By: Helen Wiggins, ARCUS Interim Executive Director, Director of Programs
Greetings from Alaska, where the temperatures have finally started to feel more like normal and we are looking forward to wrapping up a very successful 2019. Since the the update in the Spring 2019 issue of Witness the Arctic, ARCUS staff, Board, members, and collaborators have been working hard to advance Arctic research and education. Here are a few highlights:
New Cooperative Agreement: I am delighted to announce that National Science Foundation has awarded ARCUS a 3-year cooperative agreement for "Building Community in Arctic Research: Communication, Research Support, and Multi-Knowledge System Integration" (Proposal No. OPP-1927894). The cooperative agreement supports many of ARCUS' core research community support activities—everything from our website and mailing list communications to the Arctic Community Meeting Rooms at AGU, as well as several new projects. One new activity is a travel award to support early career researchers to attend a conference for professional development and networking; volunteers are currently being sought to serve as members of the travel award selection committee. If you would like to volunteer, please send a short statement (1 paragraph) describing your interest to Brit Myers at brit [at] arcus.org by Friday, 6 December.
Engaging Rural and Alaska Native Youth in Arctic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics): Another new project funded by NSF will include two public "listen and learn" sessions and a workshop to identify ways to increase participation of rural and Alaska Native students in STEM programs and careers. This project will be a collaborative effort with organizers from ARCUS, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information, contact Janet Warburton, ARCUS, at warburton [at] arcus.org.
SEARCH Arctic Futures 2050 Conference: Several ARCUS staff were busy planning for and supporting SEARCH's Arctic Futures conference, held in September to enhance collaborations between Arctic scientists from many disciplines, diverse Indigenous knowledge holders, and policy makers from all levels of government. More information about the conference is in the SEARCH article in this issue and on the conference webpages.
Fall AGU Meeting: 'Tis the season for planning for the Fall AGU Meeting. As usual, ARCUS will have a strong presence this year—from hosting the community meeting rooms, organizing a funders meet and greet, holding our annual Arctic Community Reception, and we will have several ARCUS sessions, talks, and posters. We hope to see many of you there!
You can find updates on all our activities, including PolarTREC, the Sea Ice Prediction Network, the Arctic Indigenous Scholars program, the Arctic Research Seminar Series, and others through the ARCUS website or by contacting me at helen [at] arcus.org. You can join the ARCUS community by becoming an individual or organizational member here. Follow us on twitter: @ArcticResearch.