|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
Today's Congressional Action:
The House and Senate are not in session.
|
 Pentagon Move into Uncharted Waters. The Department of Defense is bracing for the possibility of operating under an emergency spending measure for the next fiscal year, something it has never before been asked to do. While lawmakers only intend for their stopgap funding measure - known as a continuing resolution (CR) - to last through mid-December, the Army is bracing preparing for the possibility that funding is eventually put on auto-pilot for a whole year, according to official documents obtained by The Hill. A yearlong CR would be unprecedented for the Department of Defense, but is one of two likely scenarios for fiscal 2016, budget experts say. The Hill
The Alaska Scientist Who Teaches The Catholic Church About Climate Change. Glenn Juday, a devout Roman Catholic and an ecologist, had been working on climate education within the Roman Catholic Church for years when Pope Francis issued an doctrinal statement on the environment this spring in the form of an official letter to clergy about climate change. "That was the big kahuna we were thinking about at the time we were launching the Catholic Climate Covenant efforts," said Juday, a professor of forest ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. From 2010 to 2012 Juday served as lead scientist and trainer for Catholic Climate Covenant, a national advocacy organization that inserts Catholic voices into the conversation on climate change and pushes for the church to take an active role in the issue. Alaska Dispatch News
 Arctic Shipping and Safety-Legal Challenges and Opportunities. One of the most significant global issues over the past 10 years is the vast changes in the Arctic region. The world has again turned its attention to the Arctic, this time mainly because of the climate effects in the Arctic, the economic potential of the region, and the geopolitical implications of changes in the Arctic. The European Maritime Law Organisation, the Royal Danish Naval Academy and the Danish law firm Gorrissen Federspiel host a two-day conference to discuss the many legal and operational issues related to Arctic shipping. The conference will deal with a broad range of topics from search & rescue, environmental regulation to the drawing of new boundaries, and a number of international experts will give their views on the developments in the Arctic. Hellenic Shipping News
NASA to Fly Parallel Science Campaigns at Both Poles. For the first time in its seven years of flights, NASA's Operation IceBridge, an airborne survey of changes in Earth's polar ice, is conducting overlapping campaigns in Antarctica and the Arctic. Since 2009, IceBridge has studied Antarctic ice conditions each fall, but this year a new field campaign has been added to collect measurements of sea and land ice in the Arctic to provide insight into the impact of the summer melt season. The Antarctic campaign was the first to kick off on Sept. 22, as IceBridge successfully completed its first research flight over the southernmost continent. Antarctic flights continue until Nov. 2. The first flight of the Arctic campaign is scheduled for Sept. 23, weather permitting, with ongoing flights until Oct. 23. Phys.Org
|
|
Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
|
|
Future Events
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 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.
Resources for the Future and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment are hosting a seminar to understand the science behind increased shipping and the related impacts on marine life, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them. Among the speakers will be Dr. Lawson Brigham, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, an advisor to the USARC, and Ms. Denise Michels, Mayor of Nome, Alaska. Registration required. Available as webcast too. (By the way, RFF's website won't enable you to register using the Safari browser...try Chrome, or another)
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.
US Expert Panel on Shaping Global Policies for the Arctic : Penn State University, October 20, 2015 (State College, PA, USA). Penn State University will host an afternoon panel of national experts in the Arctic and in US interests in the region. Building on the law of the sea expertise of VADM James Houck (former Navy Judge Advocate General and now Interim Dean of the Law School and School of International Affairs at Penn State) and the knowledge of the changing Arctic environment of RADM David Titley (former head of the Navy's Task Force Climate Change and now professor from practice in the Department of Meteorology), the panel brings together experts in science, law, policy, and Arctic diplomacy. We see these experts individually at events in Washington, but Penn State is doing a great service in bringing them altogether at one event in an region that seldom gets such first hand expertise.
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.
Matchpoints Seminar, November 12-13, 2015 (Aarhus, Denmark). The purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for policy-makers and academics to deliberate on how the security, resilience and sustainability of the globalized Arctic region and its peoples may be enhanced, and what instruments of governance may most suitably contribute. The conference will spell out (1) how the different relevant dimensions of security (military, economic, environmental, energy and human security) manifest themselves in the governing / governance arrangements in the Arctic; (2) how the challenges associated with each manifest themselves, individually and together; and (3) what forms of governing arrangements can best help to address the challenges. The conference will also focus on (4) how the Nordic countries and nations, including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Aaland Islands, may contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Arctic region through collaborative efforts based on their shared social, human, environmental and democratic values.
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.
Arctic Encounter Paris (AEP 2015), December 11-12, 2015 (Paris, France) (During the UN Convention on Climate Change - COP21). The Arctic Encounter Paris will take place at the French Senate at Luxembourg Palace and the French Military College, École Militaire, in Paris, France, on the final days of the monumental United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP21) where thousands of global citizens and government delegates will be gathered to deliberate the world's response to our changing planet in Paris. The AEP is the only Arctic policy side event currently planned to take place during the UN Convention. A reception will take place following the closing panel.
3rd Annual Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES 2016), January 15-16, 2016 (Seattle, WA, USA). Building upon the preceding Arctic Encounter event in Paris, the third annual Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES) in Seattle, Washington will convene policymakers, industry leaders, and leading experts to confront the leading issues in Arctic policy, innovation, and development. As the largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States, the AES mission is to raise awareness, engage challenges, and develop solutions for the future of a region and a people. The two-day program includes two keynote luncheons, expert plenary sessions, break out sessions, a networking cocktail reception and seated dinner at the Museum of History and Industry on South Lake Union. A closing reception will take place at the conclusion of the program. The official host of the third annual AES is the University of Washington School of Law.
|
|
  
4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2015 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 16-18, 2015 (Reykjavik, Iceland).
2016 (Fairbanks, AK, USA).