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Council for Chemical Research Annual Meeting, May 4-6, 2015 (Alexandria, Virginia, USA). As the world changes, industries must adapt or die. Sometimes there are disruptive events that rapidly change the landscape in which they operate - these can come from innovations in products that displace existing markets, but they can also come from changes in resources that require new methods of manufacturing. The chemical enterprise is not immune to such effects - it can be disruptive and change the way people live and it can be disrupted by changes in the world's political and socioeconomic landscapes. The meeting will explore questions like how shale gas will alter the strategy and research needs for both commodity chemical and energy production and how climate change might impact research priorities and resource availability.
Today's Congressional Action:
The Senate is expected to consider non-Arctic legislation. The House is not session.
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Finland's Sami Request UN Help in Securing Their Rights. The head of Finland's Sámi parliament has appealed to the UN for help in forcing the Finnish government to recognise the rights of the country's indigenous minorities. Speaking in New York on Monday, Tiina Sanila-Aikio told a UN forum that the Finnish state has "robbed the Sámi people of our right to define ourselves" by failing to sign up to an international convention which vouchsafes indigenous peoples' rights. YLE
 Scientists Map Woolly Mammoth Genomes, Which Could Help Bring Species Back to Life. Scientists may be one step closer to bringing the woolly mammoth back to life. In a new study, an international team of researchers has sequenced the genomes of two Siberian woolly mammoths -- revealing the most complete genetic blueprint of the prehistoric beast yet. "This discovery means that recreating extinct species is a much more real possibility, one we could in theory realize within decades," study co-author Dr. Hendrik Poinar, an evolutionary geneticist at McMaster University in Canada, said in a written statement. "With a complete genome and this kind of data, we can now begin to understand what made a mammoth a mammoth -- when compared to an elephant -- and some of the underlying causes of their extinction which is an exceptionally difficult and complex puzzle to solve." Huffington Post
 Fulbright Puts Focus on Arctic Research. What do a sociologist from Russia, a biologist from Sweden and artist from the US all have in common? They are all a part of a group of 17 leaders in their fields who, over the next year and a half, will be expected to help demystify the Arctic. The group, all citizens of Arctic countries, was selected last week as the inaugural participants in the Fulbright Arctic Initiative. Their participation will see them conducting research related to energy, water, health and infrastructure, in order to benefit the development of the region. Arctic Journal
Canada, Greenland's Natural Born Partner. When André Giroux, Canada's ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, is in Nuuk this week, he will have a particular message for the people of Greenland. "There is no doubt that, for us, Greenland is a special partner," he says. "Greenland is Canada's second neighbor and that makes us a natural partner in its future development." Arctic Journal
Get Moving on a Nunavut University, Speakers Urge. James Nasso, the chair of Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. and a stalwart believer in building a bricks-and-mortar university for Nunavut, took his message to an audience of Inuit and Nunavut students and education leaders in Ottawa last week. "It could be a great healing force," Nasso said, saying he has seen first-hand the extent to which training and education can bring benefits to Inuit. Nunatsiaq Online
 EU Bid to Become Arctic Council Observer Deferred Again. The Arctic Council postponed observer status applications for another two years. The council decided to further review observer issues before coming to its long-awaited decision on the EU. After mending broken bridges with Canada, the EU hoped to finally achieve observer status on the Arctic Council. Tensions between the EU and Canada stemmed largely from an import ban on Canadian seal furs, skins and meat. Barents Observer
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Arctic Spring- Arctic Matters: A Smithsonian Festival of the North, May 8-10, 2015 (Washington, DC). The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History will host an educational weekend event celebrating Arctic peoples, cultures, and science. The event coincides with the launch of the United States' 2015-2017 chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the international governmental body coordinating Arctic policy. When the US last chaired the Arctic Council (1998-2000), the Arctic was considered to be at the edge of the world's concerns. Now it is front and center in terms of environmental change and geopolitical importance. Arctic Spring will feature educational programs including a symposium, science displays and interactives, family events, artifacts and art, cultural and musical performances, and films. Activities will occur throughout the museum over a three-day period. Museum scientists, cultural experts, Arctic residents, government agencies, artists and photographers will present research findings and engage visitors in exploring what is known and still needs to be known about the Arctic, its lands, ocean, animals, cultures, and peoples.
The US Arctic Research Commission is a cosponsor of this event.
Effects of Oil on Wildlife, May 18-22, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). This event is co-sponsored by International Bird Rescue and "Aiuka," which is a Brazilian conservation organization. The event will focus on polar wildlife issues and integrating wildlife into oil response, etc. Alaska Clean Seas is also a sponsor. North Slope Borough will also be a part of this meeting.
The House of Sweden Conference, May 19-20, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). A two day conference focusing on changes, adaptations and opportunities for a changing Arctic. The conference will be divided into separate, but intertwined thematic segments - policy, science, climate change and green technologies. The conference is organized by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and is aimed at Arctic oriented policy-makers, researchers, business representatives and NGO's in the lead-up to the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
The European Union and Arctic (2015 EU-Arctic Conference), May 29, 2015 (Dundee, UK). The School of Law, University of Dundee, UK and the K. G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea, University of Tromsř, Norway are pleased to announce the registration open for "The European Union and the Arctic" (2015 EU-Arctic Conference). This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from relevant disciplines such as international law, international relations, political science and marine biology, NGOs, representatives from EU institutions and international organizations to discuss the EU's potential contribution to enhance Arctic governance. A roadmap for increasing the effectiveness of the EU's action in the Arctic will be drawn at the end of the conference.
7th International Conference on Arctic Margins, June 2-5, 2015 (Trondheim, Norway). The next meeting, the 7th International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM VII), previously announced to be arranged in St. Petersburg, will be held in Norway. ICAM VII is hosted by the Geological Survey of Norway. The International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) was founded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, formerly the Minerals Management Service, in 1991 with the underlying two-point theme of 1) Arctic understanding, 2) international cooperation in Arctic research. To these ends, ICAM has provided a successful forum for the exchange of information, collaboration in research, and presentation of results. ICAM is organized, hosted, and conducted by scientists for scientists which makes it a unique forum.
16th International Congress on Circumpolar Health: Focus on Future Health and Wellbeing, June 8-12, 2015 (Oulu, Finland). The congress will focus on human health and well-being in the Arctic and northern areas. It is open for everyone interested in Arctic issues, especially scientists, researchers, health care professionals, policy analysts, government agency representatives and community leaders. The congress is organized by the Thule Institute, University of Oulu in collaboration with the International Union of Circumpolar Health (IUCH), the Nordic Society for Circumpolar Health, the Society of Arctic Health and Biology, and the Rokua Health & Spa. The InternationaI Congress on Circumpolar Health (ICCH) series are arranged every three years in Arctic countries or countries related to Arctic issues. First congress of the series was arranged in 1967, and it was previously hosted by Oulu in 1971.
52nd Annual Conference of the Animal Behavior Society, June 10-14, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The Animal Behavior Society was founded in 1964 to promote the study of animal behavior in the broadest sense, including studies using descriptive and experimental methods under natural and controlled conditions. Current members' research activities span the invertebrates and vertebrates, both in the field and in the laboratory, and include experimental psychology, behavioral ecology, neuroscience, zoology, biology, applied ethology, and human ethology as well as many other specialized areas.
2015 ESSAS Annual Science Meeting, June 15-17, 2015 (Seattle, WA, USA). This symposium, to be held at the University of Washington, is intended for interdisciplinary scholars who will be prepared to discuss their research in the sub-arctic North Atlantic, sub-arctic North Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean that bears on the issue of how changes in sea ice are likely to affect these marine ecosystems. The symposium will also consider the people who depend upon these ecosystems and how they may be able to cope with the changes in the ecosystem goods and services that are coming. These goods and services include the availability of transportation corridors, the availability of subsistence foods, and the opportunity for commercial fishing. To put the present day in a longer perspective, the symposium will include a session on the paleo-ecology of people in sub-arctic and arctic regions that were forced to adjust to changing sea-ice conditions in the past.
6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 14-16, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). Program in development...check back soon. To see the programs from prior symposia, click here.
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.
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.
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. The organizers have issued a call for abstracts, due 5/31/15, on the following topics, full descriptions of where are available here, 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.
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