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 Today's Congressional Action:
The House and Senate are not in session.
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 In Little Diomede, Alaska Natives Seek to Reunite With Russian Relatives. Across the Bering Strait, Robert Soolook can easily see the looming hulk of the neighboring Russian island where some of his relatives used to live before they were forced to relocate to the Soviet mainland at the start of the Cold War. "It's always a reminder, each and every day," Soolook, an Inupiat Eskimo, says of the view from Little Diomede Island. Less than 3 miles away is Big Diomede Island, but it might as well be thousands of miles from his village, Diomede, because it is strictly off-limits, patrolled by Russian border guards. Alaska Dispatch News
In the Name of Nuuk: Before Denmark Speaks on Arctic Foreign-Policy Matters, It Is Making Sure to Listen First to Greenland's Wishes. Denmark's foreign minister, Kristian Jensen, met on Monday for the first time with his Greenlandic counterpart, Vittus Qujaukitsoq, likely to be the first of many such get-togethers. Mr Jensen, who assumed office after the Danish general election in June, and Mr Qujaukitsoq have a number of issues on their agenda that, though they primarily affect Greenland, must be dealt with by diplomats in Copenhagen. These include topics such as competing territorial claims with Russia, the EU's ban on sealskin imports, whaling and fisheries. Arctic Journal
 New Map of Arctic Seafloor Shows an Overlap in Ownership. The Arctic has long been a point of contention between the world's superpowers. Russia, Canada, the United States and more have all staked claims to the Arctic's vast expanse. This expanse, filled with precious natural resources, has become increasingly valuable to a fossil fuel-dependent world. On August 17, the United States finally gave Shell permission to drill for oil in the Arctic just north of Alaska. Last week, Russia drew the ire of the world yet again (classic, Russia) by staking claim to more than 460,000 square miles of Arctic territory. They delivered the data to the United Nations, hoping for an official recognition of their claim. News of the claim comes just months after Russia conducted a series of massive military exercises in the Arctic. The Examiner
Extreme Science: Divers Who Brave Arctic Waters. How do algae react to the warming of the Arctic Ocean? How is it affecting wildlife in the fjords? To find answers, researchers rely heavily on divers who brave the icy waters to gather samples. "Without them, we wouldn't be able to successfully complete our projects," admits Cornelia Buchholz, a marine biologist who is working at Ny-Alesund on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago in the heart of the Norwegian Arctic. The Local
 Chemistry of the Arctic Ocean. The chemistry of the ocean has a story to tell and, with each sample of seawater, we reveal new pieces of information - where the water has been, how old it is, what it has gained from the atmosphere or coast, what it has lost. Nutrients and trace elements give clues to how much life the water can support. Particles slowly sinking to the bottom are a mixture of microscopic organisms both dead and alive, a conglomeration of materials from land and ocean. Huffington Post
[Opinion] US Arctic Fishing Closure a Model for International Cooperation.
On Aug. 31, Secretary of State John Kerry will host a meeting of foreign ministers in Anchorage to discuss the future of the Arctic. This event will focus on issues of vital importance to all Alaskans, from climate change to community health and economic development. One session of particular interest to Alaska will address the prospect of potential commercial fisheries in the international waters of the Central Arctic Ocean, or CAO. This conference comes on the heels of the signing of a declaration by the five Arctic coastal nations, on July 16, that says they will not authorize their vessels to fish in the CAO until there is sufficient scientific information to determine that fishing can be conducted sustainably. These countries, Canada, Denmark on behalf of Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States are those that border the international waters of the CAO. Under international law, especially with respect to fisheries, it is appropriate for these countries to take the lead in setting the conservation agenda for how and when fisheries might be conducted in the CAO, just as Alaska and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council took the lead for the United States years earlier. Alaska Dispatch News
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
The Alaska Arctic: A Summit on Shipping and Ports, August 23-25, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). Alice Rogoff will host the summit along with the state of Alaska and various partners, including President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson of Iceland and Mead Treadwell, president of Pt Capital and former Alaska lieutenant governor. The purpose of the meeting is to build partnerships to develop safe and reliable shipping through the Alaskan Arctic. These partnerships will be necessary to finance needed ports of refuge, search and rescue equipment, transshipment facilities and icebreakers. At the same time, the interests of local and indigenous residents must be an integral part of any development planning.
Joint EDA-ARC Committee Hearing, August 25, 2015 (Anchorage, AK, USA). The Alaska Legislature's House & Senate Arctic Committees will be hosting a hearing session immediately following the Alaska Summit on Arctic Shipping and Ports from 2-4 PM August 25th at the Anchorage LIO, 716 W. 4th Avenue. Select participants will report out on their takeaways and thoughts on the conference, with an emphasis on what the Legislature can do to address the challenges and opportunities in Alaska's maritime Arctic. The hearing can be viewed live at AKL.tv.
Presenters will include:
· Iceland President Ragnar Grimmson
· Mead Treadwell, Former Lt Governor and President of PT Capital (invited)
· Alice Rogoff, Arctic Shipping & Ports Summit Originator
· Tara Sweeney, Arctic Economic Council, Chair (invited)
· Shirley Marquardt, Mayor, Unalaska (invited)
· Denise Michels, Mayor, Nome
· Reggie Joule, Mayor, Northwest Arctic Borough (invited)
· Charlotte Brower, Mayor, North Slope Borough (invited)
· Mayors from coastal Arctic villages
104th Meeting of the USARC, August 25-26, 2015 (Nome, AK, USA).USARC (Fran Ulmer, Chair) will hold its next meeting in Nome, where Ulmer will present the 2015-2017 Goals Report. The Commission will tour the new, light icebreaker vessel R/V Sikuliaq in the Nome port, and will hear from local researchers on topics such as health, social science, marine science, marine mammal co-management research, federal research, renewable energy, climate shipping, port development, and water and sanitation, among other topics. A draft agenda is here.
11th Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies (CHAGS XI), September 7-11 (Vienna, Austria). The study of hunter-gatherer societies has become, since the landmark conference "Man and Hunter" in 1966, a major topic of study within the social and human sciences community. While scholarly foci have changed during the last 50 years, the principle goal generated during the initial conference, to establish a unified field of hunter-gatherer studies, is as valid today as it was then. CHAGS XI hopes to explore how research results since 1966 and new research agendas can be applied for present and future study.
Eighth Polar Law Symposium Alaska 2015, September 23-26, 2015 (Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska , USA). The Eighth Polar Law Symposium is co-hosted by Alaska Pacific University (APU), the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage (through its Justice Center and its Institute of Social and Economic Research), the University of Washington School of Law, and Vermont Law School, in cooperation with the Arctic Law Section of the Alaska Bar Association. The symposium will be held on both campuses of the University of Alaska. The 2015 theme is: The Science, Scholarship, and Practice of Polar Law: Strengthening Arctic Peoples and Places.
2015 Arctic Energy Summit, September 28-30, 2015 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The Institute of the North's 2015 Arctic Energy Summit builds on our legacy efforts to address energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic as a lasting frontier.Central to this concept is a focus on providing pathways for affordable energy development in the Arctic and for Arctic communities.
The Arctic Circle is the largest global gathering on the Arctic. It is attended by heads of state and governments, ministers, members of parliament, officials, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, indigenous representatives, environmentalists, students, activists, and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the future of the Arctic. The Arctic Circle highlights issues and concerns, programs, policies and projects; it provides platforms for dynamic dialogue and constructive cooperation. While the plenary sessions are the responsibility of the Arctic Circle, the breakout sessions are organized by various participating partners in their own name and with full authority over the agenda and the choice of speakers.
2015 Arctic Science Conference, October 1-3, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The conference theme is "Healthy Estuaries: Sustainability and Resilience." Conference topics include traditional scientific disciplines, science education, arctic social sciences, biomedical research, and artistic interpretation of the evolving North. Abstract submissions are now being accepted. The deadline is August 1, 2015.
The Polar Oceans and Global Climate Change, November 3-6, 2015 (La Jolla, California USA). The American Polar Society will host this Symposium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. A flyer with a partial list of presenters is available on the Society's website (americanpolar.org) and from the Society's Membership Chairman by email.
Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis Meeting, November 3-6, 2015 (Cape Cod, MA, USA). On November 3rd, the 2015 School for young scientists will consider "Regional Oceanography of the Arctic marginal seas" with lectures covering major features of atmospheric, sea ice and oceanographic regimes of the: Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort, East-Siberian, Laptev Sea, Kara, Barents and Nordic seas. On November 4-6, the meeting portion will summarize project accomplishments for the last 3 years of activities and will focus on the formulation of scientific questions and directions for FAMOS future research (2016-2019) to: (a) improve Arctic modeling, employing very high resolution models; (b) develop and test new arctic monitoring/observing systems and (c) improve predictions of Arctic environmental parameters with reduced uncertainties.
Due North: Next Generation Arctic Research & Leadership, November 5-8, 2015 (Calgary, Alberta, Canada). The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) will convene an interdisciplinary conference of early career scientists working on Arctic issues. Topics will include: Arctic Communities, Arctic Sustainable Development, Arctic Wildlife, Ecosystem and Biodiversity, Arctic Food Security, Arctic Landscapes, Climate Change and Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, Policy, Politics and Leadership, Arctic Environment (Data and Techniques), Arctic Resources, and Future of Arctic.
Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting, November 17-19, 2015 (Seattle, Washington). The Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting will be 2.5 days and held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle, Washington. The conference will bring together individuals and teams involved in the collection, processing, analysis, and use of observations in the Arctic - from academia, agencies, industry, and other organizations. The meeting will be convened as a combination of plenary talks, parallel science sessions, and a poster session. The agenda and registration information will be forthcoming.
In the Spirit of the Rovaniemi Process 2015, November 24-26, 2015 (Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland).When the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, the so-called Rovaniemi Process, was adopted in 1991, it aimed at overcoming divisions and turning the zone of Cold War military tensions into a region of peace and co-operation. In this joint effort focusing on the protection of environment, and later, sustainable development, the Arctic states supported by indigenous organizations laid grounds for institutionalized collaboration and the emergence of Arctic regional identity. The second international conference will bring together decision-makers, scholars, artists, designers and students to address these questions and discuss the Arctic in global, regional and local perspectives.
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External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site ( www.arctic.gov) do not constitute endorsement by the US Arctic Research Commission of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the USARC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this newsletter and the USARC Web site.
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