Russian-American Long-Term Census of the Arctic (RUSALCA) Mission Completes Work in the Pacific Arctic. On the 16th of September, the ninth expedition of the Russian-American Long-Term Census of the Arctic (RUSALCA) mission completed its work in the Pacific Arctic. The 2012 mission carried out a multidisciplinary set of repeated biophysical observations from the Bering Strait to the northern shelf break of the Northwestern Chukchi Sea . Work in July and mid-August succeeded the servicing of the Bering Strait mooring array. Accompanying the work in Russia Territorial Waters were two members of the Russian Border Guard Service. The vessel, the R/V Khromov, owned by Roshydromet and operated by Heritage Expeditions of New Zealand worked out of the ports of Nome, Alaska, and Anadyr and Provedenia, Chukotka. In late August a team of 47 U.S. and Russian scientists joined the expedition to carry out repeat observations of the state of the biological and physical parts of the Pacific-Arctic Climate system. In addition, biophysical exploration of the northern-most part of the Chukchi Sea and its Shelf Break was undertaken while the vessel was located within the sea ice cover. This included biological and geological sampling of the benthos, observations of fish, plankton and marine mammals. Fifty four CTD's were taken. The vessel worked in both the Russian and the US EEZ's of the Chukchi Sea. RUSALCA is supported by NOAA Research and NOAA 's National Marine Fisheries Sevice and the Russian Academy of Sciences, with additional funding from the National Science Foundation, Roshydromet, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Hydrographic Arm of the Russian Federation Navy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. RUSALCA contributes data to the Distributed Biological Observatory and to the Arctic Council Endorsed Circumpolar Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan. For more information on NOAA's Russian-American Long-Term Census of the Arctic see here.

H.J. Res 117, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013 (Rep. Rogers, cloture invoked in the Senate)

Debate on Arctic Challenges Set for Brussels, October 4-5, 2012.The challenges facing the Arctic during a time of change and global warming uncertainty will be the subject of frank and lively debate between policymakers, Ambassadors from European Union and Arctic nations, polar scientists, and representatives industry and Arctic indigenous peoples groups, at the 2012 Arctic Futures Symposium, taking place in Brussels on October 4th and 5th. High-level speakers include Prince Albert II of Monaco, Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Belgian Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs Didier Reynders, and Charles Emmerson, Chatham House Senior Research Fellow on Energy, Environment and Resources, and author of The Future History of the Arctic.  Guest speakers will also include Sweden's Arctic Ambassador Gustav Lind, Greenland's Deputy Foreign Minister Inuuteq Holm Olsen, Robert Blaauw, Senior Advisor to Shell's Arctic programme, Bernard Funston, Chair of the Canadian Polar Commission, British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Prof. David Vaughan and Lars-Anders Baer, chair of the Working Group of Indigenous Peoples in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region.

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.  

U.S.-Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum (2012) Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum 2012, November 13-15, 2012. The Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum is a biannual event with representation from government, industry, academia, Aboriginal groups, and northerners from both Canada and the United States. The forum provides an opportunity for United States and Canadian decision makers, regulators, Aboriginals, industry members, non-governmental organizations and scientists to discuss current scientific research and future directions for northern oil and gas activities. The focus is on technical, scientific, and engineering research that can be applied to support management and regulatory processes related to oil and gas exploration and development in the North. The North Slope Science Initiative and the U.S. Department of the Interior is hosting, in partnership with our counterparts in Canada and the United States, the third United States - Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum from November 13 to 15, 2012, at the Hilton Hotel, Anchorage, Alaska. The Forum will showcase the value of Northern scientific research in support of sound decision-making for oil and gas management.