CG Chief Talks Uniforms, Manning, the Arctic. During an unprecedented era of federal belt-tightening, the Coast Guard faces a number of challenging missions. On top of that, the Coast Guard needs to keep its end strength and spending levels steady. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp sat down with Navy Times reporters and editors Sept. 14 to discuss tour lengths, physical fitness, commanding officer problems and more. Navy Times 

Budget Items in DC Affect Alaska Fisheries. Fisheries are on the receiving end of federal dollars, instead of the other way around. As congressional lawmakers slash budgets in D.C., money for all-important fishery stock assessments was actually increased from $51 million to $67 million for the next fiscal year, the amount requested by President Barack Obama. The money was included as part of a Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee appropriations bill that passed in a bipartisan vote late last week. Despite the fisheries increase, the bill is $600 million below the amount in fiscal year 2011 and $5 billion below the president's request, said Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a CJS subcommittee member. Anchorage Daily News 

Obama Warns Iceland on Whaling Activity. In a move hailed by conservation activists, President Barack Obama initiated potential diplomatic sanctions against Iceland this week for its commercial whaling activity. The sanctions include six measures ranging from possibly limiting cabinet-level visits to Iceland to limiting cooperation with Iceland in the Arctic region. While such sanctions might seem mild to some, for environmentalists it was akin to throwing down the gauntlet, diplomatically speaking. "This is a real shot across the bow," said Patrick Ramage, global whale program director with the International Fund for Animal Welfare. New York Times

Begich Statement on Appointment of Former Alaskan as Director of the Bureau of Ocean Management. U.S. Sen. Mark Begich released the following statement today after Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced former Alaskan Tommy Beaudreau as the director of the newly-formed Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM). "Certainly it helps having an Alaskan in this important position. Having grown up here, Mr. Beaudreau has an appreciation for the vast distances, the people and how important resource development is to our state," Begich said. Secretary Salazar today formally announced leaders for the two new agencies created by the planned separation of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE). One, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will perform the natural resource evaluation and leasing functions, and the new Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) will inspect facilities and enforce safety of offshore energy operations. Senator Mark Begich  

The Arctic Imperative Summit, July 29-August 1, 2012. The summit will be hosted by Alaska Dispatch and will bring together leading voices in this conversation, including residents from the small villages that comprise Alaska's coastal communities; state, national and international leaders; the heads of shipping and industry; as well as international policymakers and the news media. The goal of the summit is to sharpen the focus on the policy and investment needs of Alaska's Arctic through a series of high-level meetings, presentations, investor roundtables and original research. 

The Arctic in Transition: Regional Issues and Geopolitics, October 3-4, 2011. The conference is organized by the Center for Geopolitical Studies of the Raoul Dandurand Chair, in collaboration with the Centre Jacques Cartier (France), ArcticNet (Universite Laval, Quebec), and the Northern Research Forum (University of the Arctic; University of Lapland, Finland). This high-level international meeting reunites political scientists, lawyers, geographers, historians and practitioners to discuss, first, the socio-economic, political and security issues of developed or developing Arctic regions, and, second, to look at the evolving relationships between these spaces, their peoples, and global affairs. The meeting mainly seeks to adress security issue(s) of the various region(s) that make up the circumpolar world. Three Arctic regions will be highlighted: a) the North-American Arctic (United States (Alaska); Canada (Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Nunavik) and Greenland; b) the North Pacific Rim (Alaska, Russian Far East, Beaufort Sea/Chukchi); c) the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (Nordic countries - Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland - and Russia).

From Knowledge to Action, April 22-27, 2012. The conference will bring together over 2,000 Arctic and Antarctic researchers, policy- and decision-makers, and a broad range of interested parties from academia, industry, non-government, education and circumpolar communities including indigenous peoples. The conference is hosted by the Canadian IPY Program Office in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada, among other groups. Each day of the conference will feature a program of keynote speakers, plenary panel discussions, parallel science sessions, as well as dedicated poster sessions. The conference-wide plenaries will explore themes related to topics of polar change, global linkages, communities and health, ecosystem services, infrastructure, resources and security. Other sessions will provide the opportunity to present and discuss the application of research findings, policy implications and how to take polar knowledge to action. 

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. Details to follow.   

15th International Congress on Circumpolar Heath, August 5-10, 2012. This event is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Society for Circumpolar Health, and the International Union for Circumpolar Health.  The forum will consider community participatory research and indigenous research; women's health, family health, and well-being; food security and nutrition; social determinants of health; environmental and occupational health; infectious and chronic diseases; climate change-health impacts; health service delivery and infrastructure; and, behavioral health.

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.