Karthaus course: Ice sheets and glaciers in the climate system

9-20 September 2014
Karthaus, Italy

The course will provide a basic introduction to the dynamics of glaciers and ice sheets with a focus on ice-climate interactions. The course is meant for Ph.D. students that work on (or will soon start working on) a glaciology-related climate project. The registration fee will be € 600. This includes lodging, full board, course material and excursion.

Lecturers include: T. Blunier, E. Bueler, D. Dahl-Jensen, A. Fowler, H. Gudmundsson, A. Jenkins, F. Navarro, F. Nick, A. Stroeven, C. Tijm-Reijmer, W. van Pelt, R. van de Wal, J. Oerlemans (convenor).

Send your application to the convenor (j.oerlemans@uu.nl), before 10 May 2014.
You will be notified about the decision of the Selection Committee by 13 June 2014.
Your application should include:
• A short statement why you want to partipate in this course
• Affiliation and name of supervisor
• A description of your research project (~200 words)
• A curriculum vitae
Please supply this information as a single PDF file.

Karthaus course website:
http://www.projects.science.uu.nl/iceclimate/karthaus/

Sponsored by:

The Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University
Netherlands Earth System Science Centre
The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
SVALI (Nordic countries)

Continue ReadingKarthaus course: Ice sheets and glaciers in the climate system

Advanced Climate Dynamics Course

The course will take place 16th - 31st of August 2014 at Arctic Station, on Disko Island, western Greenland.

Detailed information is available online at: https://www.uib.no/rs/acdc and on the flyer

Advanced graduate students and early post-docs are encouraged to apply. The registration is now open and the application deadline is the 1st of March 2014.

The main focus of this year's course will be on understanding the basic principles and dynamics behind changes to the Greenland ice sheet in the past, present and future. The course aims to provide an environment for engaging discussions between all participants (students and lecturers), exchange of concepts and ideas between meteorology, oceanography, paleoclimate and glaciology, and identification of key scientific challenges.

The current list of confirmed lecturers includes: Fiamma Straneo (WHOI), David Battisti (U. Washington), Camilla Snowman Andresen (National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland), Kerim Nisancioglu (BCCR/U. Bergen), Patrick Heimbach (MIT), and Øyvind Paasche (U. Bergen), amongst others. 

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2014 Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) Workshop

The Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in collaboration with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is proud to host the 2014 Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) Workshop. The workshop will take place at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research at the University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, from Monday, June 2d to Wednesday, June 4th, following the IGS conference in Chamonix. Registration will be open on April 1st, 2014.

If you are interested in attending, please send an email to issm@jpl.nasa.gov so that we can get a rough head count.

Interactive sessions will be offered for beginners/advanced users and developers interested in learning how to use ISSM. Updates to ISSM since last year's workshop, including user-requested features (i.e. a new Python port, support for new OS/Platforms, etc) will be presented. Also, we invite participants to showcase their work during an open poster session. Details for participating in this poster session will be available on the registration website (http://issm.jpl.nasa.gov/issmworkshops/).

A limited amount of travel support may be provided by CliC (Climate and Cryosphere) to help students or early-career scholars attend the workshop. Details on applying for travel support will be provided on the registration page. In addition, there is no fee for participation in the workshop.

We hope this workshop will generate fruitful interactions between our team, the growing community of ISSM users, and the broader cryosphere community.

We look forward to your participation!

Continue Reading2014 Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM) Workshop

Announcement of Belmont Forum Call for Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability

The Belmont Forum has released a call for proposals on Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability as part of its 2014 International Opportunities Fund to encourage interdisciplinary and trandisciplinary science. The call seeks to bring together integrated teams of natural scientists, social scientists, and stakeholders to develop projects that utilize existing Arctic observing systems, datasets and models to evaluate key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the Arctic region.

This funding opportunity will support projects that advance research utilizing and developing both the relevant information streams and the sustainability science necessary to assess, predict, inform, and communicate resilient pathways. The call focuses on four themes relevant to observing and sustainability that hold particular urgency in the Arctic: the natural and living environment, the built environment and infrastructures, natural resource management and development, and governance. Recognizing that the Arctic is a highly interdependent system, these themes are not unrelated and projects may address interactions amongst these themes.

Three types of submissions are being sought – small collaboration grants, synthesis projects, and research proposals. Available funding for meritorious projects is 13 million euros, comprising contributions from Canada, China, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, the Nordic Council of Ministers, Norway, Russia, the United States of America, and the World Ocean Council. Possibilities for collaboration with non-participatory countries exist as well. All proposals require collaboration amongst three or more countries and integrate across natural and social sciences while also including end-users, policy-makers, or other relevant stakeholders in the project. A researcher matching tool is available on the Belmont Forum website to better enable connection between interested international proposers.

For more information about research themes, national priorities and agency contacts, proposal submission documents, and to access the researcher matching tool, please visit the funding website: http://igfagcr.org/cra-2014-arctic-observing-and-research-sustainability . Proposals for this funding opportunity are due 31 July 2014.

Continue ReadingAnnouncement of Belmont Forum Call for Arctic Observing and Research for Sustainability

New web-documentary series to profile researchers working the Canadian Arctic

by Katriina O'Kane

Profiles from the Arctic, a web-documentary series about research in the Canadian high Arctic, was released today at http://www.arcticprofiles.ca. Distributed over the next several months as a set of 25 profiles, it will bring life to science and field stories from the Arctic, and discuss the importance of conducting research in this challenging environment.

 

The series will feature interviews conducted with prominent scientists, students, and staff who work around Resolute Bay’s Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP), an important research facility and logistics’ centre in the Canadian high Arctic. New profiles will be released regularly, in which the audience can engage with audio clips, short videos, and photographs.

 

A key message of the series is the urgent need for more research in the Canadian Arctic. As the Arctic warms, there is growing interest in developing resources and introducing other forms of economic activity such as shipping. Yet questions remain unanswered about how landscapes and animals across the North will respond. Researchers are helping to answer those questions, studying subjects like contaminants, bacteria, permafrost, glaciers, sharks, lakes, a meteor impact, narwhals, and more. Their field work exposes them to encounters with polar bears and wolves, and offers them a chance to visit some of the most spectacular landscapes in Canada. This web-documentary series is a rare chance to get an intimate view of what researchers do, and the challenges they face.

 

To explore, visit: www.arcticprofiles.ca 

 

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1 - Catherine Girard is a master’s student at the University of Montreal, studying contaminants in food and their digestion by the body. She will be one of the researchers profiled for the web-documentary series: www.arcticprofiles.ca (Katriina O’Kane / Canadian Polar Commission)

 

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2 - The PCSP (pictured) is an important research station and logistic's centre in the Canadian high Arctic, located near Resolute Bay, Nunavut (Katriina O’Kane / Canadian Polar Commission).

 

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3 - Marie-Claude Williamson (right) prepares to have her photograph taken, while Katriina (left) holds up a reflector to balance out the strong Arctic sun (Evan Hall / Canadian Polar Commission).

 

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4 - George Benoit (left) is the warehouse manager at the PCSP, and has been working up in Resolute Bay for 40 years. Christopher Omelon (right) is a scientists studying bacteria-mineral interactions. Both will be profiled in the web-documentary series (Evan Hall / Canadian Polar Commission).

 

Continue ReadingNew web-documentary series to profile researchers working the Canadian Arctic

Upcoming deadline: Nominations for the Polar Library Colloquy’s William Mills Prize for Non-Fiction Polar Books

The April 15, 2014 deadline to nominate a title for the William Mills Prize is fast approaching.

The William Mills Prize for Non-Fiction Polar Books was established in memory of William Mills, a core member of Polar Libraries Colloquy during its middle years and a consummate polar librarian as well as author.
The book prize honors the best Arctic or Antarctic nonfiction books published throughout the world. The prize consists of $300 US and the right to use the William Mills Prize logo when advertising the winning book.
Qualifications for Nomination
1. The book must be nonfiction, about the Arctic or Antarctic.
2. The book may be any type of substantive work of nonfiction, or reference resource. Textbooks, anthologies, edited works, and other small-scale efforts will not be considered unless they are truly outstanding contributions to polar literature.
3. The book must have been published for the first time within the two calendar years before the Colloquy at which the award will be given. The timeframe for the 2014 award is January 2012 to December 2013. Re-releases, translations of older materials, and updated editions will not be eligible.
4. The official language of the Colloquy is English. For this reason books must be published in an English language version to be eligible.
Nominations should include information such as the title, author(s), publisher and date of publication, as well as a statement from the nominator explaining why the the book should be considered for the prize and what value the title brings to polar literature.
For more information about the William Mills Prize, or to submit nominations, please email millsprize@gmail.com
The deadline to submit a nomination is April 15, 2014.
A list of previous William Mills prize winners is available at http://arcticcentre.ulapland.fi/polarweb/plc/mills.asp

Continue ReadingUpcoming deadline: Nominations for the Polar Library Colloquy’s William Mills Prize for Non-Fiction Polar Books

Call for Article Ideas- Witness the Arctic

The editors of "Witness the Arctic" invite article suggestions for future issues, including the spring 2014 issue that will be published in mid-June. Welcomed topics include Arctic sciences, data management, related agency updates, and policy or international news.

"Witness the Arctic" is a newsletter that serves an audience of Arctic scientists, educators, agency personnel, and policymakers. It provides information on current Arctic research efforts and findings, significant research initiatives, science education, national policy affecting Arctic research, international activities, and profiles of institutions with major Arctic research efforts. The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) publishes three issues of the newsletter per year with funding from the NSF's Arctic Sciences Section.

"Witness the Arctic" editors welcome suggestions for news items or short articles appropriate for the newsletter and relevant to its audience. Articles should provide information of interest to a broad cross-section of the Arctic and climate change research community. Editors will work with individuals to develop articles based on the suggestions received."

To provide suggestions for articles, please email Betsy Turner-Bogren
( betsy@arcus.org).

For further information about Witness the Arctic, please see:
 http://www.arcus.org/witness-the-arctic.

Or contact:
Betsy Turner-Bogren
Email:  betsy@arcus.org

Continue ReadingCall for Article Ideas- Witness the Arctic

InBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship

Young researchers interested in conducting research in the atmospheric sciences, glaciology, geosciences and microbiology (excluding marine microbiology) at, or near, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station (located in Dronning Maud Land in East Antarctica at 71.57°S 23.20°E) are encouraged to apply.

Applicants must be either doctoral researchers or researchers who have completed their PhD within the past 10 years and should submit an original research proposal for a project which will include field campaigns operating from the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station during two austral summers (2014–15 and 2015–16). Please note that the successful applicant will continue to work at their current research organisation.

The deadline for applications is Thursday April 10, 2014.

A joint initiative of the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund and the International Polar Foundation, the €150,000 research grant aims to promote scientific excellence in Antarctica and underscores the crucial role polar science plays in furthering our understanding of the Earth and how it functions.

Detailed information and application documents are available at: http://www.polarfoundation.org/projects/detail/inbev_baillet_latour_fellowship

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at: fellowship@polarfoundation.org.

Continue ReadingInBev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship

Brazil’s Navy realizes a video contest about Antarctic for high school students

With the objective of to encourage, recognize, promote and reward young people who demonstrate, through videos, the importance of activities from Brazil in Antarctica the Navy of Brazil promoted a video contest. The target audience were students (15-19 years) of High school of Basic Education. Four students were selected and the prize is a trip to Antarctica for the students (two from private education and two from public education) and four teachers! The selection, from more than 200 videos, was performed by a judging panel which the APECS-Brazil took part. Students will to Antarctica in March and they will experience the logistics of travel and arrival in Antarctica, know the structure that Brazil has in the region, as well as participate in research activities together with researchers from Brazilian Antarctic Program.

Continue ReadingBrazil’s Navy realizes a video contest about Antarctic for high school students

Sea Ice Prediction Network Webinar

SAVE THE DATE

Sea Ice Prediction Network Webinar

Sea Ice Outlook: Post-season Discussion 

Thursday, 9 October 2014

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. AKDT

For further information about the Sea Ice Outlook or Sea Ice Prediction

Network, please go to: http://www.arcus.org/sipn

Or contact:

Betsy Turner-Bogren 

Email: betsy@arcus.org

--------------------

The Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN) announces an open webinar focused

on post-season analysis and discussion of the 2014 Sea Ice Outlook

(SIO). The SIO produces reports in June, July, and August that

synthesize a variety of predictions and perspectives on the arctic sea

ice minimum. More information about SIO, including this year's reports,

is available at: http://www.arcus.org/sipn/sea-ice-outlook.

This webinar will provide a venue for discussion of the 2014 SIO,

including processes that influenced sea ice melt this year and a review

of the differing approaches to predicting the sea ice minimum extent.

The webinar is open to all interested participants, including sea ice

researchers, students, decision-makers, and others.

The webinar is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. AKDT 

(12:00-1:00 p.m. PDT, 1:00-2:00 p.m. MDT, 2:00-3:00 p.m. CDT, 

and 3:00-4:00 p.m.EDT) on Thursday, 9 October 2014. More details, 

including registration instructions, will be announced closer to the event. 

The webinar will be archived and available online after the event.

For further information about the Sea Ice Outlook or Sea Ice Prediction

Network, please go to: http://www.arcus.org/sipn.

For questions, please contact Betsy Turner-Bogren at ARCUS

(betsy@arcus.org).

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Continue ReadingSea Ice Prediction Network Webinar