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June 24, 2015

 

Today's Congressional Action:   

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The House and Senate are expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.

 

 

 

 

 

Media  

 

Enviros: Shell's Arctic Plan Violates Walrus Rule. Environmental groups say they've found a fundamental flaw in Shell's plan to drill in the Chukchi Sea this summer and they're asking the government to rescind its approval. In a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, the groups say Shell's plan to use two drill rigs at once violates a 2013 Fish and Wildlife regulation aimed at protecting walruses. The regulation says rigs have to be 15 miles away from each other during exploration work. The sites Shell plans to drill are just nine miles apart. Alaska Public Radio
 

Telehealth in the Arctic: Unfulfilled Potential. Telehealth is going mainstream. That was the message from a pair of recent stories in Wired magazine, an InTouch Health blog and indeed last month's American Telemedicine Association's (ATA) annual conference. Commentators cite as a tipping point the decision of UnitedHealthcare, a large American health insurer, to cover virtual doctor visits just as they would in-person ones. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Climate Change Brings New Insect Arrivals to Finland. Entomologists say that the number of species in Finland has expanded rapidly in recent years. "When it comes to moths and butterflies, the number of species has grown by about 5 percent in the past few decades, and that's a terribly big change," says Kimmo Saarinen, director of the South Karelia Allergy and Environment Institute in Lappeenranta. "Butterflies and moths have been studied for a long time and this can't be explained away by saying that research and knowledge have increased - the number of species has really increased," he told Yle. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Nunavik Inuit Need More Support to Enter Job Market: Report. Quebec Inuit communities are struggling to gain a foothold in the labour market in both Nunavik and Montreal, and a new report prepared by a group of Quebec employment support organizations offers some insight as to why. Employment services available for Inuit both north and south have offered much-needed support, but the report suggests that Inuit could use more specialized help adapted to their cultural background. Nunatsiaq Online

 

Rosneft Completes Historical Arctic Expedition. The expedition, named Kara Winter 2015, was conducted in cooperation with the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and the Arctic Research Project Center. It is the biggest Arctic research expedition which has been conducted the last 20 years, Rosneft writes in a press release. Over a time span of ten weeks. the icebreaker "Yamal" criss-crossed the whole Russian Arctic to conduct research operations and follow up research stations and facilities. Barents Observer

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

 

Future Events  

  

6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 14-16, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). This biennial symposium, co-hosted by the US National Ice Center and the US Arctic Research Commission, brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic observations, climate change, and maritime operations. Past symposia expanded the discussion to include the impact of an ice-diminishing arctic on other nations and their maritime operations including commercial transportation, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, fisheries, and oceanographic research. The continuing reduction in Arctic sea ice extent remains a central focus. 


104th Meeting of the USARC, August 25-26, 2015 (Nome, AK, USA).

Attention researchers in the Nome region: USARC (Fran Ulmer, Chair) invites you to share your Arctic research activities and/or suggestions on research when the Commission meets in Nome. There will be limited opportunities for formal presentations to the Commission, as well as a community comment period. If you would like to share your research (or ideas on research) with the Commission and will be in the area during our visit, please contact USARC's Deputy Director, Cheryl Rosa, at crosa@arctic.gov by June 30th. The Agenda will be forthcoming. 

 

Polar Law Symposium (8th) will be held in Alaska (Sept. 23-24, UAF; Sept. 25-26, UAA). It's sponsored by UAF, UAA (and ISER), UAA Justice Center, UW Law School. Abstracts due 3/15/15. This year's conference 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.

 

2015 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 16-18, 2015 (Reykjavik, Iceland). 

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.
 
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.

  

11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016), June 20-24, 2016 (Potsdam, Germany). The Alfred Wegener Institute has teamed up with UP Transfer GmbH and the University of Potsdam to organize a great conference for you, permafrost researchers. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level.

  

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