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Today's Events
The House and Senate are not in session today.
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Media * Please note, access to the Anchorage Daily News may now require a subscription.
 Salazar Concerned about Shell's Arctic 'Mishaps.' Interior was skeptical about Shell Oil's offshore oil drilling in the Arctic, but Secretary Ken Salazar said he would withhold judgment about the company's recent accidents until a high-level review is completed. "There is a troubling sense I have that so many things went wrong," Salazar said, "And that's what [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director] Tommy Beaudreau will dig into, and I'm looking forward to the results of that review." Politico
 Wyden Names Senior Energy Committee Staff for 113th Congress. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the incoming chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today announced his senior committee staff, which includes nearly a dozen new faces. Joining the committee this year will be Joshua Sheinkman, Michele Miranda, Isaiah Akin, Drew Johnston, Dave Berick, Peter Gartrell and Keith Chu, who all come from Wyden's personal office. The committee also welcomes Todd Wooten, Dan Adamson, Meghan Conklin, Cisco Minthorn and Samantha Offerdahl, each of whom comes from other committees, member offices or advocacy groups. Returning staff members include Sam Fowler, Patty Beneke, David Brooks, Kevin Rennert, Allen Stayman and Sara Tucker. E&E News
Siberia Struggles to Cope with Burgeoning Wolf Population. As wolf packs encroach on settlements in the Sakha-Yakutia region of Siberia, Russia, officials there are calling for a reduction in their numbers. The Yakutia governor declared a state of emergency amid the perennial problem of wolf overpredation. Wolves killed 16,000 domesticated reindeer and 313 horses last year, the government said. They also said the area wolf population shouldn't be higher than 500, but estimates place it at about 3,500. E&E News
 Orca Pod Trapped in Ice in Canada's Hudson Bay. A pod of killer whales is trapped in ice in Canada's Hudson Bay and in danger of dying if not freed soon. Local officials have asked Canadian authorities to send an ice breaker to free the eight to 18 orcas, which are trapped about 12 miles from open water. Campaigns have also been launched on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Government experts are to arrive Thursday in Inukjuak, on the northeastern coast of the Hudson Bay, to assess whether the marine animals can be saved. USA Today
 China Eyes More Polar Voyages, Bases. China will launch its 30th expedition to the Antarctic region, as well as its sixth Arctic expedition, this year. It will also work to build more Antarctic research bases, according to a document released at the national maritime work conference held on Thursday. China Daily
Contract Gives MacDonald Dettwiler a $706-Million Arctic View. MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. has landed a $706-million contract with the Canadian Space Agency, bolstering the satellite technology developer's key Radarsat Constellation project, which is being touted as crucial for defending Canada's Arctic sovereignty. The Globe and Mail
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Arctic Frontiers, January 20-25, 2013. (Tromso, Norway). Arctic Frontiers is organised as an independent network and a leading meeting place for pan-arctic issues. The network was established in 2006 and later extended. Arctic Frontiers will host the conference to consider three main scientific topics. Geopolitics in a Changing Arctic; Marine Harvesting in the Arctic; and Arctic Marine Productivity.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 21-25, 2013, Anchorage. 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.
Development of a 5-Year Strategic Plan for Oil Spill Research in Canadian Arctic Waters, January 28-29, 2013, Calgary. This workshop is sponsored by the Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF), a research program which sponsors environmental and social studies pertaining petroleum exploration, development, and production activities on frontier lands. The ESRF is directed by a joint government, industry and public management board and is administered by the secretariat, which resides in the Office of Energy Research and Development, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The workshop is held in an effort to produce a 5-year strategic plan for oil spill research in Canadian Arctic marine waters.
Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 4-8, 2013, Anchorage. Hosted by The Alaska Forum, Inc. the 2013 Alaska Forum on the Environment will follow up on previous forums by offering training and information, includes plenary sessions, on: climate change, emergency response, environmental regulations, fish and wildlife populations, rural issues, energy, military issues, business issues, solid waste, contaminants, contaminated site cleanup, mining and others. For 2013, the forum will expand forum content to provide information to help better understand issues surrounding coastal communities. This will include tsunami impacts, marine debris, and coastal erosion.
The Economist's "Arctic Summit: A New Vista for Trade Energy and the Environment," March 12, 2013. (Oslo, Norway) The event is hosted by The Economist. The Arctic Summit will discuss big issues concerning the region: chase for natural resources, impact of climate change, emergence of new trading routes and the need for responsible governance. The summit has been designed to focus attention and to promote constructive thinking prior to the next Arctic Council Ministers' meeting in 2013. A high-level group of 150 policy-makers, CEOs and influential commentators will spend a day tackling the issues at the heart of the Arctic's future, in discussions led by James Astill, environment editor of The Economist and author of the special report on the Arctic.
 28th Wakefield Symposium: Responses of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change, March 26-29, 2013, Anchorage. This symposium seeks to advance our understanding of responses of arctic marine ecosystems to climate change at all trophic levels, by documenting and forecasting changes in environmental processes
and species responses to those changes. Presentations will focus on collaborative approaches to understanding and managing living marine resources in a changing Arctic, and to managing human responses to changing arctic marine ecosystems. Hosted by Alaska Sea Grant and sponsors.
Arctic Science Summit Week, April 13-19, 2013. Krakow, Poland. The ASSW is the annual gathering of international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating Arctic research. Its purpose is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science and to combine science and management meetings. Side meetings organized by groups with interest in the Arctic science and policy will also be held within the week.
One of them is already planned: The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) will offer a one-day career development workshop during the ASSW 2013. Details will be published closer to the event:http://www.apecs.is/apecs-meetings-a-events/assw-2013.
American Polar Society 75th Anniversary, April 15-18, 2013, Woods Hole, MA. The American Polar Society will hold a meeting and symposium at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This meeting and symposium is titled "The Polar Regions in the 21st Century: Globalization, Climate Change and Geopolitics."
Arctic Observing Summit 2013, April 30- May 2, 2013, Vancouver, BC, CA. The Arctic Observing Summit is led by the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC). It is a Sustaining Arctic Observing Network (SAON) task and part of the broader SAON implementation process, which is led by the Arctic Council jointly with the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). AOS is a high-level, biennial summit that aims to provide community-driven, science-based guidance for the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long term (decades) operation of an international network of arctic observing systems. The AOS will provide a platform to address urgent and broadly recognized needs of arctic observing across all components of the arctic system, including the human component. It will foster international communication and coordination of long-term observations aimed at improving understanding and responding to system-scale arctic change. The AOS will be an international forum for optimizing resource allocation through coordination and exchange among researchers, funding agencies, and others involved or interested in long term observing activities, while minimizing duplication and gaps.
International Conference on Arctic Ocean Acidification, May 6-8, 2013, Bergen, Norway. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), the Institute of Marine Research, the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, and the University of British Columbia, Canada, host a conference to consider Arctic Ocean acidification. Topics will include response of Arctic Ocean to increasing CO2 and related changes in the global carbon cycle, social and policy challenges, Arctic Ocean acidification and ecological and biogeochemical coupling, implications of changing Arctic Ocean acidification for northern (commercial and subsistence) fisheries, and future developments.
AGU Science Policy Conference, June 24-26, 2013. (Washington, DC) Hundreds of Earth and space scientists, students, policymakers, and industry professionals will discuss key Earth and space science topics that address challenges to our economy, national security, environment, and public safety. This meeting will focus on the science that helps inform policymakers' decisions related to energy, natural hazards, technology and infrastructure, climate, oceans, and the Arctic. The event is hosted by American Geophysical Union (AGU), a Washington, D. C.-based international nonprofit scientific association.
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