News Archive

ARCUS announces a call for nominations for members to serve on the consortium’s Membership Committee.The ARCUS Membership Committee is a standing committee established by the ARCUS Board of Directors to plan and support activities for ARCUS members and the wider Arctic research community, including planning and hosting the ARCUS Annual Meeting. This is a wonderful opportunity to serve an active role in developing and strengthening relationships with fellow ARCUS members. 

The March 2022 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: COVID-19 in Remote Alaska Communities: A Longitudinal View of a Novel Pandemic, an overview of recent research aiming to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on daily life in remote Alaska; and the ARCUS Member Profile of Gabriella Gricius highlighting her research interests and activities.

For questions, or to suggest topics for future articles, please contact Betsy Turner-Bogren, ARCUS (betsy [at] arcus.org).

PolarTREC Educator Sarah Johnson will be part of two live events from Utqiaġvik, Alaska while she is in the field with the International Arctic Buoy Program team. On Tuesday, April 5th, join her for a live PolarConnect Event (webinar) at 7:00 am AKDT (11:00 am EDT). Registration is required for this event. Also, on Friday, April 1st, you can listen to a live broadcast with Sarah and the International Arctic Buoy Program team on KBRW (Top of the World radio) at 7:30 am AKDT (11:30 am EDT). The interview can be heard at KBRW's website.

The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO) will begin the spring outlook season on Friday, 25 March. The outlook is a partnership with local observers in seven Bering Strait communities, the National Weather Service, and other organizations to share sea ice and weather forecasts and local observations, satellite images, and other products relevant to nearshore travel in coastal Bering Strait communities.

ARCUS will be participating virtually in Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2022 sessions, including presentation of two posters at the Arctic Observing Summit (AOS). The posters are, “A Unique Perspective on the Arctic Observing Network through the Lens of Program Support and Coordination” and “Building a Community & Citizen Science in the Far North Community of Practice”. They will be presented during the AOS poster session on Thursday, 31 March 2022, 20:00–21:30 CET (11am–12:30pm AKDT). Virtual registration is free.

ARCUS would like to congratulate the winners of our Early Career Conference Funding Award! This round of awardees received support for virtual conference registration and fees. Congratulations to: Lauren Kipp, Julio Ceniceros, Haley Cynar, Kharis Schrage, Lydia Schoeppner, Grant Peel, Alicia Blanton, Cameron McMillan, Tanea Fisher, Richterica Ford, Thomasina Horton, Margaret Lindeman, Rajesh Kandel. Saravanan Kanagaratnam, and Victoria Bergstrom!

A report on the 2021 ARCUS Annual Meeting is now available. The ARCUS Annual Meeting was held virtually on 4 November 2021 and brought together more than 128 individuals from the Arctic research community, including 50 attendees from ARCUS Member Institutions and 15 ARCUS Individual Members. This annual open meeting serves as an important opportunity for the ARCUS community to share updates, explore common issues, and discuss collaboration opportunities.

The 2021 Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) Post-Season Report is now available online. The SIO is a community network activity led by the Sea Ice Prediction Network-Phase 2 (SIPN2) Project Team with contributions from key partners. This report includes a review of the 2021 SIO contributions and sea-ice extent anomalies, discussions and analysis of observed Arctic conditions during the sea-ice retreat season, a review of Antarctic conditions and contributions, discussions of SIO forecast methods and skill relative to control forecasts, information about new data products for sea-ice forecasting, and a summary from the Sea Ice Drift Forecast Experiment (SIDFEx).

News that "Scientists aim to improve sea ice predictions' accuracy, access" has been widely shared in the print and broadcast media. These stories are based on the December 2021 presentation by the SIPN2 Leadership Team,"A Community of Practice Approach to Improving and Communicating Seasonal Sea-Ice Forecasts" during the 2021 American Geophysical Union Fall Meetings.

For more information, see: "2022 Press/Media/Related Publications" on Presentations and Publications.

The February 2022 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: Fourth International Conference for Arctic Research Planning outlines the coordinated multi-year planning process that will engage Arctic researchers, policy makers, residents, and stakeholders; and Supporting Collaboration and Equitable Knowledge-Sharing Within and Beyond the Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) Initiative provides an overview of the focus and activities initiated by the new Arctic Community Office (NNA-CO).

For questions, or to suggest topics for future articles, please contact Betsy Turner-Bogren, ARCUS (betsy [at] arcus.org).

Looking for collaborators in Arctic research? Join ARCUS and IARPC Collaborations for a virtual speed networking session on Tuesday, 26 April from 9-10:30am AK, 10-11:30am PT, 11-12:30pm MT, 12-1:30pm CT, 1-2:30pm ET. Over the course of 1.5 hours, researchers will be split into a series of small groups to rapidly get to know one another and explore shared research interests. Groups will be organized across diverse disciplines, knowledge systems, and career levels.

NOTE: ARCUS has made the difficult decision to temporarily pause collaborations with Russian-based organizations; individuals from Russian- or Belarus-based organizations will not be allowed to register or participate in this event at this time.

ARCUS invites registration for the next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Dr. Robert Holzworth, a Professor of Earth and Space Science and Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Washing. Dr. Holzworth’s presentation, titled “Lightning in the Arctic” will be held via Zoom on Thursday, 10 March 2022 at 9:00 a.m. AKDT (1:00 p.m. EDT). Registration is required for this event.

In December 2021, ARCUS Member Representatives elected four individuals to the ARCUS Board of Directors. Congratulations to Lauren Culler (Dartmouth College), Julie Raymond-Yakoubian (Kawerak, Inc), Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq (Virginia Tech), and Stacey Fritz (Cold Climate Housing Research Center & National Renewable Energy Laboratory)! The newly elected cohort will serve three-year terms from 2022-2025. Dr. Raymond-Yakoubian was re-elected to Board, having completed her first term. Members of the Board of Directors are elected by designated representatives from ARCUS member institutions.

The Arctic Research Consortium of the US (ARCUS) Early Career Conference Funding Award supports US-based, early career researchers and students to participate in virtual meetings and events relevant to Arctic research. In lieu of full travel grants due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, these funding awards will cover registration fees, session/abstract submission costs, and other relevant expenses related to virtual conference attendance for one conference or event. Applications are due by 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, 15 February 2022.

The January 2022 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: Arctic Research Plan 2022–2026: A Bold Strategy for a Changing Arctic provides a summary of the Plan published on 15 December 2021 and information on how to provide input to the first implementation plan; and an ARCUS Member Profile featuring Ming Xiao, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State University. ARCUS Community Member Profiles are short, easy-to-read features that support ARCUS community connections across disciplines and perspectives.

For questions, or to suggest topics for future articles, please contact Betsy Turner-Bogren, ARCUS (betsy [at] arcus.org).

A recording is now available of "Crossing the Borders of U.S. - Canada Collaborative Research", a panel discussion co-hosted by ARCUS and the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) at the 2021 ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting. The discussion was introduced by Jeanette Doucet (ACUNS), moderated by Diane Hirshberg (ARCUS Board Member) and featured remarks by Greg Poelzer (Fulbright Arctic Initiative), Mike Spindler (Northwest Boreal Partnership), Charleen Fisher (University of Alaska Fairbanks), & Gabrielle Slowey (York University). This session explored barriers and opportunities to bi-lateral research partnerships, while attempting to foster more cross-border collaborations across all disciplines.

The editors of Witness the Arctic and Witness Community Highlights invite contributions of short articles on Arctic research projects including news about physical, social, and Indigenous Knowledge projects. Editors will work with contributors to develop multi-media components that could enhance outreach efforts of complex ideas.

For more information, contact Betsy Turner-Bogren (betsy [at] arcus.org).

During the 2021 American Geophysical Union Fall Meetings in New Orleans, Louisiana; Uma Bhatt, SIPN2 Lead Project Principal Investigator, presented a talk entitled "A Community of Practice Approach to Improving and Communicating Seasonal Sea-Ice Forecasts." Her presentation was developed with input from, and on behalf of, the SIPN2 Project Team. A PDF of her five-minute presentation slides is available here.

A Community of Practice Approach to Improving and Communicating Seasonal Sea-Ice Forecasts (PDF - 5MB)

On behalf of all of us here at the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S., Happy Holidays! As we near the end of the year, we also invite you join us in reflecting on and celebrating some of the highlights and achievements of 2021 by exploring the 2021 ARCUS Annual Report.

The December 2021 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes one article, "ARCUS Member Highlights from the 2021 Annual Meeting" that features updates from several ARCUS members shared during the meeting held on 4 November 2021. The virtual event provided opportunities for participants to share what they and their organizations are doing to address key challenges and opportunities in Arctic research.

For questions, or to suggest topics for future articles, please contact Betsy Turner-Bogren, ARCUS (betsy [at] arcus.org).

ARCUS announces our ARCUS at AGU, Indigenous Knowledge at AGU, and the Arctic Sessions webpages for this year’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. The Fall Meeting will be held 13-17 December 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana and online.

ARCUS has compiled a list of Arctic-relevant happenings, Arctic Indigenous/Traditional Knowledge and co-production presentations, and ARCUS-related events to help attendees of the AGU Fall Meeting 2021 find Arctic-related town halls, talks, posters, and other events.

If there is a session or town hall missing that you would like listed, please contact Lisa Sheffield Guy, ARCUS, at lisa [at] arcus.org

This issue includes news about the NSF Polar Cyberinfrastructure Program, recent grants awarded to Early-Career Polar Investigators, and two NSF-funded research projects: a RAPID-funded study of the spatiotemporal dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arctic and an NNA-funded study of interactions and feedbacks within permafrost-agroecosystems. This issue also includes summary news from the Engaging Rural and Alaska Native Undergraduates and Youth in Arctic STEM workshop and the Community and Citizen Science in the Far North conference; updates from the US Arctic Research Commission, the Arctic Data Center, the SEARCH program, SIPN2, and the International Arctic Hub; an overview of the “Climate-Fragility Risk Brief: The Arctic”; a PolarTREC alum’s reflections on how sharing his research experiences with students impacts their interest in science; and a highlight of ARCUS member institution, University of Virginia’s, new Arctic Research Center.

ARCUS announces a call for nominations for our December 2021 Board of Directors election! We seek nominations of candidates with enthusiasm and time to dedicate to ARCUS, who are willing and able to help ARCUS fulfill its mission. Terms will be three years and begin in January 2022. Nominees are welcome from any career level and type of organization and we strive to embody our value of “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging” in our Board. The nomination submission deadline is Monday, 29 November 2021, 12:00 p.m. AKST.

Join us for an informal webinar focusing on Community & Citizen Science in the Far North on Tuesday, 30 November 2021 at 9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m. AKST.

This will be an opportunity to continue the discussions and networking after the recent Community and Citizen Science in the Far North conference that took place online 5–7 October 2021.

Registration is required for this webinar, which is free and open to the public.

The Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) and the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) will co-host two panel discussions in the coming months focused on conducting research across the the U.S.-Canada border. The first panel will take place at the ACUNS Student Conference on Northern Studies on Wednesday, 3 November from 4-5:30p.m. ET. The second will occur as part of the ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting from 1:30-2:45 p.m. ET on Thursday, 9 December. Both events will explore projects and perspectives from researchers involved in community-engaged research that spans the U.S.-Canada border. For more information, or to register to attend, please visit the ACUNS and ArcticNet conference websites.