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Today's Congressional Action:
The House and Senate are in session and expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.
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Nunavut's Rich-Poor Gap Continues to Grow, Stats Reveal. Nunavut's affluent wage-earners continue to get richer, while the territory's poorest are earning less. That's according to economic indicator statistics included with Nunavut's Finance Minister Keith Peterson's annual territorial budget, released Feb. 25 at Nunavut's Legislative Assembly. Nunatsiaq Online
Appeals Court Upholds Designation of Polar Bear Habitat in US Arctic. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service followed the law when it designated more than 187,000 square miles - an area larger than California - as critical habitat for threatened polar bears in Alaska marine waters and its northern coast, an appeals court ruled Monday. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal reversed a 2013 lower court decision that the designation was too extensive and not specific. Alaska Dispatch News
Inuit Women Continue to Play Catch-up With Aboriginal Peers. Canadian Inuit women continue to play catch-up with other Aboriginal women in Canada. That's among the many conclusions from a recently-released chapter on First Nations, Métis and Inuit Women contained in a Statistics Canada study on women in Canada. Nunatsiaq Online
Following Alaska's Vanishing Ice. I slid onto the ice with the trepidation of a newly walking toddler, probing with my ski pole, lining my kids behind me like ducklings. You'd laugh if you were watching. But bear with me. It's hard to believe you really can walk on the sea, even when you're doing it. It was the middle of March, nearly a year ago. My family of four had flown into Nome around the time a lot of people fly to Nome. Iditarod fans filled the streets. But I was a hundred yards offshore of downtown. I didn't fall in. Beneath my skis, the ocean was crystallized. Crystal touched crystal touched crystal, a sparkling line that reached to Unalakleet, where the first of the mushers had just reached Norton Sound. Alaska Dispatch News
Autonomous Kayak Helps Researchers Capture Light Measurements in Winter Arctic. Circadian rhythms are the daily 24-hour cycles that tell our bodies when to eat, sleep and regulate a host of other physical processes. They can be affected by environmental cues like light and temperature. Marine organisms are susceptible to light, too. They use it to find food, avoid predators, even to hide themselves in plain sight. Phys.org
Sullivan: Alaska Strategically Important to US. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said Monday that Alaska is an area of strategic importance to the country, given its foothold in the Arctic and production of oil, seafood and other resources. In an address to state lawmakers, he spoke about the state's role in improving its own fiscal standing and that of the United States. Juneau Empire
State Commission for Arctic Development Presidium to Meet in Murmansk. The State Commission for Arctic Development Presidium will hold its meeting in Murmansk on March 9. The meeting will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the commission's press service reported. The main items on the meeting's agenda include discussing amendments to the state program Socioeconomic Development of the Russian Arctic until 2020 and the creation of an integrated transport infrastructure with an adequate fleet of vehicles in the Russian Arctic, as well as summing up the results of delivering goods to the country's northern territories in 2015. The Arctic
Portable Laboratory Will Gather Critical Arctic Climate Data. To build accurate climate models, scientists require atmospheric data from all corners of the globe-from tropical oceans to the frigid Arctic. Engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are leaders in building mobile laboratories designed to gather relevant data from remote regions. Their latest creation is a revamped Aerosol Observing System (AOS) commissioned by DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility, which contains over a dozen instruments for collecting data on aerosols, tiny particulates in the atmosphere that can have a big impact on climate. These instruments are mounted inside a modified shipping container designed to withstand the harshest weather conditions on Earth, from tropical hurricanes to Arctic blizzards. Phys.org
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
5th Annual Fletcher Opening Arctic Conference, March 12, 2016. The Opening Arctic Conference builds on the Fletcher School's Warming Arctic International Inquiry series, to bring together high-level thought leaders from across disciplines, Fletcher's hallmark. Staged annually, Fletcher's event continues to address the foreign policy, economic, environmental and security implications of the opening Arctic, while dispelling myths.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, March 23-25, 2016 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The Fairbanks workshop aims to explore recent advances and innovations in indigenous science and scholarship in the circumpolar north and its neighbors. The workshop will bring together indigenous experts and researchers from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds to explore the role and contributions of indigenous frameworks and knowledge systems in advancing fields of science and informing global solutions.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, March 31-April 2, 2016 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The Juneau Workshop, organized in collaboration with University of Alaska Southeast Department of Social Science, aims to explore the contributions and potentials of Arctic social sciences in the emerging synergies that involve humanities, natural sciences, and engineering. The connections we attempt to foster reach mainly into two directions within the recent history of Arctic research.
15th Annual Arctic Health Science Seminar, April 1, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The American Society for Circumpolar Health will host the 15th Annual Arctic Health Science Seminar in Anchorage, Alaska. This event will include the annual meeting of the American Society for Circumpolar Health, the Robert Fortuine Memorial lecture, and the Albrecht Milan Foundation will provide the Albrecht-Milan Emerging Professional Award to one of the Arctic Health Science Seminar presenters. The call for abstracts is open through Monday February 29, 2016.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, April 14-16, 2016 (Cedar Fall, Idaho, USA). The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. This workshop will gather a diverse group of scholars to discuss the state-of-the art in Arctic social sciences and develop visioning scenarios for the future of social science research in the Arctic. The core topics will parallel discussions held at other regional workshops (Portland, OR and Providence, RI), which include: social sciences research and climate change; interdisciplinary research in the Arctic; social sciences and humanities in the Arctic, and applied social sciences research.
Alaska Rural Energy Conference, April 26-28, 2016 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The Alaska Rural Energy Conference is a three day event offering a large variety of technical sessions covering new and ongoing energy projects in Alaska, as well as new technologies and needs for Alaska's remote communities. Building on the growing success, the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Center for Energy and Power have joined forces again to organize and sponsor the 10th annual Alaska Rural Energy Conference.
14th IATS Seminar, June 19-25, 2016 (Bergen, Norway). The University of Bergen (UiB) is honored to host the 14th IATS Seminar in Bergen, Norway, from Sunday 19 to Saturday 25 June 2016 in co-operation with the Network for University Co-operation Tibet-Norway, an academic network with the universities of Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø as partners. The convenor is Professor Hanna Havnevik, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, and Chair of the Network.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, September 23-24, 2016 (Monticello, Rhode Island, USA). The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The event will reassemble the members of the National Steering Committee and a small but diverse selection of representatives from the five regional workshops, to total about 15 people. The aim will be to identify and synthesize the core threads of the previous workshops and public contributions proffered between workshops. The target output for the workshop will be a final report draft and outline of steps leading to the final report release in June 2016. The Jefferson Institute will manage production of the publication.
** New this week ** Second International Conference on Natural Resources and Integrated Development of Coastal Areas in the Arctic Zone, September 27-29, 2016 (Arkhangelsk, Russia).The Conference is organized by FASO of Russia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Government of Arkhangelsk region, Arkhangelsk Scientific Center and International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). Conference is aimed at elaboration of research-based practical measures and instruments for realization of human, natural and transport-logistical potential of the Arctic zone, including development of the Northern Sea Route and implementation of models of integrated coastal areas management. For additional information, please email.
Inuit traditions are a repository of Inuit culture and a primary expression of Inuit identity. The theme for the 2016 Inuit Studies Conference invites Elders, knowledge-bearers, researchers, artists, policy-makers, students and others to engage in conversations about the many ways in which traditions shape understanding, while registering social and cultural change. The institutional hosts of "Inuit Traditions," Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Nunatsiavut Government, invite you to contribute to an exchange of knowledge to be held in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, October 7-10, 2016. Presentations on all aspects of Inuit studies will be welcome.
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