News Archive

Registration is now available for the fourth ARCUS D.C. Arctic Research seminar/webinar “Regional and Global Implications of Changing Permafrost”. Featuring Ted Schuur of Northern Arizona University, the presentation will discuss the use of synthesis science by the SEARCH Permafrost Action Team and Permafrost Carbon Network to identify and understand the widespread implications of changing permafrost at both regional and local scales. The event will be held Thursday, 28 April from 12:00-1:00pm EDT. Registration is required for both the live event, held at the ARCUS D.C. office, and online webinar.

An archive is available for the Sea Ice Prediction Network webinar, "Challenges and Best Practices: Sea Ice Thickness Distribution as a Rosetta Stone for Cross-Scale Communication." Cathleen Geiger, University of Delaware, gave a presentation on the consistency of sea ice thickness distributions across different horizontal length scales, measurement accuracy, and challenges related to estimating sea ice thickness across many length scales. The event was held Tuesday, 22 March 2016.

An archive is available for the third ARCUS D.C. Arctic Research seminar/webinar "Using an Environmental Intelligence Framework to Evaluate the Impacts of Ocean Acidification in the Arctic”. Jeremy Mathis from the NOAA Climate Program Office gave a presentation on the intensity and extent of ocean acidification in the Arctic and its’ potential threat to Arctic ecosystems. The event was held Thursday, 31 March.

Registration is available for the third ARCUS D.C. Arctic Research seminar/webinar "Using an Environmental Intelligence Framework to Evaluate the Impacts of Ocean Acidification in the Arctic”. Jeremy Mathis from the NOAA Climate Program Office will present discussion on the intensity and extent of ocean acidification in the Arctic and its’ potential threat to Arctic ecosystems. The event will be held Thursday, 31 March from 12:00-1:00pm EDT. Registration is required for both the live event, held at the ARCUS D.C. office, and online webinar.

Registration is now available for the Sea Ice Prediction Network webinar, "Challenges and Best Practices: Sea Ice Thickness Distribution as a Rosetta Stone for Cross-Scale Communication." Cathleen Geiger, University of Delaware, will present discussion on the consistency of sea ice thickness distributions across different horizontal length scales, measurement accuracy, and challenges related to estimating sea ice thickness across many length scales. The event will be held Tuesday, 22 March 2016 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. AKDT.

The ARCUS staff and board members invite Arctic colleagues to join us at our Open House/Drop-In Event, our Exhibit Booth, and other events during the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2016 on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Join us for discussion about better ways to connect and support Arctic research, how ARCUS supported activities can help advance your research, and hear about new membership categories and benefits. The Open House/Drop-In event is 2:30-4:00 pm on Tuesday, 15 March in Gruening, Room 409. The ARCUS Exhibition Booth will be available Monday-Wednesday, 14-16 March from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Wood Center.

A new report from the Center for Resilient Communities shares insights and best practices from Arctic practitioners of community-based observing (CBO). The purpose of this report is to outline the range of community-based observing types as well as their appropriate applications and trade-offs. This report is the first in an anticipated series of three.

EXTENDED Deadline for abstract submissions to 2016 Polar Predictability Workshop: Friday, 11 March 2016.

This workshop will focus on sources of polar predictability on sub-seasonal to inter-annual timescales, sea ice prediction, and operational and research efforts. Forecast users are especially encouraged to attend this workshop.

The workshop will be held 4-6 May 2016 at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) in Palisades, New York.

The Winter 2016 issue of Witness the Arctic is now published online. This issue includes an update on SEARCH program activities including highlights from the three SEARCH Action Teams, the Sea Ice Prediction Network, and the Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting; NSF Arctic Social Science Program news; interagency updates from NOAA, IARPC, and the Polar Research Board; news of the International Arctic Assembly and Arctic Observing Summit—both to convene is association with the 2016 Arctic Science Summit Week of 12-18 March; and comments from ARCUS Executive Director, Robert Rich.

The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program announces an extended deadline for the call for nominations of new Science Steering Committee members.

Although the official 2016 open call for nominations ended on April 4, any further nominations received by Sunday, 1 May 2016 may still be considered during the next candidate review cycle and will also be retained for future consideration as committee openings occur.

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has chosen Fiamma Straneo, co-lead of SEARCH's Land Ice Action Team, to deliver the Sverdrup Lecture at this year's meeting of the Ocean Sciences section held in New Orleans from February 21-26, 2016. The lecture is one of the highest awards the section bestows on its members.

The SEARCH research community has been hard at work preparing white papers, short statements, and poster presentations for the 2016 Arctic Observing Summit to be held March 15-18 in Fairbanks, AK. The aim of the biennial Arctic Observing Summit is to provide community-driven, science-based guidance for the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long-term operation of an international network of Arctic observing systems.

Entry fee will support Polar Educators International, a vibrant network that promotes polar education and research to a global community, in spirit with the purpose of Arctic Science Week 2016. Join the fun on 19 March 2016 at 10am.

Not going to ASSW? Join the Virtual 5K: 2016 Polar Educators International 5K Run/Walk on the Equinox

A member of SEARCH's Science Steering Committee, Dr. George Kling (University of Michigan), will host STEM teacher Dieuwertje Kast's PolarTREC field research expedition at the Toolik Field Research Station this summer in Alaska. The goal of their research project will be to measure and understand the changes taking place in Arctic microbial ecology and the role these microbes play in the production of greenhouse gases. PolarTREC is a program of the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. in which K-12 teachers spend 3-6 weeks participating in hands-on field research experiences in the polar regions.

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released a report last month highlighting SEARCH's Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) as a key accomplishment in the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee's efforts to enhance interagency cooperation. With diverse support from the Department of Energy, NASA, NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research, SIPN was celebrated for its collaborative interagency approach to improving the predictive skill of Arctic sea ice models.

Organizers announce that registration is now available for the 2016 Polar Predictability Workshop and call for abstracts. The workshop will be held 4-6 May 2016 at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York. This workshop will focus on sources of polar predictability on sub-seasonal to inter-annual timescales, sea ice prediction, and operational and research efforts. Registration and abstract submission are now available.

The second speaker for the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) D.C. Seminar Series will be SEARCH's Sea Ice Action Team Lead, Dr. Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University. You are invited to attend her presentation on “Crazy Weather and the Arctic Meltdown: Are They Connected?”, which will take place at the ARCUS D.C. office and via live webinar on Thursday, 18 February, 2016 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Please join ARCUS at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska, 25-29 January. ARCUS will have an open “Drop-in” event with light lunch on Wednesday, 27 January and a poster presentation on “Collaboration in Arctic Marine Ecosystems" on Monday, 25 January.

PolarTREC alumni teacher John Wood organized a Polar Day at his school in Southern California and it was a great success. This event is part of his ongoing commitment to sharing polar science with his students, many years after his PolarTREC expedition. ARCUS’ on-going commitment to education and outreach creates polar science ambassadors, like John, across the country.

The Arctic in the Classroom program is currently accepting applications from teachers and researchers for participation in the Make an Impact workshop, the program's kickoff event. Travel, accommodations, and ASSW registration are covered for the workshop. Participants are also awarded the opportunity for continued support within The Arctic in the Classroom program. Teachers and researchers can register for approximately 15 openings available. Registration period is from 11 January - 1 February 2016. Further information about The Arctic in the Classroom Program can be found at: https://www.arcus.org/tac.

SEARCH's Sea Ice Action Team co-lead, Jennifer Francis (Rutgers University), discussed the weather implications of a changing Arctic at the Arctic Matters Day Symposium on 14 January, 2016 in Washington, D.C. This free public program, organized by the Polar Research Board, showcased Arctic change science and its potential impacts across the globe through a series of engaging presentations, discussions, and interactive displays.

Henry P. Huntington, co-lead of SEARCH's Sea Ice Action Team, spoke about sea ice, shipping, and effective maritime governance in the Bering Strait during a webinar hosted by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy on 12 January, 2016 at 10am AKST.

SEARCH lead a plenary session on actionable Arctic change science at the the Arctic Encounter Symposium on 15 January, 2016.

The Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) held an open workshop to discuss data needs for sea ice forecasting on 17 December during the 2015 American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meetings. This workshop focused on how SIPN and others who provide data observations can best serve the needs of the forecasting community. The goal of the workshop was to help identify data needs for model initialization and verification, which available data products are useful—and why, what improvements to existing data products would make for better utilizations (e.g., change in formatting), what additional observations are needed, and how limited spatial scale data from ship observations etc. are being used.

Three major science synthesis efforts assessing the climate feedback from permafrost carbon are highlighted in this new report from the Permafrost Carbon Network. In addition to these science highlights, the report provides further details on the Permafrost Carbon Network's workshops, public outreach activities, and highly successful efforts to build and engage a productive Arctic change research community.