interested in Arctic sea ice to share ideas.

Pan-Arctic and Regional Sea Ice Extent Outlooks and any additional figures and gridded fields will be accepted for the 2019 June Outlook. We particularly encourage submissions for the Alaska region (i.e., Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas). For those interested, submissions for Hudson Bay are also accepted. Submissions that include spatial forecast maps are encouraged.

The 2019 SIO will also accept pan-Antarctic sea ice extent of the September monthly mean. Informal sea ice observations and other parameters not included in the regular monthly reports are also invited. All participants whose methods provide information at the local scale to are encouraged to provide full spatial fields via the SIPN Data Portal.

Submission deadline: 6:00 p.m. (AKDT) Wednesday, 12 June 2019 (firm).

In a new commentary in Nature, SEARCH's Permafrost Action Team indicates a possible doubling of warming from carbon released by thawing permafrost. "An important gap in our understanding of the consequences of a warming Arctic has been how much carbon will thawing permafrost release to the atmosphere and how quickly? This report advances our understanding of the processes, further refines the estimates, and clearly points to the next steps in research," notes Brendan Kelly, Executive Director of SEARCH.

The Arctic Futures 2050 Conference Organizing Committee has announced extended deadlines for the following conference dates:

• Poster Abstracts Deadline: 20 May 2019
• Travel Award Applications Deadline: 20 May 2019
• Poster Decisions and Travel Award Winners Announced: 17 June 2019
• Early-bird Registration Rates End: 10 July 2019

The April 2019 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes three articles: “Comparative Study Explores Northern Dene Astronomical Knowledge,” an investigation of how Northern Dene peoples perceive, conceptualize, and integrate the sky and its contents into systems of knowledge and worldview; “A Remarkable Response of Ice-Rich Permafrost Terrain to Summer Warming,” highlighting the dramatic impact of thawing permafrost on Arctic environments; and “A New and Exciting Age in Polar Science,” an essay by Kelly K. Falkner, Director of the Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation.

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) is pleased to host Helen M. Aderman, 2019 Arctic Indigenous Scholar, for a seminar/webinar entitled, “The Bristol Bay Marine Ecosystem & Subsistence Resource Needs”. The event will be held on Monday, 6 May 2019 at 12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT at the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) office in Washington, D.C. A live webinar is also available to those unable to attend in person. Registration is required for both the in-person and live-streamed events.

The Sea Ice Prediction Network – Phase 2 (SIPN2) invites registration for an open webinar entitled "ICESat-2 over Sea Ice: Early Results" featuring Ron Kwok, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the ICESat-2 Team. The presentation will focus on one of NASA’s science objectives for the ICESat-2 altimetry mission—to provide observations to quantify changes and to add to previous satellite and airborne records of freeboard, thickness, and sea surface height of the ice-covered Arctic and Southern Oceans. This event will be held on Tuesday, 7 May 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. AKDT.

ARCUS invites registration for the next Arctic Research Seminar Series event featuring Lawrence Hamilton (Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire). This event, titled “What People Know: Asking About the Arctic on U.S. General-Public Surveys,” will be held on Friday, 3 May 2019 at 12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT in Washington D.C. This seminar will also be available as a webinar live-stream for those unable to attend in person.

The Arctic Futures 2050 Conference Organizing Committee has announced extended deadlines for the following conference dates:

• Poster Abstracts Deadline: 20 May 2019
• Travel Award Applications Deadline: 20 May 2019
• Poster Decisions and Travel Award Winners Announced: 17 June 2019
• Early-bird Registration Rates End: 10 July 2019

The 2019 Anchorage Arctic Research Summit will be held Thursday, 2 May from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Anchorage Museum in Anchorage, Alaska. The conference theme is “Transforming Research and Scholarship in the North” and will bring together members of the Anchorage-area Arctic research community to share information about their diverse research and creative activities, and to foster new connections. Registration is open.

Date and Time: 14 May 2019, 10:00 a.m. AKT/ 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: This event will be held online via Zoom Video Conferencing.

For more information, contact Andrea Fisher, SEARCH Research Associate, afisher13 [at] alaska.edu

The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) invites participation in a virtual discussion, Intersection of Arctic Science and Policy. This web presentation will be held 14 May 2019 at 10:00 a.m. AKT/ 11:00 a.m. PT/ 12:00 p.m. MT/ 1:00 p.m. CT/ 2:00 p.m. ET via Zoom Video Conferencing.

Dr. Brendan Kelly, SEARCH Executive Director, will present a short history of Arctic research policy—from the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 to the Department of Defense Arctic Strategy of 2017—followed by observations on the future science needed to support policy. Input from others on the call is encouraged.

Open to anyone interested in Arctic research and policies. The discussion is part of the lead up to the Arctic Futures 2050 conference that will take place September 4-6, 2019 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Registration for the conference is now open.

ARCUS is accepting applications for a motivated, organized, and detail-oriented Project Assistant. This position is a non-exempt, full-time position, paid on an hourly basis. Hiring preference will be given to candidates located in Fairbanks. Additional consideration may be given to qualified Alaska-based candidates with demonstrated ability to work from a remote location.

General responsibilities will include travel planning, workshop planning support and implementation, assistance with ARCUS programs, and general administrative support.

Applications will be reviewed beginning Friday, 26 April 2019 and the position will remain open until filled.

The Permafrost Collaboration Team of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) is organizing a webinar on Monday, April 15 at 2pm EDT to discuss the Arctic Futures 2050 conference and to begin exploring within the permafrost community the knowledge needed to inform decisions concerning the Arctic in coming decades.

To participate, please request an account on the IARPC Collaborations website and the join the IARPC Permafrost Collaboration Team. Once you are signed in, you will be able to view the meeting login details here.

The Arctic Futures 2050 Conference Organizing Committee announces travel award opportunities for early-career researchers and Indigenous knowledge holders. The Arctic Futures 2050 Conference will be an international conference designed to enhance collaboration between Arctic scientists from many disciplines, diverse Indigenous knowledge holders, and policy makers from all levels of government. Travel award applications are due 1 May 2019.

The Arctic Futures 2050 Conference Organizing Committee announces travel award opportunities for early-career researchers and Indigenous knowledge holders. The Arctic Futures 2050 Conference—convened by the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)—will be an international conference designed to enhance collaboration between Arctic scientists from many disciplines, diverse Indigenous knowledge holders, and policy makers from all levels of government. The conference will be held 4-6 September 2019 at the National Academies of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Applications are due 20 May 2019.

The March 2019 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: “Novel Project Seeks Understanding of Air Pollution Processes in Arctic Conditions,” summarizing efforts to increase understanding of pollution processes relevant to Arctic winter conditions; and “Alaska NSF Program Releases Stakeholder Engagement Report,” summarizing findings of a six-year project entitled “Alaska Adapting to Changing Environments.”