Today the House, Senate and White House continue budget discussions to avert a government shutdown.  Authorization for federal funding will expire today unless Congress is able to pass a short-term extension or long-term spending measure.

Spill Response for the Future, April 7-8. SINTEF will host a conference on offshore oil and gas activity's expansion northward. The conference will consider political improvements of oil spill technology, needed improvements, recent accidents, and knowledge-based approaches to development. 

Spending Negotiations Remain at an Impasse. Congressional negotiators remain at an impasse over a final spending agreement, with Senate Democrats saying a dispute over abortion provisions is the only thing delaying a deal, while House Republicans insist spending cuts are the main issue. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the two sides have agreed to cut fiscal 2011 spending by $78 billion, compared to the president's request for 2011. A reduction of that size translates to about $38 billion in cuts from spending levels in place at the beginning of this year. 

Murkowski Steps Up Fight Against Alaska Youth Suicide. Sen. Lisa Murkowski today joined efforts to extend needed funds, service and resources to Alaska's at-risk youth communities - as a co-sponsor of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization of 2011. The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Tom Udall (D-NM), would strengthen suicide prevention efforts for the state, tribal organizations, and college campuses. "Alaska's children are our most valuable natural resource - and they're threatened by an epidemic of suicide. Thousands of Alaskans stood up and chose respect last week, but the first step is to teach and help our children to respect themselves.  I'm proud to join my Senate colleagues in stepping up our fight for Alaska's future." Senator Lisa Murkowski

New Warning on Arctic Sea Ice Melt. Scientists who predicted a few years ago that Arctic summers could be ice-free by 2013 now say summer sea ice will probably be gone in this decade. The original prediction, made in 2007, gained Wieslaw Maslowski's team a deal of criticism from some of their peers. Now they are working with a new computer model - compiled partly in response to those criticisms - that produces a "best guess" date of 2016. BBC News

Murkowski and Begich Meet with Future Coast Guard Alaska Commander. The nominee for command of the Coast Guard's 17^th District met with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today, telling her he fully recognizes the critical importance of Coast Guard missions in Alaska.  Rear Admiral Thomas P. Ostebo served at Coast Guard Air Station Sitka during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He told the Senator the assignment gave him a first-hand understanding of Alaska's weather and resource challenges. Rear Admiral Ostebo also met with Senator Mark Begich.  Senator Lisa Murkowski

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts. Yesterday, President Obama announced his intention to nominate the following individuals: Cynthia Chavez Lamar, Deborah Downing Goodman, and Barbara Jeanne Ells to be members of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; and, William Carl Lineberger to be a member of the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation. The White House

No Arctic-related legislation was formally considered yesterday. 

Make it Monday Forum- Deepwater Horizon: Presidential Oil Spill Commission Update, April 11. The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce hosts this event that will feature University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Fran Ulmer.  Ms. Ulmer will present the findings from President Obama's Oil Spill Commission and its implications for Alaska, as well as give an overview of her time as UAA's chancellor. 

4th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, June 20-21, 2011.  The symposium is co-hosted by the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC) and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. This symposium addresses present and future impacts of rapid changes in Arctic Ocean sea ice cover on a wide range of maritime operations. The forum, the fourth in a series, is a key opportunity for federal entities to discuss their response to changes in both the Arctic environment and associated policies.

7th Congress of the International Arctic Social Sciences, June 22-26, 2011.  The 7th Congress, "Circumpolar Perspectives in Global Dialogue: Social Sciences Beyond the IPY," will be held in Akureyri, Iceland. The International Congress of the Arctic Social Sciences is held every three years. 
 
Holocene Glacier Variability from the Tropics to the Poles, July 20-27, 2011. Glaciers respond sensitively to climate change. Recent (Holocene) glacier fluctuations are a valuable proxy for terrestrial interglacial paleoclimate conditions. A main challenge for interpreting paleoclimate from past mountain glacier extents is distinguishing local and regional patterns from global signals. Reconstructing Holocene glacier extents involves many disciplines including terrestrial and marine geology, geochronology and glaciology. Organizers hope to facilitate an inter-hemispheric comparison of glacier records including locations in the Tropics, European Alps, American Cordillera, Southern Alps of New Zealand, Himalaya and Polar Regions and to identify future research questions and directions. For additional information contact: Meredith Kelly.
 
13th Arctic Ungulates Conference (AUC), August 22-26, 2011. The theme of the conference will be "Challenges of Managing Northern Ungulates." The theme addresses the difficulties of managing ungulate populations that are faced with the unpredictable effects of climate change and an ever-increasing human presence on the land. The conference will also focus on the challenges associated with developing recovery actions for declining caribou and reindeer populations that are an integral part of Aboriginal cultures and ways of life. 
 
9th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering, September 3-7, 2011. The Melnikov Permafrost Institute (Yakutsk, Russia), the Institute of Northern Mining (Yakutsk, Russia), the Cold and Arid Regions Engineering and Environmental Research Institute (Lanzhou, China), and the Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region  Engineering (Harbin, China) will host the Ninth International Symposium on  Permafrost Engineering to be held in Mirny, Yakutia. The aim of the Symposium is to provide a forum for discussion of permafrost engineering issues, as well as for exchange of practical experience in construction and maintenance of engineering structures on frozen ground. For additional information, please contact Lilia Prokopieva. 

4th International Sea Duck Conference, September 12-16. The conference is held to provide researchers and managers with opportunities to share information, research, and conduct workshops.

Lowell Wakefield International Fisheries Symposium, September 14-17, 2011. The 27th Lowell Wakefield International Fisheries Symposium, entitled "Fishing People of the North: Cultures, Economies, and Management Responding to Change," will be held in Anchorage, Alaska. This international symposium will provide a forum for scholars, fishery managers, fishing families, and others to explore the human dimensions of fishery systems and growing need to include social science research in policy processes. The conference is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Sea Grant program.   

The Tenth International Conference on Permafrost, June 2012. The conference will be held in Tyumen, Russia, and is organized and hosted by Russia. The last conference was held in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2008.  More details to follow. 

Arctic/ Inuit/ Connections: Learning from the Top of the World, October 24-28, 2012.  The 18th Inuit Studies Conference, hosted by the Smithsonian Institution, will be held in Washington, DC. The conference will consider heritage museums and the North; globalization: an Arctic story; power, governance and politics in the North; the '"new" Arctic: social, cultural and climate change; and Inuit education, health, language, and literature. For more information, please email Lauren Marr.