USARC APPOINTMENTS: President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts. Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts, including Edward S. Itta and James J. McCarthy to be members of the US Arctic Research Commission.

 Edward S. Itta, Appointee for Member, Arctic Research Commission
Edward S. Itta served as the Mayor of the North Slope Borough of Alaska from 2005 to 2011.  Before serving as mayor, Mr. Itta held a variety of project management and development positions for Arctic Slope World Services and the Arctic Slope Consulting Group from 1998 to 2004, where he was involved in the engineering and coordination of the North Slope Village water and sewer construction program.  Previously, from 1995 to 1998, Mr. Itta served as President of LCMF, Inc., a design and engineering subsidiary of the Barrow Village Corporation.  From 1977 to 1995, Mr. Itta worked for the North Slope Borough, ultimately serving in a number of leadership positions including Chief Administrative Officer, Public Works Director, Planning Director, and Director of Capital Improvement Program Management.  Mr. Itta is currently a member of the Barrow Whaling Captains Association, where he served as President from 1989 to 1990.  He previously served as President of Inuit Circumpolar Council - Alaska, Vice Chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, and has served on the Board of Directors of Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, the village corporation of Barrow, Alaska.  Mr. Itta was trained as an electronics technician at the Griswold Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, and served in the U.S. Navy from 1966 to 1969.

 Dr. James J. McCarthy, Appointee for Member, Arctic Research Commission
Dr. James J. McCarthy is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard University, having served on the faculty since 1974. From 1982 to 2002, he served as the Director of Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. For the past two decades, Dr. McCarthy has worked as an author, a reviewer, and a co-chair with the Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He was the founding editor of Global Biogeochemical Cycles and the first Chair of the International Geosphere - Biosphere governing committee. Dr. McCarthy is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and served as President of AAAS from 2008 to 2009. In addition, he was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Dr. McCarthy received a B.S. in Biology from Gonzaga University and a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The White House. Welcome aboard, Mr. Itta and Dr. McCarthy!

Press release by US Arctic Research Commission. 

Press release by Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Press release by Senator Mark Begich.

'Fiscal Cliff' Talks Could Collide With Christmas. For the fourth consecutive year, a major Washington negotiation is on a collision course with Christmas. President Obama and congressional leaders spoke optimistically after a meeting 10 days ago about avoiding a last-minute fiscal-cliff scramble, tasking staff with coming up with some solutions by this week. But sources close to the negotiations say those talks haven't gone anywhere on any of the most salient issues. The Hill

EPA Suspends BP From Government Contracts. Just hours before a new sale of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases, the EPA suspended BP from entering any new contracts with the federal government, citing the company's lack of "integrity" in connection with the 2010 oil spill. The action will prevent BP from being awarded any new offshore parcels on which it bids until the suspension is lifted. Congressional Quarterly

Senator: 'Gang of Six' won't release deficit-reduction plan. A high-profile bipartisan group of U.S. senators will not release its deficit-reduction plan as the White House and congressional leaders try to avoid fiscal chaos and deep Pentagon spending cuts. Asked Nov. 27 by Defense News whether the "Gang of Six" plans to make public the fruits of its labor, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., replied "no" before entering an elevator in the Capitol. Federal Times

Smith Wins Science Committee Chairmanship. After a three-way contest, Texas Republican Lamar Smith will chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee in the 113th Congress. The House Republican Steering Committee selected Smith during a closed-door session on Tuesday, according to a GOP leadership aide. Smith, who is giving up his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee because of term limits, is the No. 3 Republican on the Science panel. Congressional Quarterly

Governance and Sustainable Development in a Changing Arctic, November 29, 2012. "Governance and Sustainable Development in the Changing Arctic" is a special seminar hosted by the European Institute. The event will be at the Cosmos Club, Washington, DC. Contact Natalie Fahey, 202-895-1670 for details.

Arctic Technology Conference, December 3-5, 2012. The burgeoning Arctic arena offers a host of opportunities for companies that can solve the complex environmental, physical and regulatory challenges it presents. ATC 2012 will include a highly specialized technical program, education courses, networking events, and an exhibition - all deisgned to help ensure that oil and gas professionals throughout the world are prepared to succeed in these challenging Arctic arenas.

Arctic Transportation Infrastructure: Response Capacity and Sustainable Development in the Arctic, December 3-6, 2012. The Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group approved a project during the Swedish Chairmanship (co-led by the United States and Iceland) to assess transportation infrastructure. The Arctic Marine and Aviation Transportation Infrastructure Initiative (AMATII) seeks to evaluate Northern infrastructure -ports, airports, and response capability - by inventorying maritime and aviation assets in the Arctic. As part of this project, the Institute of the North is hosting an Arctic transportation infrastructure conference 3-6 December at the Icelandair Hotel Natura in Reykjavik, Iceland. The conference theme is "Response Capacity and Sustainable Development in the Arctic." Participants will include policy makers and government officials; aviation and marine subject matter experts from the private, public, independent and academic sectors; as well as community leaders and Permanent Participants.

AGU Fall Meeting, December 3-7, 2012. The American Geophysical Union hosts in fall meeting in San Francisco. Roughly 20,000 scientists will be in attendance. On December 3rd, there will be a town hall meeting entitled "Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions."The U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) is organizing a Town Hall meeting at the Fall AGU Meeting entitled "TH15G Scientific Drilling in the Polar Regions". Ice sheets and ocean sediments hold important climate evidence from the past. International collaboration for drilling in the polar regions requires coordination between science, technology, and logistics.  The research community is invited to hear updates on recent planning by the IDPO/IDDO, IPICS, ANDRILL, IODP, SCAR-ACE, and WAIS initiatives. Opportunities for community involvement in interdisciplinary planning will be highlighted and input solicited. 

Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 21-25, 2013. Since 2002, scientists from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond have come to the Symposium to communicate research activities in the marine regions off Alaska. Researchers and students in marine science re-connect with old colleagues and meet new ones. Plenary and poster sessions feature a broad spectrum of ocean science. Hear the latest in the fields of climate, oceanography, lower trophic levels, the benthos, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local and traditional knowledge, and socioeconomic research. The Symposium also features compelling keynote speakers, workshops and special sessions.