US Arctic Research Commission
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January 21, 2011

Today's Eventstodaysevents

 

The US Arctic Research Commission will meet today in Anchorage where it usarc logo small
will hear from Senator Begich and from State and Federal representatives
on Arctic research issues. The Commission will discuss the development
of Arctic research policy, and recent efforts to revitalize the
Interagency Arctic Research and Policy Committee, responsible for the
approximately $400M per years spent by the federal government on Arctic
research. An agenda can be found here


 

The House and Senate are not in session today.


Alaska Marine Science Symposium
, January 17-21. Within each theme (Bering AMSS 2011 promoSea, Arctic Ocean, and Gulf of Alaska), presenters will discuss climate, oceanography, lower trophic levels, the benthos, fish and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local and traditional knowledge, and socioeconomic research. 

National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment, January 19-21One of the conference themes is "White Arctic/Blue Arctic." This theme will address ice changes in the Arctic to consider several questions: What does science tell us about the future of the Arctic? How would issues about the future - white or blue - be resolved? What models and monitoring data will be required to support an emerging management regime that would allow for sustainable use of the Arctic? How can use of the Arctic and its resources be managed in the face of these possibilities.
 

Saturday:

Public Forum on Natural Gas MarketsJanuary 22. The federal coordinator's office for the Alaska natural gas pipeline will sponsor a public forum on gas markets Jan. 22 to help Alaskans better understand the supply-and-demand fundamentals affecting the proposed pipeline project. The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects will bring to Alaska several national experts on Lower 48 supply and demand issues including shale gas, the effect of federal clean air regulations on natural gas demand, and foreign markets for liquefied natural gas.Panelists
 

Media Reviewtodaysevents  

 

Plants Moved Downhill, Not Up, in Warming World. In a paper published January 20 in the journal Science, a University of California, Davis, researcher and his co-authors challenge a widely held assumption that plants will move uphill in response to warmer temperatures. Science Daily

 

Final Update: 112th Congress: House Committee Assignments. The House announced complete committee assignments for the 112th Congress.  Congressman Mica (R-FL) chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over many ocean activities.  The ranking member is Congressman Rahall (D-VW).  Congressman Hall (R-TX) is chair of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.  Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) is the ranking member.  Congressional Quarterly

 

From Hope to Action: Making Healthy Oceans Everyone's Business. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco presented the keynote address at the National Conference for Science and the Environment yesterday.  Full text of Administrator Lubchenco's address is available here.

 

Rep. Young Announces Transportation Committee Assignments. Congressman Young (R-AK) will sit on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Highways and Transit, and Water Resources and Environment subcommittees of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.  Congressman Don Young

 

Survey Shows Good News for Porcupine Caribou Herd. After nearly two decades of gloomy population forecasts, the Porcupine Caribou Herd appears to be on the rebound. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said an aerial photo survey conducted in July shows there are at least 123,000 caribou in the herd, with more animals left to be counted. That means the population has increased since 2001, when the last aerial census was conducted. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 

 

Prince William Sound Citizen's Council Pushes for Arctic Council. One of the recommendations from the president's Gulf Oil Spill Commission was to create regional citizen advisory councils modeled after the one created for Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez spill. The Commission also recommended establishing a citizen's council for communities in the Arctic. KTUU 

 

Legislation Would Minimize Impact of Dangerous Chemicals.  Two bills introduced in the current Alaska Legislature session would phase out certain toxic flame retardant chemicals known to cause health problems that are found in consumer products such as furniture and electronics. House Bill 63, introduced by Rep. Lindsey Holmes, D-Anchorage, and Senate Bill 27, introduced by Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, target polybrominated diphenyl ethers, also known as PBDEs, which disrupt thyroid function and affect learning, memory and behavior. "We think that wildlife and people living in the north are getting a double whammy," said Pam Miller of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, in part because of the atmospheric conditions that draw toxics to the Arctic, and in part because homes in Alaska are closed in for a great proportion of the year, and well insulated. Many studies show that people are exposed through indoor air and dust to flame retardant chemicals leaching out into the atmosphere and found in household air and dust, she said. Miller also pointed to a 2009 study done by the Arctic Monitoring Assessment Program, which showed that women of childbearing age in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta had the highest levels of toxics in the circumpolar Arctic, Miller said. The Dutch Harbor Fisherman

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents
 

No Arctic-related legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Eventsfutureevents
  

Arctic Tipping Points, January 23-29, 2011. Arctic Frontiers will host a conferenceseesaw considering the following topics: Ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions in the Arctic;  Marine ecosystems and fisheries; Socioeconomic and institutional perspectives; and People of the North. 
 

State of the Union, January 25.  The President will address a joint session of Congress to present the State of the Union.

 

President's Budget, February 7. By statute, the president is required to submit his annual budget proposal to Congress by the first Monday in February.
 
Arctic Technology Conference, February 7-9, 2011. The Arctic is one of the few places on the globe which still holds enormous new petroleum reserve potential. A recently completed USGS survey estimated that 20% of the world's remaining reserves were trapped beneath the Arctic Circle. OTC's inaugural Arctic Technology Conference (ATC), 7-9 February 2011 in Houston, Texas, will be a truly global event focused on the cutting-edge technologies and innovative practices needed for exploration and production in the Arctic.
 

International Conference on Arctic Marine Science, International Law and Climate Protection, March 17-18. The German Federal Foreign Office is hosting an event that will take place on the Berlin premises of the Federal Office. The event is co-hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, with additional support from prominent research institutes. The Conference will discuss the legal framework for marine scientific research in the Arctic Ocean at present and in the future. Scholars, scientists and diplomats with an interest in the Arctic Ocean are invited to attend. For more information, please contact 504-s@diplo.de.
 

Arctic Dialogue & Study Tour, March 22-24, 2011. For the past four years Norway's Bodø University Graduate School of Business, the High North Centre for Business and Governance (affiliated with the University), the International Institute of Energy Politics and Diplomacy (MIEP) at MGIMO University in Moscow, Russia, and HBW Resources have hosted an annual Arctic Dialogue and Study Tour.  The tour brings together stakeholders from all Arctic nations (government, industries, academic, native and local peoples) to discuss issues involving resource development in the Arctic, share common experiences, best practices and solutions. For more information contact Andrew Browning.

 

Arctic Science Summit Week, Seoul, March 28-April 1, 2011. The purpose of Korean Flagthe Arctic Science Summit Week is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration, and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science. The Arctic Science Week 2011 is supported by the Korean government, the Korean Research Council of Fundamental Science & Technology, and the Seoul Tourism Organization, among other groups.
 

The Arctic as a Messenger for Global Processes- Climate Change and Pollution, May 4-6, 2011. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), the University of Copenhagen, and Aarhus University. The conference will include talks by invited keynote speakers, oral presentations selected on the basis of submitted abstracts, poster presentations, and short oral presentations of selected posters. A panel discussion will develop messages to be communicated to the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting that will take place in Greenland one week after the conference. 

  
Sixth International Conference on Arctic Margins, May 31-June 2, 2011 at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks.  The International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) will examine current geological and geophysical research on the Arctic. Topics include: hydrocarbon potential and gas hydrates; science issues relating to UNCLOS Article 76; geodynamic significance of Arctic magmatism; vertical motions in the Arctic, tectonic, and glacial; geology and palaeogeography of the Arctic continental margins; evolution of the Arctic Ocean basins, including plate reconstructions, magmatism, and sedimentology; modern Arctic environments, including geological, climatic, and oceanographic processes; recent advances in Arctic research technology. More information email.
 
7th Congress of the International Arctic Social Sciences, June 22-26, 2011The 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 Muskokaddresses 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 i s 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.
 
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.
 

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