Date

Multiple IPY Oslo Science Conference Announcements
Norges Varemesse
Oslo, Norway
8-12 June 2010

Abstract Deadline for all Sessions: Wednesday, 20 January 2010

For further information on the conference, please go to:
http://www.ipy-osc.no/.

For details on abstract submission for any session, please go to:
http://www.ipy-osc.no/section/1257865053.48.

In this announcement:

  1. 1.8 - Contaminants in Polar Physical and Biological Environment,
    Humans and Climate Influence

  2. 2.5 - From land to ocean: Hydrological, coastal, nearshore and
    upper shelf processes in polar regions

  3. 5.1 - New Frontiers and Directions in Biology, Ecology and
    Biodiversity

  1. 1.8 - Contaminants in Polar Physical and Biological Environment,
    Humans and Climate Influence

Organizers of Session 1.8, "Contaminants in Polar Physical and
Biological Environment, Humans and Climate Influence," announce a call
for abstracts.

The polar regions receive contaminants, such as persistent organic
pollutants (POPs), mercury, and radionuclides from far-away sources.
Many of these pollutants have no local sources and/or were never used in
the Arctic or the Antarctic but are detected at levels high enough to
risk the health of the environment and humans. This session will explore
the current status of contaminants; their transport pathways; reaction,
degradation, and multimedia partitioning processes; fate, trends, and
impact on the polar environment, biota, and humans; and how current and
predicted changes in climate would affect contaminant distribution and
trends.

This session welcomes studies on all aspects of contaminants in the
arctic and Antarctic atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, terrestrial
and marine biota, and humans. Evaluations on the effects of a changing
climate on polar contaminants are welcomed. Presentations are not
limited to IPY activities but all research studies conducted within the
timeframe of IPY, namely 2007-2009, and should include observations from
field, laboratory, and modeling studies.

Organizers of session 1.8 request that anyone submitting an abstract to
their session through the formal IPY-OSC process (available at:
http://www.ipy-osc.no/section/1257865053.48) also send a copy to Hayley
Hung (hayley.hung [at] ec.gc.ca) so that they can better track the interest
in their session.

For further information, please go to:
http://www.ipy-osc.no/article/2010/1262940060.07.

Or contact:
Hayley Hung
Email: hayley.hung [at] ec.gc.ca

  1. 2.5 - From land to ocean: Hydrological, coastal, nearshore and
    upper shelf processes in polar regions

Organizers of Session 2.5, "From land to ocean: Hydrological, coastal,
nearshore, and upper shelf processes in polar regions," announce a call
for abstracts.

Hydrological processes in the polar regions include snow redistribution,
sublimation and melt, soil freezing and thawing, subsurface water flow
in partially frozen soil, cold water evaporation, ice melt, and runoff.
The interaction between these elements affects the delivery of water,
sediment, contaminants, and dissolved solids to northern rivers, coastal
regions, and oceans. Arctic shelf seas represent about half of the
Arctic Ocean and 25 percent of the entire world ocean shelves whilst the
arctic drainage contains a large area of ungauged basins where
hydrological inputs to the coasts and shelves are very uncertain.
Changing precipitation regimes and storminess, rising air and water
temperatures, degradation of permafrost and glaciers, variations in snow
cover and freshwater flow to the oceans, increasing coastal erosion, sea
level rise, and dramatic changes in sea ice will lead to the rapid
rearrangement of already dynamic systems in northern river basins, at
the land-sea interface, and on the upper continental shelves. Because
they are globally important and changing rapidly, it is imperative to
improve prediction of these systems based on an understanding of the
underlying processes.

This session encourages submissions on recent developments in the
dynamics, prediction, and process understanding of northern hydrology;
investigation of biogeochemical and energy exchanges at the land-ocean
interface from the coast to the upper shelves; and studies dealing with
the coastal environment. This session is supported by the International
Permafrost Association and the International Commission on Snow and Ice
Hydrology (IAHS).

For further information, please go to:
http://www.ipy-osc.no/article/2010/1262788979.56.

Or contact:

Nicole Couture
Email: ncouture [at] nrcan.gc.ca

Heidi Kassens
Email: hkassens [at] ifm-geomar.de

John Pomeroy
Email: john.pomeroy [at] usask.ca

Carolyn Wegner
Email: cwegner [at] ifm-geomar.de

  1. 5.1 - New Frontiers and Directions in Biology, Ecology and
    Biodiversity

Organizers of Session 5.1, "New Frontiers and Directions in Biology,
Ecology and Biodiversity," announce a call for abstracts.

This session will cover the many facets of biological research conducted
in the Arctic and Antarctic during IPY and beyond. Where possible
comparisons between the two polar regions will be drawn. New molecular
and telemetric techniques have been widely used during IPY and insights
gained into speciation and habitat utilization will be discussed.

The goal of the organizers of session 5.1 is to combine the vast variety
of challenges polar research is already facing with the impending
challenges of the near future, particularly in an interdisciplinary
context.

For further information, please go to:
http://www.ipy-osc.no/article/2010/1262938287.99.

Or contact:
Michael Stoddart
Email: Michael.Stoddart [at] utas.edu.au

Kim Jochum
Email: kajochum [at] alaska.edu