News Archive

The March issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue highlights the Arctic Data Center and their continued work to support curation and preservation of Arctic research data. The Center's data support team continues to build efficient data management and discovery tools as the outreach and training team develops new activities, including Data Science Fellowships and training events, throughout the coming year.

The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) announces a call for nominations of new Science Steering Committee (SSC) members. SEARCH is a collaborative program of Arctic researchers, funding agencies, and others that facilitates synthesis of Arctic science and communicates our current understanding to help society respond to a rapidly changing Arctic.

The SSC is comprises 12 members, each serving a three-year term, with the option to a second term. SEARCH seeks nominations of candidates that are broad and cross disciplinary thinkers, are good communicators and consensus-builders, and have a strong commitment to the SEARCH vision. We welcome nominations from all disciplines and research backgrounds.

SSC members are expected to:
* Guide overall directions of SEARCH implementation;
* Promote and communicate SEARCH activities and plans;
* Provide guidance to the Executive Director, action teams, and working groups;
* Work with the Executive Director to establish strong partnerships;
* Approve annual SEARCH work plans and reports; and
* Be active participants in SSC meetings (4 or more/year) and working groups.

Self-nominations are welcome. Nominations should include:

• Name
• Affiliation
• Contact information
• Area of expertise
• Curriculum vitae
• A brief statement of why the person would be an asset to the SEARCH program
• Confirmation that the nominee would consent to serve

Nominations should be sent to Brit Myers, brit [at] arcus.org no later than 31 April 2018.

Nominations will be reviewed by June 2018. Invitations to join the SSC will go out to selected candidates prior to the committee’s next regular meeting scheduled to take place in September 2018.

The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO), which provides information on spring sea ice, weather and walrus for Alaska Native subsistence hunters and coastal communities in the Bering Strait region, will be published each Friday this spring while sea ice is present. Our record-early start is in response to very low ice conditions in the St. Lawrence Island area. SIWO is managed by ARCUS and produced with information from local hunters, the National Weather Service, and other sources. This week’s outlook includes the annual State of the Ice at Season’s Start. Follow us on Facebook.

A recording is now available of the Arctic Research seminar/webinar featuring Matthew Jull of the University of Virginia. The presentation highlights the work of the Arctic Design Group and foregrounds design in the act of framing and re-imagining the potential futures of the Arctic.

ARCUS is accepting applications for an enthusiastic, organized, and detail-oriented Administrative Assistant. This position is a non-exempt part-time position in Fairbanks, Alaska, paid on an hourly basis.

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

Applications will be reviewed beginning Friday, 9 March 2018 and the position will remain open until filled.

The February issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: news from the International Arctic Research Center that offers lessons learned from 15 years of providing successful summer school programs to students and early career scientists, and news about the newly formed international Arctic Research Icebreaker Consortium (ARICE) and the role of the NSF-owned research vessel Sikuliaq in the effort to enhance international scientific collaboration in the Arctic Ocean.

A recording is now available of the ARCUS D.C. Arctic Research seminar/webinar featuring featuring Marlene Laruelle (George Washington University). The presentation discusses the dominant role that domestic factors play in Russia's foreign policy stances for the Arctic.

The January 2018 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes an article summarizing key highlights from the recently released Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) 2017 Post-Season Report that includes discussion of 2017 Arctic weather and ice conditions; the Outlook contributions and methodologies; and sea ice extent probability maps; and an article about the Leadership and Strength project, which draws upon engaged community-based research approaches to examine community strength and well-being and focuses on the pathways that women, men, and families forge to live well in Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow).

A recording is now available of the ARCUS D.C. Arctic Research seminar/webinar featuring Roberto Delgado (NIH/NIMH) & Andrea Horvath Marques (NIH/NIMH). The presentation discusses NIMH-supported research and other activities that aim to improve the mental health and wellbeing of Arctic residents.

As a side-event to the 2018 Arctic Frontiers conference, SEARCH Executive Director Brendan Kelly will be participating as a speaker in the Arctic Technology Summit organized by the Arctic Encounter Symposium and Arctic Frontiers. The summit will explore the technology development and infrastructure needs to ensure a sustainable Arctic. The event will take place on Wednesday, 24 January 2018 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Tromsø, Norway from 5-6:30pm CET.

Jennifer Francis, co-lead of the SEARCH Sea Ice Action Team, discusses links between a warming Arctic and North America's winter weather patterns in this article featured by Arctic Now.

To empower Indigenous scholars and provide a key opportunity for officials at U.S. government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other groups working on Arctic issues to learn and integrate information/perspectives from multiple Arctic knowledge systems, ARCUS and ICC Alaska invite applications from and/or nominations of leading Arctic Indigenous scholars to travel to Washington D.C. Scholars are defined as experts within their own knowledge systems—no formal education is required. While the selected Arctic Indigenous Scholars are in D.C., ARCUS and ICC Alaska will facilitate meetings with officials at relevant U.S. government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other groups, where such scholars will be able to share their interests via a seminar and meetings, learn of available resources, build toward collaborative relationships, and provide on-the-ground perspectives to key decision-makers.

Applications are due Thursday, 15 February 2018

The Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) announces availability of the 2017 Arctic Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) Post-Season Report. The report includes reviews of the 2017 Arctic conditions, the melt season, contributions to the 2017 SIO monthly reports, as well as discussions of the statistical methods and local-scale analysis of 2017 Sea Ice Outlooks. The report also includes discussion of contributions to the call for forecasts of the Antarctic maxima, and discussion of the beginning of the Sea Ice Drift Forecast Experiment (SIDFEx), which is a contribution to the Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP).

An open "Arctic Sea Ice Prediction Stakeholders Workshop" will be held on Monday, 22 January 2018 in conjunction with the Arctic Frontiers Conference in Tromso, Norway. This workshop will bring together sea ice stakeholders and forecasters to:
1) Assess the value of forecasts by the user community.
2) Determine if and how ice forecasts are currently being used in decision making.
3) Communicate the relevant metrics needed by various stakeholders.
4) Identify where improvements in sea ice forecasts would help stakeholders make decisions.
5) Communicate the limits and opportunities of current forecasting systems.

Members of the SEARCH-affiliated Permafrost Carbon Network have convened a conference session exploring the permafrost carbon (CO2, CH4) and non-carbon (N2O) feedbacks of climate change as part of the 2018 EGU General Assembly. The session is seeking contributions that address N2O dynamics from Arctic ecosystems that aim to understand the dynamics and estimate the potential importance in climate feedbacks compared to CO2 and CH4. The EGU General Assembly will take place in Vienna, Austria from 08–13 April 2018. Abstract deadline is January 10, 2018.

Happy Holidays from all of us at ARCUS & we look forward to doing great work in the new year!

An "Arctic Sea Ice Prediction Stakeholders Workshop" will be held on Monday, 22 January 2018 in conjunction with the Arctic Frontiers Conference in Tromso, Norway. This workshop will bring together sea ice stakeholders and forecasters to:
1) Assess the value of forecasts by the user community.
2) Determine if and how ice forecasts are currently being used in decision making.
3) Communicate the relevant metrics needed by various stakeholders.
4) Identify where improvements in sea ice forecasts would help stakeholders make decisions.
5) Communicate the limits and opportunities of current forecasting systems.

Join PolarTREC and Polar Educators International (PEI) at the upcoming Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held 11-15 December 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana!

The AGU Fall Meeting brings together scientists from all over the world to share, discover, and engage in science discussions. ARCUS will be hosting a community meeting room, an annual membership meeting, and a reception.

PolarTREC alumni will be attending and sharing their experiences at various poster and oral sessions.

For those interested in polar education, Polar Educators International (PEI) will be hosting a PEI Meeting on Tuesday, 12 December 2017; 5:00pm – 6:30pm CST at the Hyatt New Orleans Convention Center in the coffee/bar lounge area. For more information about PEI activities, contact Betsy Wilkening, ewilkening99 [at] gmail.com.

The Fall 2017 issue of Witness the Arctic is now published online. This issue includes a summary of the NSF Vision for Research Support and Logistics at Summit Stations and announcement of the NSF Arctic Sciences Program Town Hall during the 2017 AGU Fall meetings; a highlight of recent community-based research on the health and wellbeing of Alaska Native Elderly; Sea Ice Prediction Network news; discussion of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program’s syntheses and communication efforts; results from a workshop that examined relationships between research and Alaskan Indigenous communities; updated information on the Agreement to Enhance International Arctic Scientific Cooperation with the newly-released map; results from an international workshop on maritime traffic in the Bering Strait; news from IARPC and the Polar Research Board; highlights from the 2017 Joint Science Education Project, international news from IASC, the Year of Polar Prediction project, and the Greenland Ecological Monitoring Program; a summary of recent ARCUS activities; and comments from ARCUS Executive Director, Robert Rich.

Join us for a special international day of activities including a live event from the South Pole Station, Antarctica with PolarTREC teacher Lesley Anderson. The presentation will focus on the history of the Antarctica Treaty and how it relates to science conducted at the South Pole, in particular with the IceCube project. Additional Antarctica Day activities as well as the virtual balloon launch can be found at Our Spaces.

Event Time: Monday, 4 December 2017 at 9:30am AKST [10:30am PST, 11:30am MST, 12:30pm CST, 1:30pm EST] in North America.

The Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) announces an open meeting on Tuesday, 12 December from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. (CST) in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the 2017 American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meetings. This meeting will provide: a discussion of the 2017 Arctic sea ice/Sea Ice Outlook season, an overview of the recently-funded "SIPN 2" project and collaborations, and opportunity for discussion and to share information on related efforts. A boxed lunch will be provided for meeting participants who RSVP by Friday, 1 December 2017. For questions and to RSVP, contact Betsy Turner-Bogren, ARCUS (betsy [at] arcus.org).

ARCUS announces the availability of community meeting space at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), held 11-15 December 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Arctic Community Meeting Rooms are hosted by ARCUS to encourage collaboration and to facilitate face-to-face meetings of opportunity, and is funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Polar Programs. Meeting space is available in one or two-hour blocks for groups working on Arctic research and/or education activities.

Connect to the Antarctic! Join us for an upcoming PolarConnect event with George Hademenos and the Antarctic Automatic Weather Stations on Thursday, 9 November 2017 at 9:00am AKST (10am PST, 11am MST, 12pm CST, 1pm EST) This event will be broadcast live from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Register today!

The Interagency Arctic Research Committee (IARPC) and the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) will host a joint Town Hall event at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting on Thursday, 14 December 2017 from 12:30-1:30 p.m (Central Time) in Room 252-254 of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA.

Recognizing the importance of science that is actionable by stakeholders, this Town Hall will engage the community in discussions of effective practices and new approaches. Examples of Arctic research addressing stakeholder needs will serve as test cases to examine: how are needs identified; how are questions appropriately framed to meet stakeholder needs; and what promotes and constrains research addressing those needs? The executive directors of SEARCH and IARPC will moderate discussion among SEARCH and IARPC teams and the broader community. Discussion questions will include:

• IARPC & SEARCH focus on different stakeholder audiences; what audiences are left out?
• Who is/should be targeting those other audiences?
• How might your efforts to engage stakeholders amplify—or be amplified by—the efforts of IARPC and SEARCH?
• What are effective approaches for communicating with diverse audiences?

Light refreshments will be provided.

For more information, contact:

Martin Jeffries
Executive Director
Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee
Martin_O_Jeffries [at] ostp.eop.gov

Brendan P. Kelly
Executive Director
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
bpkelly [at] alaska.edu

The October 2017 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available. This online publication highlights Arctic research efforts and other timely items of interest to our readers. The October issue includes an article discussing the legally binding "Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation” signed by the eight member states of the Arctic Council on 11 May 2017 at the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska. The goal of this science agreement is to facilitate access, whether to territory and research areas, platforms, infrastructure, facilities, materials, samples, data, or equipment.