Polar and Alpine Community News

The CLIVAR/CliC Northern Oceans Region Panel will organize a CMIP6 Bootcamp focusing on the Arctic processes in October in Helgoland Germany.

An ad hoc group (of mostly Arctic scientists) is considering the desirability and feasibility of planning for an International Polar Year in 2032-2033, 25 years after the last IPY. This timing is much earlier than the past 50-year gap between IPYs. This acceleration in timing is, at least in part, being justified by the rapid change that the polar regions are experiencing today.

To assist with discussions about IPY 2032-2033, SCAR is asking for your opinion about community support for such an activity. While it might seem years away, the formulation of an IPY will take several years of planning to ensure wide participation and success.

Plastic pollution has become a global environmental issue, reaching even the most pristine and remote wildernesses of our planet such as the Southern Ocean (SO). SO biodiversity and ecosystem functions are vulnerable to plastic pollution and detrimental impacts are expected on wildlife. Understanding the sources of plastics entering from within and outside the SO and quantifying the scale of the problem are necessary to minimize any environmental threat to SO biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Registration is open for Polar Educators International’s 5^th International Conference (PEI 2022) from 12–15 April 2022, Nýheimar Knowledge Centre, Höfn, Iceland.

Connect, Learn and Act in Iceland with polar educators and researchers from around the world at PEI’s 5th biennial workshop Stories in Ice which includes 2 days in the field exploring, experiencing and learning about Iceland.

Registration is open for the SCAR Krill Action Group Annual Meeting, to be held online from 7-11 March 2022, 15:00-17:00 UTC.

The meeting will start with updates from MEASO, ICED, CCAMLR, and a new group, the Science and Industry Forum (SIF). The following two days will feature sessions on using new instruments and techniques (e.g. gliders) along with fishing vessels for data collection, and discussions on ways in which the krill community can use these research platforms to close knowledge gaps.

The Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) invites applications to join our teaching and research faculty for the Summer 2022 field season.

JIRP is an interdisciplinary summer field school, aimed at undergraduate Earth science students interested in alpine and polar environments. JIRP is an immersive training experience for students in expeditionary research, glacier travel, field techniques, and fundamental science. JIRP maintains remote field stations across the Juneau Icefield in Southeast Alaska, and one of the world’s longest-running glacier monitoring programs.

Based on your experience in Arctic research and engagement, we seek your input as a first step in defining requirements for an Arctic Practices System (APS). This system is envisioned to be a sustained repository for practices used to observe, understand, live in and sustainably manage the circumpolar Arctic. What the APS characteristics are will be determined through engagement and co-design with Arctic stakeholders and rights holders. The questionnaire is part of the community engagement and co-design process initiated by the Capacity-building in Arctic Standardisation Development (CAPARDUS) Project (see https://capardus.nersc.no). Your responses will form a foundation for the APS design.

Follow this link to fill out the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6WZMYVM

The Polar Impact Network is seeking to develop an inclusive 'survival' guide as a resource for conducting polar field work. This resource will be housed on the Polar Impact website and can be shared among lab groups, research institutions, and field stations involved in polar research across the world.

We have designed a survey (https://forms.gle/4HaqAH2oQqMsG6So8) to aid in the development of this resource that focuses on creating accessible, equitable, and inclusive field experiences, with a particular emphasis on the experiences and perceptions of polar field work from people who identify as racial or ethnic minorities.