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The House is not in session. The Senate will consider employment legislation.
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 EPA Releases Agency Plans for Adapting to Changing Climate. In early November, 2013 EPA released 17 Program and Regional Adaptation Implementation Plans for a 60 day public comment period. The public is invited to review and provide comment on the draft Implementation Plans through the public docket at www.regulations.gov (Docket Number EPA-HQ-OA-2013-0568). The docket will open as soon as the Federal Register Notice is published. These draft Implementation Plans were prepared by EPA's Program and Regional Offices following the February 2013 publication of the Draft Climate Change Adaptation Plans. The 17 plans included here are part of an ongoing effort to address adaptation across the federal government, in response to Executive Order 13514 - "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance." Environmental Protection Agency
Senior Arctic Official Presentations. The Arctic Council recently updated their website to include working group presentations from the Whitehorse meeting. A link to the documents is here.
Like First Aid for Mental Health, Program Aims to Educate Alaskans on Mental Illness. What if mental illness was treated the same as physical injury? A partnership of Alaska health care organizations is hoping one day this will be the case, by ending the stigma typically associated with mental illness. A training program that teaches Alaskans how to identify and assist people exhibiting signs of mental health issues -- dubbed Mental Health First Aid -- has already been at work in Alaska, and now organizers are ramping up the program in hopes that one day it will become as commonplace as CPR. Mental Health First Aid was started in Australia in 2001, and has since been making its way across the globe. Alaska Dispatch
 Cold War Thaw Began With a 'Friendship Flight' Over Bering Strait. It was back in the old analog days, when photographs needed development and newspapers had wars. When facsimile machines were high tech and the ozone hole existed. An "ice curtain" separated the Soviet Union from the United States. "You knew it was there," longtime Native leader Willie Hensley said of Russia. "You just never saw it." Alaska Dispatch
Yukon Bans Caribou Hunt Near Dempster Highway. The Yukon government has imposed an emergency hunting ban on caribou near the Dempster Highway. The Porcupine Caribou herd that normally travels through the area, has moved off and animals from two smaller herds have moved in. Environment Department spokesperson, Nancy Campbell, says normal hunting pressure is not a problem for the Porcupine herd, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands of animals. But the ban was imposed to protect the smaller herds now in the area, she said. Alaska Dispatch
 Polar Bear Attacks: Scientists Warn of Fresh Dangers in Warming Arctic. A polar bear attack in Canada that left two people injured has brought new warnings from scientists of a dangerous rise in human-bear encounters in a warming Arctic. The friends had just walked out of the door in the pre-dawn hours after a party when the young polar bear crept up behind them, unheard and unseen. The Guardian
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was considered Friday.
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Future Events
Workshop: Community Oil Spill Response in Bering and Anadyr Straits, November 7-8, 2013 (Anchorage, Alaska). "This workshop will bring together diverse stakeholders to learn more about and respond to community desires to be part of oil spill first-response efforts that help protect food security and other local resources; come to agreement on the multiple roles local community members can play in responding to oil spills; and create an action plan for moving forward on this topic. The workshop is sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society."
 opening of northern shipping routes, over a relatively short period of time we are seeing maritime security considerations start to blend with arctic security."
"With a focus on Economic Development, Security and Public Safety, MAS13 will bring together organizations that play a key role in the execution of Maritime & Arctic Security: whether that role be Cultural, Research, Government Policy/Regulation, Education, Surveillance, Enforcement, and Technology Development/Application."
Full Conference Agenda
The World Wildlife Foundation hosts the Fuller Symposium on the Forces of Nature.
Speakers from around the world will engage in active discussion around topics including local responses to forces like land grabbing and climate change, evaluation of community conservation impacts, new technologies for catalyzing social movements, private-sector initiatives, and global policy opportunities. Edward Itta is one of the scheduled speakers. The annual Fuller Symposium convenes thought leaders in science, policy, conservation, and development to discuss innovative approaches to complex issues facing our planet. USARC Commissioner Edward Itta will present.
RFP Closing Soon. November 13, 2013. As a result of the recent discussions regarding Social Science during the Board, Advisory Panel, and Science Panel meetings, the North Pacific Research Board would like to issue a request for quotes to organize a Social Science workshop and produce a final report as a follow-up to the commissioned white paper, "Global Review of Social Science Integration with Natural Resource Management."
Please note that the deadline is Wednesday, November 13 at 5pm AKST.
Alaska Water and Sewer Challenge Request for Proposals Due November 15. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Village Safe Water announces a research and development effort to seek better and more affordable methods to deliver drinking water and sewage disposal services to communities  in rural Alaska. The three-month long, international solicitation calls for individuals from a variety of diverse fields - engineering, science and research, behavioral science, and innovative design - to organize as teams and submit Statements of Qualifications. Up to six of the top ranked teams will be funded to develop proposals over a six month period next year. Future phases of the project include building prototypes and testing them in lab and field settings.
For more information about the project please:
Arctic Cities, Global Processes, and Local Realities, December 2-4, 2013 (Rovaniemi, 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 scientific research and 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."
American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, December 9-13. (San Francisco, CA) The AGU Fall Meeting is the largest worldwide conference in the  geophysical sciences, attracting more than 24,000 Earth and space scientists, educators, students, and other leaders. For 46 years, scientists from around the world gather at the AGU Fall Meeting to exchange information and broaden their knowledge base. In addition to the scientific programming, the meeting offers over 50 Town Halls and Workshops, including one on Monday, Dec. 9, titled, "Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) and Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), organized by Helen Wiggins, Brendan Kelly, and Hajo Eicken, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm in 2018 Moscone West. Search the AGU meeting for Arctic-related research sessions here.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 20-24, 2014. (Anchorage, Alaska) The mission of the Alaska Marine Science Symposium is to bring together scientists, policymakers, students, educators, media and the public to share research findings focused on Alaska's marine fisheries and ecosystems. The Symposium is built around regional themes-Bering Sea, Arctic Ocean, and the Gulf of Alaska. Within each theme, there will be discussions on climate, oceanography, lower tropic levels, the benthos, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local and traditional knowledge, and socioeconomic research.
The agenda is available here.
Association of American Geographers Polar Geography Sessions, April 8-12, 2014. Tampa, Florida. Polar Geography Sessions are being planned in areas such as Sustainable Development in the Arctic, Urbanization and Transportation in the Arctic, etc. Contact Scott Stephenson (stephenson@ucla.edu) for more information, and see attached flyer.
Arctic Science Summit Week April 5-8, 2014 and Arctic Observing Summit, April 9-11, Helsinki, Finland. ASSW is a gathering for Arctic research organizations. Any organization engaged in supporting and facilitating arctic research is welcome to participate. The ASSW meeting in 2014 will be arranged during April 5-8 in Helsinki Kumpula Campus, in the facilities of FMI and Physics Department of the University of Helsinki. Second circular here.
International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 22-26, 2014 (Prince George, British Columbia). "The International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA) announces the 8th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VIII).ICASS is held every three years, bringing together people from all over the world to share ideas about social science research in the Arctic. ICASS VII, held in Akureyri in June 2011, attracted 450 participants from 30 different countries. ICASS VIII's theme is Northern Sustainabilities. By using the plural, we underscore both that "sustainability" has social, cultural, economic, political and environmental dimensions, and that definitions of the concept vary."
 IceTech14: International Conference and Exhibition on Performance of Ships and Structures in Ice, July 28-31, 2014 (Banff, Alberta, Canada). "The focus will be on the general theme of performance of ships and structures in ice - but with emphasis and special sessions on looking to the future in a warming world. Coverage will include technical aspects of offshore operations in Arctic and ice populated waters, as well related ice mechanics, icebreaking and ice resistance, global warming and geopolitical effects, safety and EER, subsea facilities and operations, and other relevant subjects in a polar context particularly in view of current global concerns. Both technical papers and selected panel sessions will be included. We will also continue to host a small commercial exhibition for organizations wishing to set up stand."
Abstract Submission Deadline: November 17, 2013
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