News Archive

The ARCUS Board of Directors is pleased to announce today the appointment of Helen V. Wiggins as its new Executive Director. For the past year, Wiggins has served as ARCUS’ Interim Executive Director, and has held the position of ARCUS’ Director of Programs since 2008. “ARCUS is very pleased to recognize Helen’s expertise in managing ARCUS’ programs, staff, and the complexity of our membership community. She has repeatedly demonstrated her capability at leading the organization to success in numerous endeavors,” said ARCUS outgoing President of the Board Audrey Taylor.

ARCUS and the Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska are pleased to announce the 2020 call for Arctic Indigenous Scholars. Three scholars will be selected to travel to Washington DC to share their views and build relationships with policy and decision-makers. We strongly encourage hunters, culture bearers, and those active in their communities to apply.

ARCUS' Arctic Calendar is an online, searchable calendar of major meetings and events relevant to the arctic science, education, and policy communities. It serves as a community resource for tracking and publicizing major Arctic events and conferences, and to help avoid conflicting meeting dates. It is updated daily.

We encourage anyone organizing a meeting, seminar, or webinar to submit the event for inclusion on the calendar. We also welcome other Arctic organizations to link to the Arctic Calendar. Events can be submitted through the online form at: http://www.arcus.org/events/arctic-calendar/submit or by emailing calendar [at] arcus.org

Join Weddell seals in the icy cold waters of Antarctica in this video by PolarTREC Teacher Bridget Ward. ">Watch the video!

ARCUS invites registration for our next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Jeffrey Brooks, Social Scientist at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). This seminar, titled “Science and Traditional Knowledge in Decision-Making: A Federal Agency Shares its Experience in Alaska,” will be held Tuesday, 7 January 2020, 10:00 a.m. AKST (2:00 p.m. EST) online via Zoom.

The December 2019 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: “The Future Shape of the Greenland Geodetic Network,” an NSF-funded Research Networking Activity (RNA) that aims to make data from this series of global navigation satellite system installations more accessible and to foster innovative research and “Permafrost Discovery Gateway: A New Online Platform Supporting Knowledge-Generation from Big Imagery” an NSF-funded project that will create pan-Arctic data products and provide easy access and discovery of these large datasets through visualization tools accessible through an interactive web browser.

The Polar Technology Conference is planned for 10–12 March 2020 in Boulder, Colorado. The goal of the meeting is to link experts in polar science and technology development to discuss current technological resources for polar research and identify barriers to research and application of technology for problems unique to polar regions. Abstract submission has been extended until 7 February 2020, 5:00 p.m. Alaska time.

Happy Holidays from all of us at ARCUS! We look forward to doing great work in the new year!

The SEARCH Sea Ice Action Team partnered with the Bering Sea Elders Group (BSEG) by hosting a two-day workshop with elders from the Bering Sea region in September 2019 to develop the first Indigenous community contribution to the NOAA Arctic Report Card. A short video, which will ultimately be part of a larger video series called "After the Ice", showcases this workshop and some of its participants. The workshop focused on recent environmental changes across the Bering Sea region and the impacts on the local Peoples of the region. The elders' contribution to the Arctic Report Card can be found here.

ARCUS will be celebrating Antarctica Day by hosting a LIVE, real-time event with PolarTREC educator Jocelyn Argueta from the South Pole Station in Antarctica. This event will take place on Friday, December 13, 2019 at 8:10 AM Alaska Standard Time [9:10 AM PST, 10:10 AM MST, 11:10 AM CST, 12:10 PM EST]. Learn more about Jocelyn’s adventures at the South Pole here.

Join the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, held 9-13 December 2019 in San Francisco, California.

ARCUS staff and board members hope to see many of our colleagues and friends—and meet new ones—at the ARCUS-related events at AGU this year!

A list of other Arctic-related events and sessions taking place during the AGU Fall Meeting is available through the ARCUS website.

This issue includes a summary of NSF’s FY2020 solicitation for Navigating the New Arctic (NNA); a call for community input on development of the IARPC Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026; Arctic Data Center news about a new semantic search product; news about the recently funded International Permafrost Coastal Systems Network; news from U.S. Arctic GEOTRACES of a novel public outreach program; Arctic social science focused articles about recommendations to protect the ecosystem habitat in Bristol Bay, a cross-cultural collaboration effort to improve Native Alaskan wellbeing, and a school-based sled-building project in eastern Greenland; updates on the SEARCH program, the Arctic Indigenous Scholars program, the PolarTREC program, the Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 project, and plans for the 2020 Polar Technology Conference; comments from ARCUS board members and Interim Executive Director Helen Wiggins; and a highlight of ARCUS member institution, the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS).

CANCELLED
NOTE: This event has been cancelled due to lack of satellite availability. There is a possibility that it could be rescheduled. We'll announce it on the website, if that happens. Thanks for your patience and interest!

ARCUS will be celebrating Antarctica Day by hosting a LIVE, real-time event with PolarTREC educator Jocelyn Argueta from the South Pole Station in Antarctica. Learn more about Jocelyn’s adventures at the South Pole here.

SEARCH will hold a Town Hall at the upcoming AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, CA, on Friday, 13 December 2009 at 12:30-13:30pm PT, in Moscone West - 2003, L2. In this town hall, SEARCH seeks best practices and ideas to further improve how we share knowledge of the Arctic with policy makers. Other SEARCH-related events will include a Permafrost Carbon Network meeting and several sessions and talks.

On Tuesday, 10 December 2019 from 3:00-5:00pm, please join ARCUS and IARPC Collaborations for our 2nd Arctic Funders Meet & Greet networking event at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, CA. This special event will provide an informal opportunity for Arctic researchers to connect in-person with multiple agency program officers to gain insight into each organization’s Arctic research funding interests and opportunities. There is no cost to participate and you do not have to be registered for the AGU Fall Meeting to attend.

Please join the Sea Ice Prediction Network - Phase 2 (SIPN2) for a Sea Ice Community Open Meeting on Tuesday, 10 December 2019 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. (PST) in the ARCUS Arctic Community Meeting Room: Monterrey I — Hotel Nikko San Francisco, located at 222 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA.

All attendees are invited to participate in a fast-paced round-robin session to share information about related efforts and/or needs for input. A PowerPoint template is available, for those who want to share information in a slide format, upon request.

ARCUS invites registration for our next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Jeffrey Brooks (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management). This seminar, titled “Science and Traditional Knowledge in Decision-Making: A Federal Agency Shares its Experience in Alaska,” will be held Wednesday, 4 December 2019 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. AKST (1:30-2:30 p.m. EST) online via Zoom.

Please join us Wednesday, 11 December from 7:30-9:00pm (Pacific Time) for a special Arctic Research Community Networking Reception being held at the Hotel Nikko (222 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94102, Monterey I & II) in San Francisco, CA. An ARCUS member affiliation is not required to attend and there is no cost to participate. However, advance registration is encouraged.

ARCUS will be hosting Arctic Community Meeting Rooms during the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2019 in San Francisco, California. Meeting space is available, by reservation, in one- to two-hour blocks for groups working on Arctic research and/or education activities. The meeting rooms will be located at the Hotel Nikko San Francisco and are available free of charge.

The Arctic Community Meeting Rooms are funded by the National Science Foundation's Division of Polar Programs to encourage collaboration and facilitate face-to-face meetings of opportunity.

PolarTREC educator Denise Hardoy will be live on Wednesday, 20 November at 8:15 AM AKST (9:15 AM PST, 10:15 AM MST, 11:15 AM CST, 12:15 PM EST) to discuss her experience on the team studying Antarctic Fish Development Under Future Ocean Conditions. You can read more about what Denise is learning here.

Educator Amy Osborne will be presenting about her research experience at McMurdo Station on Friday, 22 November at 8:30 AM AKST (9:30 AM PST, 10:30 AM MST, 11:30 AM CST, 12:30 PM EST). Amy is working on the team researching Thermal Sensitivity of Embryos and Larvae of Antarctic Marine Ectotherms.

Join us for an upcoming PolarConnect event with educator Bridget Ward and the Weddell Seals: Growing Up on Ice Team. This event will broadcast live from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Monday, 4 November 2019 at 8:30 AM Alaska Standard Time (9:30 AM PST, 10:30 AM MST, 11:30 AM CST, 12:30 PM EST). Register today!

ARCUS seeks an Executive Director to continue our important work of increasing opportunities for collaboration across the broad Arctic research community. Responsibilities will include leadership and advocacy for the organization, management of projects and initiatives, financial oversight, staff supervision, support of the Board of Directors, and oversight of strategic planning efforts. Applications are due by 5:00 pm AKT on 15 November 2019.

ARCUS invites registration for our next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Anna Liljedahl (University of Alaska Fairbanks). This seminar, titled “Permafrost Hydrology Discoveries and Opportunities”, will be held Friday, 1 November 2019 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. AKDT (2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT) online via Zoom.

A new publication in Nature Climate Change provides a baseline for winter CO2 emissions from northern terrestrial regions and indicates that enhanced soil CO2 loss due to winter warming may offset growing season carbon uptake under future climatic conditions. This science synthesis effort was led by Dr. Susan Natali and the Permafrost Carbon Network.

The October 2019 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes an article “Widespread Permafrost Degradation in the Canadian High Arctic at 80°N,” summarizing results from a recent study that suggest complex causes to the rapid increases in signs of permafrost instability in the polar desert of the high Arctic.