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March 22, 2013

Today's Eventstodaysevents  

 

 

The Senate considers six amendments to the fiscal 2014 budget measure. The House is not in session. 
  
100th Meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission, March 21-22. (Bethel, Alaska)  Today, USARC hear an address from Alaska House Representative Bob Herron; host a session on Arctic health; and host a session on food security. The 2013-2013 Goals Report will be officially released.
  

First Meeting of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission, March 23, 2013 (Juneau, Alaska) The meeting will include presentations from Alaska Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell, Governor Parnell's Special Assistant Stefanie Moreland; United States Arctic Research Commission Chair Fran Ulmer; the US Department of Interior Secretary's Special Assistant Pat Pourchot; distinguished UAF professor Dr. Lawson Brigham; Northwest Arctic Borough Mayor Reggie Joule; and former US Deputy Secretary of State/ former Alaska Attorney General serving currently as Alaska's Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan.

The 100th meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission will be held in Bethel. Additional information (agenda) is available at www.arctic.gov. 
Media
 

NOAA and BOEM Release Arctic Ocean EIS. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean. On March 21, 2013, NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the release of the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean, which analyzes how a broad range of potential offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic could affect marine mammals, other resources, and Alaska Native communities. NOAA 

  

Murkowski Release here.

Begich Release here.

 

Call for Papers: In the Spirit of Rovaniemi Process. Papers are sought for one of the In the Spirit of Rovaniemi Process conference thematic sessions. In addition, the papers should address at least one of the three cross-cutting themes. PhD students are welcome to present a poster referring to one of the sessions and addressing cross-cutting themes. Sessions include: Rovaniemi Process: past, present, future ; Arctic responses to global environmental problems; people and extractive industries; tourism in the Arctic; the Arctic in the global economy; climate change in the Arctic; indigenous peoples in cities; and Arctic global flows. Cross cutting themes include: Arctic cities and global processes; management and governance in the Arctic; and Arctic together with non-Arctic. In the Spirit of Rovaniemi Process

  

canadian flagCanadian Polar Commission Preparing Larger Role in Arctic. The Canadian Polar Commission wants to take on a new and more public role in northern affairs. The organization is responsible for promoting the development and dissemination of polar knowledge. The commission was created in 1991 to promote polar science and scientific research. Today, the science community is focusing more and more on climate change, and the Arctic is where they want to be. Alaska Dispatch

 

Alaska Arctic Policy Commission: Goals and Ambitions. From Lesil McGuire, Bob Herron: Alaska Senate President Charlie Huggins and Alaska House Speaker Mike Chenault appointed us as co-chairs of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC). It is an honor and responsibility that we accept with humility. The Commission will be holding its first meeting in Juneau, from noon-6pm, Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Centennial Hall at 101 Egan Drive. The public meeting will also be streamed live at www.akl.tv. Alaska Dispatch

 

NSF logoCall for Organizing Committee Nominations Arctic Research Support and Logistics Workshop National Science Foundation 7-9 October 2013 (Washington, D.C.) An Organizing Committee of about eight members will work with ARCUS and NSF to: formulate the conference agenda and sessions, select speakers and attendees, develop workshop materials, facilitate workshop discussions, and prepare the final workshop report. The Organizing Committee will meet via conference call, web meetings, and regular email communication, and will receive travel support to the workshop. The Committee will represent a broad range of perspectives, including physical, natural, and social sciences; marine and terrestrial research facilities and instrumentation; collaboration and networking strategies; and information and data management. National Science Foundation

 

Talking Maps: Arctic Atlas Reads Out Inuit Names. Fraser Taylor's atlas of Canada's high Arctic reads out the names of the towns to you. The real names. Cape Strathcona is Arvaaqtuuq. Peter Richards Island is Qikiqtatannak It is, the eminent Carleton University geographer explains, a decolonization of the Nunavut map and a repatriation of the Inuit names. The Toronto Star

 

Senate Poised to Pass Budget. The Democrat-controlled Senate appears set to approve its first budget resolution in four years. Votes on amendments to the budget began Thursday night, with a final vote set for late Friday or early Saturday. In a sign of caucus unity, only one Democrat broke ranks to support a key GOP motion on Thursday night. The motion simply called for Democrats to rewrite their budget so that it balanced within ten years. The Hill

 

Jewell, SallyParochial Concerns Could Still Trip Up Interior Nominee, Despite Panel's Approval. Parochial concerns by several senators could still trip up the confirmation of business executive Sally Jewell as Interior secretary - despite easy approval by a Senate committee Thursday. Jewell's confirmation was taken up by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee only after ranking Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska secured an agreement that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will consult with an affected native community before deciding whether to allow construction of a road through an remote Alaskan wildlife refuge. Congressional Quarterly

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No formal legislative action was taken on Arctic legislation yesterday.

Future Events                      

           

Deadly Dance: Arctic Warming and Global Climate Change, March 26-27, 2013 (Tufts University, Medford, MA) The Warming Arctic, the Edward R. Murrow Center and the Center of International Environment and Resource Policy will convene a group of experts, policy makers, business and media to examine the growing body of evidence on the climate impact of the Arctic - and try to share some big approaches to it. 

 

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.

 

**New** Increased Arctic Maritime Activity, March 27, 2013 (Anchorage, Alaska) The Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard will hold a field hearing in Alaska on Arctic shipping safety and reviewing the lessons learned from the 2012 offshore drilling season. The hearing will also examine the U.S. preparation for Arctic shipping more generally, with testimony from Alaska maritime experts, local communities, and environmental groups. Witnesses include:
- The Honorable Tommy P. Beaudreau, Acting Assistant Secretary - Land and Minerals Management, US Department of the Interior (via video teleconference
Rear Admiral Thomas P. Ostebo, Commander, Seventeenth District, U.S. Coast Guard
Mr. Pete E. Slaiby, Vice President, Exploration and Production, Shell Alaska
Ms. Helen Brohl, Executive Director, US Committee on the Marine Transportation System (via video teleconference)
Mr. Ed Page, Executive Director, Marine Exchange of Alaska
Ms. Eleanor Huffines, Manager, U.S. Arctic Campaign, Pew Charitable Trusts
Mr. Matt Ganley, Vice President, Bering Straits Native Corp.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Private Sector Transportation, Infrastructure, Assets, Response, Capacity, and Development in the Arctic, May 30, 2012, Seattle, WA. A recently-held Arctic transportation workshop in Iceland highlighted the need to better understand private sector transportation infrastructure and assets, recognizing industry's role in the responsible development of resources, response and supportive infrastructure. As a follow-up to its efforts to inventory and map Arctic transportation infrastructure, the Institute of the North is hosting a workshop at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, Washington that focuses on three critical areas: private sector assets and infrastructure in the Arctic, staging areas outside the Arctic that support Northern development, and vessels and technology that are difficult to map but need to be measured for future decision-making. Participants include industry representatives, technical experts, researchers, Coast Guard and other response personnel.

 

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.

 

 

**New** Arctic Cities, Global Processes, and Local Realities, December 2-4, 2013 (Reovaniemi, Finland) The conference is organized jointly by the City of Rovaniemi and the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland, Finland. The goal of the conference is to present the latest research scientific knowledge about the global processes as they become local realities. Even if the Conference is scientific in orientation, it aims to bridge science and knowledge into action by bringing top scholars to share their research results, and to organize joint discussion with the leaders of the Arctic Cities. Sessions include: Rovaniemi Process: past, present, future ; Arctic responses to global environmental problems; people and extractive industries; tourism in the Arctic; the Arctic in global economy; climate change in the Arctic; indigenous peoples in cities; and, Arctic global flows. Cross cutting themes include: Arctic cities and global processes; management and governance in the Arctic; and, Arctic together with non-Arctic.

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