Anchorage Arctic Research Day 2017

Overview

On March 24, 2017, ARCUS and the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), in conjunction with the Arctic Research Consortium of the US (ARCUS) co-hosted the first ever Anchorage Arctic Research Day. This event, held on the UAA campus, brought together over one hundred Arctic researchers from the university, indigenous, federal, state, local, and non-profit entities to share descriptions of the work they are doing and to foster new collaborations. The day included welcomes from Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, UAA Chancellor Tom Case, and representatives of Senator Lisa Murkowski and the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. Fran Ulmer, chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, gave a keynote address, discussing the US ARC's current priority goals for Arctic research as well as highlights of the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council and the White House Arctic Science Ministerial meeting in September 2016.

There were two panels featuring UAA faculty members discussing their current Arctic research projects, one focusing on Social Sciences, Health and Humanities, and another on Natural Sciences and Engineering research. A third panel included researchers from federal, state and quasi-governmental agencies with offices in Anchorage, researchers and leaders from two Anchorage-based indigenous organizations – Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska and Aleut International Association - that participate as Permanent Participants to the Arctic Council, the head of the Arctic Studies Center of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Institute of the North. IARPC participants presented an overview of the recently launched IARPC Arctic Research Plan, and discussed ways that researchers and community members could be involved. The executive director of the University of Alaska's Arctic Domain Awareness Center (ADAC) also described the work of this Department of Homeland Security-funded Center of Excellence. Bob Rich, ARCUS Executive Director, also gave an overview of opportunities for researchers to engage with ARCUS.