Research aircraft Polar 5 finishes Arctic expedition Unique measurement flights in the central Arctic completed Bremerhaven, April 29th 2009. The Arctic campaign PAM-ARCMIP (Pan-Arctic Measurements and Arctic Climate Model Intercomparison Project) ended yesterday in Ottawa with the participation of the research aircraft Polar 5. The campaign which lasted four weeks yielded unique measurement data on sea ice thickness, trace gases, aerosols and meteorological parameters thanks to the great range of the aircraft and modern measurement equipment. We were out and about in mainly unchartered territory. Our most northerly position was 88°40' N. Flight operations of this kind require a high degree of proficiency and a lot of experience, reports Dr. Andreas Herber, ph...

9th ACUNS International Student Conference on Northern Studies and Polar Regions October 2 to 5, 2009 Yukon College - Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada Second Call for Abstracts The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies/Association universitaire canadienne d’études nordiques (ACUNS), in partnership with Yukon College in Whitehorse, is soliciting Abstracts that encompass the following areas: The impact of sustainable development, economic activity and polar law on communities, governance and natural habitats. The use of natural, physical and social sciences to help understand the causes and effects of the changing polar climate.

Content: 1. IPO Update 2. ATCM declaration 3. Update from EGU 4. Upcoming meetings 5. Update from APECS 6. Call for stories and blogs for ipy.org 7. Archiving IPY materials 8. Toward a Polar Information Commons Report no. 25, May 2009 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. IPO Update Please note that Nicola Munro will take maternity leave as of 1 May 2009. We will introduce the interim replacement person next month. To contact the IPO, please use This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it we will respond, albeit perhaps not as quickly. Please note that Karen ...

Anthropology and ethnography: new disciplines in natural and scientific studies of the Sámi in 19th-century Sweden – a case study. My research focuses on how Sámi were represented in text and images in four natural scientists’ travel and scientific journals and letter correspondence during the nineteenth century. The scientists are Göran Wahlenberg (1780-1851), Lars Levi Læstadius (1800-1861), Sven Lovén (1809-1895) and Axel Hamberg (1863-1933). They were all based in Sweden, but did field studies and field research trips in the north of Finland, the north of Norway, the north of Sweden and Spitsbergen. They studied, mapped and categorized stones, rocks, ice, plants, and flowers, animals such as birds, reindeers and sea mammals. They also studied the...

NEW! International Polar Year (IPY) Canada Award for Excellence in Northern Science Journalism Deadline: April 17, 2009 Prize: $2,500 Entry form: http://www.sciencewriters.ca/cswa_inac_award.html Competitors must be Canadian citizens or residents of Canada. Submissions must be original material published during the 2008 calendar year in English or French. The article must refer to or include reference to research conducted in Canada as part of International Polar Year (IPY) and should raise awareness and generate interest n Canada’s contribution to Arctic research. Submissions must b...

The GeoNorth 2009 conference, 4-6 August in Fairbanks, Alaska, is a unique opportunity to discuss issues and present current research related to geospatial activities in the arctic environment. This conference provides an opportunity to present results associated with the International Polar Year (IPY), environment and climate change monitoring and geographic analysis, geospatial standards and their application, and the construction of virtual collaborative networks including Arctic mapping and the virtual Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI). The conference is coordinated by the USGS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the I...

Call for Abstracts (Poster Session) - NCP / AMAP Symposium on Human Health and Arctic Environmental Contaminants Abstracts Due: May 1, 2009 The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) and Arctic Monitoring Assessment Program (AMAP) are hosting a joint symposium in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada from 10-12 June 2009. The results of the two assessments on human health effects of environmental contaminants in the Arctic over the past 6 years will be released at this meeting. This symposium will provide a forum for health professionals, Indigenous and local people, senior scientists, policy-makers, and young scientists to contribute to the future directions of the NCP and AMAP. There will also be a poster session plus participants will be given the opportu...

Content: 1. Polar Oceans Weeks - March 2009 2. Changes in the IPO 3. Changes to ipy.org 4. Polar plans and assessments from ISAC and SCAR 5. Upcoming conferences and meetings 6. Update from APECS 7. Archiving IPY materials 8. Data, data, data - monthly reminder Report no. 24, April 2009 From: IPY International Programme Office To: IPY Project Coordinators cc: IPY Community Google Groups 1. Polar Oceans Weeks - March 2009 In March 2009, we focussed on Polar Oceans as the eighth IPY Polar Day. Our usual 'Day' turned into more than 2 weeks of activities, starting from 14th March and continuing to the end of March. Events and activities took ...

The Maryland Science Center at Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Credit: Maryland Science Center On the 6th of April 2009, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting and the Arctic Council met together in Washington DC. The fourty-seven signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty include several northern countries that also hold membership on the Arctic Council, but in Washington the two polar political organizations met together for the first time. The USA hosted the meeting, at the US Department of State, in recognition of the initial signing of the Antarctic Treaty, also in Washington, in 1959, 50 years ago. The Treaty meetings extend for an additional two weeks, in Baltimore, and the Arctic Council will go on to its own meetings later this month, in Norway. This special...

Bremerhaven, March 26th 2009. The research aircraft Polar 5 belongs to the Alfred Wegener Institute. It will start on Monday March 30th at 10 o'clock from the regional airport Bremerhaven on an Arctic measurement campaign which will last about four weeks. Measurements of sea ice thickness and atmospheric variables in an area between Spitsbergen, Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska are at the centre of the project PAM-ARCMIP (Pan-Arctic Measurements and Arctic Climate Model Inter comparison Project). Up to twenty German and international researchers will carry out investigations in those areas of the Arctic where no data are yet available. Six research institutes from Germany (Alfred Wegener Institute), Canada (Environment Canada, University of Alberta, York University), the USA (NOAA) a...