Witness the Arctic - Fall 2021, Volume 25 Number 2

Chronicles of the NSF Arctic Science Section Fall 2021, Volume 25 Number 2 Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • inf[email protected] ARCUS Member Highlight (pgs 2-7) • University of Virginia’s New Arctic Research Center: Supporting Collaborative Research Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) (pgs 8-10) • Diverse Collaborators Co-Produce Understanding of Arctic Change Arctic System Science Program (pgs 11-12) • SIPN News Arctic Social Sciences Program(pgs 13-16) • Tracking the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Arctic Data Management (pgs 17-19) • New Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator Joins the Arctic Data Center Team Science News (pgs 20-34) • Highlights from ARCUS’ Community and Citizen Science in the Far North Conference • Northern Farmers and UAF Researchers Team up to Sustainably Manage Permafrost-Agroecosystems Science Education News (pgs 35-47) • From Svalbard to the Classroom—Adventures of a PolarTREC Alum • Engaging Rural and Alaska Native Undergraduates and Youth in Arctic STEM: Workshop Outcomes National Science Foundation News (pgs 48-54) • NSF Awards Grants to Early-Career Polar Investigators • An Introduction to Polar Cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation Interagency News (pgs 55-61) • Global Climate-Fragility Risks Associated with Arctic Change U.S. Arctic Research Commission (pgs 62-65) • President Biden Appoints New USARC Chair and Commissioners International News (pgs 66-69) • Building Bridges between Research and Community In this Issue ARCUS Member Highlight University of Virginia’s New Arctic Research Center: Supporting Collaborative Research ARCUS member institution, the University of Virginia (UVA), has recently formed the Arctic Research Center (UVAARC). This marks the beginning of a new platform for collaborative Arctic research at the University of Virginia (UVA) (https://www.virginia.edu/) . Building on decades of Arctic-focused research, education, and outreach efforts —spanning environmental sciences, engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, social sciences, data sciences, art, and music—UVAARC brings together undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from four different schools across UVA, as well as a national and international network of colleagues and institutional collaborators. These collaborations include the recent formation of an Institutional Partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) (https://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Locations/CRREL/) and a longstanding collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) (https://www.nrel.gov/about/alaska.html) in Fairbanks, Alaska. The UVA Arctic Research Center faculty members include: !" Howard Epstein, Xi Yang, and Claire Griffin ( School of Environmental Sciences (https://evsc.as.virginia.edu/about) ); !" Matthew Jull and Leena Cho ( Arctic Design Group (https://www.arch.virginia.edu/news/uvasarctic-design-group-advance-research-on-the-co-design-of-future-arctic-cities-through-nsffunded-grant) in the School of Architecture (https://www.arch.virginia.edu/about/researchcenters) ); !" Matthew Burtner (UVA College of Arts and Sciences Department of Music (https://music.virginia.edu/) ); !" Caitlin Wylie ( Science, Technology and Society Faculty of the Department of Engineering and Society (https://engineering.virginia.edu/departments/engineering-and-society/people/stsfaculty) ; and !" Luis Felipe Rosado Murillo ( School of Data Sciences (https://datascience.virginia.edu/) ). Collectively, these faculty are involved with nine different externally funded grants and projects related to 2 the Arctic (https://www.virginia.edu/search /site/Arctic%20Research%20Centerr#?cludoquery=Arctic%20Research%20Centerr&cludopage=1& cludorefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.virginia.edu%2F&cludorefpt=The%20University%20of%20Virginia& cludoinputtype=standard) . These include awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Arctic System Sciences and Arctic Natural Sciences programs to study the dynamics of ice-wedge polygonal systems in tundra ( See: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Patterns, Dynamics, and Vulnerability of Arctic Polygonal Ecosystems: From Ice-Wedge polygon to Pan-Arctic Landscapes (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch /showAward?AWD_ID=1721030&HistoricalAwards=false) ) and the seasonal ecophysiologies of different boreal forest types ( See: Collaborative Research: Environmental and Biological Controls on Carbon Uptake Phenology in Permafrost Affected Boreal Forests (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch /showAward?AWD_ID=2023205&HistoricalAwards=false) . Other awards from NSF focus on Arctic urban sustainability (47 cities total), including a new five-year NSF Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) Collaboratory Award that will produce in-depth, broad-themed studies of five cities, Fairbanks (US), Yellowknife (Canada), Lulea (Sweden), Naryan Mar (Russian Federation), and Yakutsk (Russian Federation) to develop urban sustainability indicators and best planning and design practices with local government and community leaders. We also have several awards from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) focusing on remote sensing of tundra and organic carbon in Arctic rivers, along with simulations of the tundra-taiga ecotone, and involvement with NASA’s Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) (https://above.nasa.gov/) program. Finally, the UVA Arctic Research Center is leading an NSF NNA award on understanding interactions between the built and natural environments in the Arctic community of Utqiaġvik, Alaska ( See: NNA Track 1: Understanding the Changing Natural-Built Landscape in an Arctic Community: An Integrated Sensor Network in Utqiagvik, Alaska (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch /showAward?AWD_ID=2022639&HistoricalAwards=false) ). The latter NSF NNA project is currently the centerpiece of efforts by the UVA Arctic Research Center. For this project, our overall objective is to use terrestrial and aquatic sensor networks, along with geophysical surveys, throughout the community of Utqiaġvik, Alaska (https://arcticslope.org/about/communities /utqiagvik) to understand how the built and natural environments interact in the face of climate change —informing future building design practices. Project collaborators are (CRREL) (https://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Locations/CRREL) and the ( CCHRC) of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (https://www.nrel.gov/about/alaska.html) ). Community collaborators/partners include TRIBN, LLC (https://tribn.pro/) , Utqiaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) (https://uicalaska.com/about-uic) , North Slope Borough Planning and Public Works (https://www.north-slope.org/departments/public-works) , and the Tagiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority (TNHA) (https://tnha.info/) . The project began with a virtual kick-off meeting in January 2020, but our chances of having a field season and in-person meetings in 3 2020 were squashed with COVID-19. Instead of completely wasting a field season, Matthew Jull led a practicum in the Fall 2020 semester, during which he and several Architecture students deployed and tested a network of terrestrial sensors at various locations around a building at a UVA field facility. We also brought on two PhD students, Mirella Shaban and Mackenzie Nelson, and are in the process of hiring our second postdoc (in addition to Claire Griffin), who will work on co-production and the social sciences aspects of the project with Wylie and Rosado Murillo. Figure 1. Project team members at our University of Virginia testing facility for terrestrial sensing equipment. From left to right: Mirella Shaban, PhD student; Caitlin Wylie, Assistant Professor - Science, Technology, and Society; Mikal Nelson, student from Utqiaġvik, Alaska; Lars Nelson, consultant, TRIBN, Inc. consultant, Utqiaġvik; Luis Felipe Rosado Murillo, Associate Researcher, School of Data Sciences; Leena Cho, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture; Matthew Jull, Associate Professor, Architecture; Rebecca Deeds, Manager, Morven Farms; and Howard Epstein, Professor, Environmental Sciences. Photo courtesy of Jordan Heres. 4 Figure 2. Team members conducting ground penetrating radar (GPR) at different locations within Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Luis Felipe Rosado Murillo. 5 Figure 3. Team members conducting electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) at different locations within Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Luis Felipe Rosado Murillo. The summer of 2021 was somewhat better than 2020 with regard to COVID, however, the restrictions in travel again forced us to develop creative ways for making progress on the project. We were able to get a small team of researchers in Utqiaġvik at the end of August 2021 to conduct geophysical surveying (ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography) at three locations within Utqaiġvik: Cake Eater Road, TNHA Apartments and Barrow High School, and Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital. Mackenzie Nelson and Luis Felipe Rosado Murillo from UVA joined the team from CRREL (led by Stephanie Saari) in Utqiaġivik to conduct these surveys over a three-day period, but an extended stay was cut short due to a local surge in COVID cases. We also have a sensor base station with several satellite nodes being assembled in Utqiaġvik by a local collaborator (Lars Nelson, TRIBN, Inc.) and a high school student (Mikal Nelson) for possible deployment this winter. A subset of our team, led by Mirella Shaban and Rosado Murillo, is working on developing tools and scripts for data storage, processing, and analysis, using the test data collected at UVA, so that these are ready to go once we begin deployment of the sensor network in Utqiaġvik. 6 Figure 4. Mikal Nelson erecting an environmental sensor station at the TRIBN office in Utqiaġvik. Photo courtesy of Lars Nelson. Finally, other important aspects of the project on which we have been working are data management, governance, and accessibility (Rosado Murillo), and Caitlin Wylie is studying our project team as we coproduce information collaboratively among the various within-team entities (e.g., academic researchers, government researchers, and local officials, planners, consultants, and community members). We also continue to engage with local organizations and municipalities in Alaska and abroad through courses at UVA, lectures, and exhibitions—most recently as part of the 2021 International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. For more information, please feel free to contact the entire group ( [email protected] ), Howard Epstein ( [email protected] ), or Matthew Jull ( [email protected] ). Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 7 Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) Diverse Collaborators Co-Produce Understanding of Arctic Change By: Athena E. Copenhaver, Assistant Director of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) ; Brendan P. Kelly, Director and Chief Scientist of SEARCH; and George W. Kling, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan The National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs recently funded the University of Alaska Fairbanks and six other institutions to synthesize what is known about the changing Arctic environment and its consequences. Over the next five years, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (https://searcharcticscience.org/our-work/) , known as SEARCH, will bring together scientific, Indigenous, and decision-making experts to more fully understand environmental change in the Arctic. They'll make the results available to decision-makers in local communities, multiple levels of government, and the private sector. SEARCH will employ co-production, a method that has for decades been considered a more inclusive and equitable means of creating new knowledge, better understandings, and more meaningful sharing of that new knowledge. "The Arctic is witnessing rapid and sudden changes," said Brendan Kelly, the project's chief scientist and a professor with the UAF International Arctic Research Center. "And understanding the impacts of those accelerating changes — on people, business and the Arctic ecosystem—requires the expertise of diverse disciplines and knowledge systems, as well as of those who use the understanding in decision making." Partners include the Alaska Business Forum, ArcticNet in Canada, the Chukotka Branch of the North Eastern Federal University in Russia, the Fram Centre in Norway, and the Pacific Northwest Economic Region. SEARCH brings together experts from these organizations and others to create new knowledge and practices for advancing understanding of the rapidly changing Arctic. SEARCH will form three co-production teams—each including scientific, Indigenous, and decision-making experts — dedicated to understanding the multifaceted nature of changes in the Arctic. One team will focus on the processes and ecological consequences of Arctic change. Another will be committed to understanding human well-being in the changing Arctic. The third will illustrate the consequences of environmental change 8 for geopolitical and economic stability in the region. The combined findings will be shared in plain language and in technical publications. The project was conceived and designed by the International Arctic Research Center, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Oregon State University, Stantec Inc., the University of Michigan, and the Wilson Center's Polar Institute. It will build a novel synthesis spanning multiple knowledge systems and disciplines based on the extensive knowledge of scientific and Indigenous experts. "This is a truly collaborative effort; we have been involved in every step," noted Vera Kingeekuk Metcalf, Executive Director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission in Nome and a co-leader on the project. Renee Crain, Arctic Sciences Research Support and Logistics Manager at the National Science Foundation, expects the project to address pressing issues in the Arctic. "This collaboration addresses equity and evidence-based decision making, recognizing the value of different knowledge systems that are integral to the resilience of people and communities in the Arctic," Crain said. For more information, please contact Athena Copenhaver, SEARCH Assistant Director, [email protected] . About the Authors Athena E. Copenhaver serves as Assistant Director of SEARCH. She is also a writer, editor, science communicator, and climate interpreter. She's worked in the environmental and nonprofit sectors for nearly a decade and specializes in managing scientific research, operations, and strategic communications. She holds degrees in English and environmental studies from Santa Clara University, and in 2009, she earned her master of art degree in culture and modernity from the University of East Anglia in England. Athena's award-winning debut novel will be published in early 2022. Brendan P. Kelly is the Director and Chief Scientist of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change. He is a Professor of Marine Biology with the University of Alaska Fairbanks' International Arctic Research Center and a Senior Fellow with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. A marine ecologist with a focus on sea ice environments, Dr. Kelly has participated in and led collaborative research in the North Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Baltic 9 "second wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arctic: regional and temporal dynamics. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 80(1), 1925446. About the Author Andrey N. Petrov (https://sites.uni.edu/apetrov/research.html) is ARCTICenter Director and Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Northern Iowa. Dr. Petrov is an economic and social geographer who specializes in Arctic economy, regional development and post-Soviet society, with an emphasis on the Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Russia and other circumpolar countries. His current research is focused on regions of the Arctic and concerns regional development, spatial organization, and restructuring of peripheral economies, human wellbeing, dynamics of socialecological systems and sustainable development. He has published on issues pertaining to socio-economic change, development, and demographic dynamics of Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, relationships between communities and extractive industry, sustainability science and sustainable development in the Arctic. Dr. Petrov is the President of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA) (https://iassa.org/) . Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 16 Data Management New Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator Joins the Arctic Data Center Team By: Natasha Haycock-Chavez, Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator, Arctic Data Center My name is Natasha Haycock-Chavez, and I am the new Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator at the Arctic Data Center (https://arcticdata.io/) . An integral part of our mission at the Center is to engage with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Arctic research communities. As Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator, I will practice meaningful engagement with NSF-funded and other Arctic researchers, external research organizations and networks, students and educators, and will also strive to enhance connections with Arctic communities to promote usage of the open-access data repository. 17 Figure 1. Natasha Haycock-Chavez, Community Engagement and Outreach Coordinator, Arctic Data Center. Photo courtesy of Natasha Haycock-Chavez. I received an MA in Geography from Memorial University in Newfoundland, where I specialized in Indigenous-led conservation. My master’s research took place in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, Canada, where I worked with the Inuit community of Sanikiluaq, as they planned and developed a protected area, known as Qikiqtait Protected Area. Qikiqtait Protected Area is based on a collaborative community-planning framework led by Sanikiluaq. 18 Lessons from Community-led Conservation in Nunavut Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, is a community of about 900 people located in the Belcher Islands in the eastern heart of Hudson Bay. Sanikiluarmuit (residents of Sanikiluaq) pride themselves on being environmental stewards of the region, and formally designating the Belcher Islands as a federally recognized protected area is an achievement they have been working towards for decades. I was invited to be a part of this project to produce a background report that identified research gaps that could be integrated into the protected area planning (such as species monitoring), as well as conduct a spatial analysis of the study area. The purpose of this analysis was to examine how an Indigenous, communitydriven approach to protected area planning differs from the model more typically used by conservation and government agencies in Canada. Specifically, my research compared potential conservation plans of the Belcher Islands from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada and spatially compared them with Sanikiluaq’s spatial conservation plan. The analysis concluded that the biggest difference was spatial scales used by each party, and that if WWF’s solutions were used alone, there was a potential to miss crucial areas for nonmigratory species. Lessons from this research point to the importance of community leadership and participation in conservation work and research. Furthermore, bottom-up approaches to conservation projects tend to have greater success than top-down approaches because community engagement and support is crucial to a protected area’s success. Moving Forward I plan to leverage this experience in community engagement for the benefit of the Arctic Data Center and the community supported by our tools, services, and infrastructure. Part of my research emphasized how Indigenous research methodologies and self-determination can be integrated into conservation planning, as well Arctic research in general. I am excited to integrate some of these lessons into this role, in addition to my focus on researchers across a broad diversity of disciplines. More information is found on the Arctic Data Center website (https://arcticdata.io/) . Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 19 Science News Highlights from ARCUS’ Community and Citizen Science in the Far North Conference By: Audrey Taylor, University of Alaska Anchorage and ARCUS Board Member ARCUS hosted the first ever conference on the topic of community and citizen science in the Arctic and Far North on 5—7 October 2021. The Community and Citizen Science in the Far North ( CCSFarNorth) (https://www.arcus.org/meetings/2021/arctic-ccs) conference was held entirely virtually, and was focused on discussing the myriad aspects of conducting community and citizen science research in the circumpolar north. The conference was conceived in response to the need to recognize, connect, and support a growing community of researchers, communities, and visitors that are interested in engaging in community and citizen science in some way. Although many resources regarding community and citizen science exist, they are not specific to the Arctic or Far North, hence the primary goal of the conference was to provide an opportunity to share knowledge and increase networking among researchers, community members, and other practitioners of community and citizen science in the circumpolar north. Conference participants hailed from all corners of the circumpolar north, with over 19 countries represented and more than 280 registered participants. More than 40 inspiring presentations were given by a diverse mix of researchers, practitioners, community members, and Arctic adventurers across the three days of the conference. Each day opened with a land acknowledgement followed by a keynote presentation, a series of 15-minute talks, three-minute "lightning" talks, panel discussions, and a number of pre-recorded presentations hosted on YouTube. Presentations focused on a variety of subjects, from research and monitoring projects engaging Indigenous observers, to Arctic expedition reports, discussions of data management techniques and different platforms for collecting citizen science data, and reflections on how to improve relationships between researchers and the Arctic communities they hope to engage. 20 Figure 1. SIKU online platform showing left side timeline and right side map windows with various features of the platform lighted. From Day keynote talk by Joel Heath of the Arctic Eider Society. Image courtesy of SIKU. For further information about the SIKU network, see their website (https://siku.org/) . Presentations were organized into four specific sessions: "Unique to the Far North," "Just Sharing," "All About the Data," and "Lessons Learned;" sessions were intentionally kept broad to encourage interdisciplinary participation and facilitate the sharing of experiences across projects and topics. Although the subject matter of the talks varied widely, almost all presenters emphasized increasing awareness of the need to be respectful of the time and constraints of people living and working in the Arctic, and the growing desire of communities to be equal partners in the development and implementation of community and citizen science projects in their region. The conference was made light-hearted by the inclusion of themed music during session breaks, door prizes, and many enthusiastic moderators and speakers. The positive energy around the overall topic was palpable, and post-presentation question and answer sessions spurred interesting and engaging discussions. 21 Figure 2. Screenshot from the Day 2 keynote talk by Kaare Sikuaq Erickson, Ikaagun Engagement, addressing important questions regarding why and how to involve Arctic communities in community and citizen science research. Image courtesy of the Community and Citizen Science in the Far North conference. For further information about the Ikaagun Engagement, see their website (https://www.ikaagun.com/) . Feedback from the post-conference survey indicated that conference organizers were successful with the goals of sharing and networking. As one participant said, "It was fascinating to learn about so many projects occurring circumpolarly, which are co-creations with local people incorporating their knowledge and having relevance!" Currently, conference organizers are planning a follow-up webinar on 30 November 2021 for anyone interested in continuing the discussions and networking activities that were begun at the conference. The webinar is open to anyone with interest (not just conference attendees), and details can be found on the event webpage (https://www.arcus.org/meetings/2021/arctic-ccs-webinar) . A post-conference summary report is also planned, which will contribute to the shared knowledge base, long-term goals, and available resources of the growing community of practice related to community and citizen science in the Arctic and Far North. The conference could be found on social media using #CCSFarNorth at @ArcticResearch on Twitter and Facebook, and more information plus links to the conference agenda and archived presentations can be found on the conference webpage (https://www.arcus.org/meetings/2021/arctic-ccs) . 22 About the Author Audrey Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage. Audrey earned her PhD in Wildlife Biology from University of Alaska Fairbanks and has conducted field-based research across the US, Central and South America, and China. Her current research focuses on Arctic-breeding shorebird populations with particular focus on the impacts of climate change and industrial development along Alaska's coastlines. Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 23 Science News Northern Farmers and UAF Researchers Team up to Sustainably Manage Permafrost-Agroecosystems By: Melissa K. Ward Jones, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF); Benjamin M. Jones, UAF, Glenna Gannon, UAF; Tobias Schwoerer, UAF; Mikhail Kanevskiy, UAF; Jill Russell, Boreal Peonies; Dave Russell, Boreal Peonies; and Iris Sutton, Ice Wedge Art and Farm We acknowledge our research takes place on the traditional homelands of the Lower Tanana Dene, Chena Athabascan, Inupiaq, Yup'ik, and Sakha (Yakut) peoples. Polar Peonies, LLC, located in Fairbanks, was the first commercial peony farm in Alaska. The field was cleared in 2001 and peonies were planted in 2002. The owners took pride in cultivating on permafrostaffected soils, however, starting around 2014, the land surface began to dip, and sinkholes began to appear, causing some peony plants to die. Now, the peonies have been moved to a new field and the original was abandoned in 2019 (Figure 1). What happened at Polar Peonies' farm is an example of permafrost degradation that can happen in agricultural fields containing ice-rich permafrost (Figures 1–3). These agricultural fields can experience topographic changes and land surface subsidence (Figure 3, bottom) as a result of permafrost thaw that occurs after land clearing removes the protective vegetation layer. Widespread, near-surface permafrost degradation has been observed in recent decades (e.g., Nitze et al., 2018), driving cascading biophysical changes that affect Arctic ecosystems, communities, and economies, including agriculture (Desyatkin et al., 2021). Like Polar Peonies, permafrost degradation causing land surface subsidence from melting ground ice (Figure 3, bottom) can drive farmers to abandon their fields (Rockie 1942; Pewe 1954). 24 Figure 1. Image taken in September 2021 of the abandoned Polar Peonies, LLC, field. Photo courtesy of Melissa Ward Jones. 25 Environmental Change in the Circumpolar North of Europe and America. Land 8(12), 190. Rockie, W. A. 1942. Pitting on Alaskan Farmlands: A New Erosion Problem. Geographical Review 32(1), 128-134. US Department of Agriculture, National Agriculture Statistics Service (USDA, NASS, 2019). https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/index.php Zhang, L., Brown, C.R., Culley, D., Baker, B., Kunibe, E., Denney, H., Smith, C., Ward, N., Beavert, T., Coburn, J. and Pavek, J.J. 2010. Inferred Origin of Several Native American Potatoes from the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska Using SSR Markers. Euphytica, 174(1), pp.15–29. About the Authors Melissa K. Ward Jones (UAF) – Melissa Ward Jones is a permafrost geomorphologist and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute of Northern Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is leading the Permafrost Grown project. She is interested in the causes, consequences, and significance of geomorphic change and applying her knowledge of permafrost to sustainability issues. She has conducted fieldwork on Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere Islands, Canada, Svalbard, Norway, and throughout Alaska, USA. Benjamin M. Jones (UAF) – Benjamin M. Jones is a Research Professor in the Institute of Northern Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research focuses on Arctic and sub-Arctic systems and combines the use of GIS and remote sensing techniques with field observations and laboratory analyses to better understand the causes and consequences of landscape change, processes, and feedbacks in northern high-latitude environments across a multitude of spatial and temporal scales. For the Permafrost Grown project, he will work with farmers on environmental sensor observation network development and deployment, multi-season remote sensing with UAVs, and assessing landscape changes using historical remote sensing datasets. 32 Tobias Schwoerer (UAF) – Tobias Schwoerer is a Research Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics in the International Arctic Research Center. His work centers around the human dimensions of sustainability where he is most interested in actionable research that informs public policy and private decision making. For the Permafrost Grown Project, he will work with partner farmers to illuminate trade-offs related to permafrost mitigation and come up with co-produced decision support tools. Mikhail Kanevskiy (UAF) – Mikhail Kanevskiy is a Research Assistant Professor in the Institute of Northern Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He studies structure and properties of permafrost, permafrost-related geological hazards, and engineering and environmental problems in the areas of ice-rich permafrost. He has performed fieldwork in various parts of Siberia, Alaska, and northern Canada. Glenna Gannon (UAF) - Glenna Gannon is a Research and Extension Assistant Professor of Sustainable Food Systems in the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Extension. Her work focuses on the sustainable development of highlatitude food production and human dimensions of northern food systems. For the Permafrost Grown project, she will work with partner-producers to develop on-farm agricultural experiments aimed at answering permafrost-related questions and develop education and outreach materials based on research findings. 33 Jill and Dave Russell (Boreal Peonies) - Jill and Dave Russell are the owners of Boreal Peonies, a family run, 40-acre peonies farm established in 2012 in Two Rivers, Alaska. The farm serves both as a scientific research station that serves the Alaska Peonies Growers Association and the Alaska peonies industry, and sells large cut peonies flowers to florists and wholesalers worldwide. In the off season, Jill and Dave are Teaching Professors at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Iris Sutton (Ice Wedge Art and Farm) - Iris Sutton is the owner of Ice Wedge Art and Farm, established in 2012 and is located in Fairbanks, AK. The farm grows vegetables, raises goats and chickens. Iris grew up both in rural and urban Alaska and enjoys the outdoors, an inspiration for her artwork that explores Alaska’s unique wildlife and landscapes. Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 34 Science Education News From Svalbard to the Classroom—Adventures of a PolarTREC Alum By: Mark Goldner, Science Teacher at Heath K-8 Elementary School in Brookline, Massachusetts Growing up as a suburban kid near Boston, I never imagined spending a summer doing Arctic field research. But here I am, having been lucky enough to spend two summers with Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette (UMASS Amherst) studying the effects of climate change on the meltwater plumes of glacier systems in Kongsfjord, Svalbard at 79°N latitude. My first research experience with Dr. Brigham-Grette was as a PolarTREC teacher in 2011. That summer, our group, co-led by Dr. Brigham-Grette and Dr. Ross Powell (NIU) and funded by the National Science Foundation, included a variety of oceanography measurements and sediment coring and collection methods. In July 2021, our team included Dr. Brigham-Grette and two students—PhD candidate, Kelly Mckeon (Woods Hole/MIT) and undergraduate, Xander Kirshen (UMASS Amherst). Funded by the National Geographic Explorers Program, we spent three weeks collecting oceanography and bathymetry data, along with drone video to better understand the dynamics of the glacier meltwater system and to document the dramatic effects that climate change is having on these magnificent Svalbard glaciers. My participation was funded by grants from the Brookline Education Foundation and the National Education Association, and PolarTREC graciously allowed me to use their blogging platform and provided support for a live Zoom presentation while we were in the field. By the end of the school year this past June, consumed with the seemingly impossible challenges that came with pandemic teaching, I was completely exhausted. With almost no break, we were off to the Arctic a few days later. We had a ten-day COVID quarantine in Oslo, Norway, then flew up to Longyearbyen in Svalbard, and finally traveled to Ny Ålesund, an international research station, which can hold up to around 150 scientists. 35 Figure 1. The research team (Kelly Mckeon, Julie Brigham-Grette, Xander Kirshen, Mark Goldner) in front of the Roald Amundsen statue in the cute little research station of Ny Ålesund. The team paid our respects to the stern-faced Amundsen every day! Photo courtesy of Mark Goldner. Despite my exhaustion from the year, and as intense as the field work was, I came out of the experience totally rejuvenated! What a treat for me to be entirely immersed in science for almost a month—and under the tutelage of the amazing Dr. Brigham-Grette. I have learned so much from Julie over the past ten years, from her deep knowledge about glacial geology to her extensive field experiences. While in the midst of the mundane process of data collection, I was reminded of how messy and unpredictable field work can be. Whether it was as serious as spending days trying to get the bathymetry setup working properly, as uncomfortable as dressing improperly for a long, cold, and rainy day out on the fjord, or as silly as being attacked by the local terns, nothing ever quite goes along as planned. Flexibility and patience are essential traits to bring to the work. 36 Figure 2. PhD student Kelly Mckeon troubleshooting our bathymetry equipment. Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette is driving the boat. Photo courtesy of Mark Goldner. Dr. Brigham-Grette plans to compile the data we collected this summer and add it to the growing body of data she has amassed over the past two decades (having first studied this area in 1995), along with data collected by other researchers in the area. Studying the sub-glacial "plumbing system" is important to understanding how glaciers are responding, not just to a warming atmosphere, but to a warming ocean. An important aspect of our work this summer was to collect drone video footage along and above the glacier face. Getting that close to the glacier helps us gain insight into how sediment plumes behave as they exit the glacier. In addition, having this footage provides dramatic visual imagery that can be used to share with the 37 general public as we communicate about the effects of the climate crisis. Flying the drone was a wonderful (if at times, slightly hair-raising) experience as I was able to take what were essentially virtual tours of these amazing glaciers. It also gave me the opportunity to document features of recently de-glaciated areas, which I plan to use in my own teaching of the glacial history of New England. Figure 3. Mark flying the drone above the Kongsbreen Glacier. A sediment plume is visible coming off the glacier. Photo courtesy of Mark Goldner. Being able to do a research project like this is, for many teachers, an experience of a lifetime. But I was able to return and participate twice! One of the important aspects of my return was my first-hand witness to the devastating retreat of the glaciers. I was able to document the ten-year retreat of over 1.7km of the faces of the Kronebreen and Kongsvegen Glaciers as well as the thinning of these glaciers. 38 Figure 4. A view looking at Collethøgda Mountain. It's notable that the glacier face was at the tip of the peninsula visible in the right side of the image, and that that was almost 2km away from the current glacier face. Photo courtesy of Mark Goldner. I have a responsibility to make topics like climate change and geology accessible to young people. My field experiences bring these topics alive for my students. Having had these field research experiences, my students see me not just as a science teacher, but as a bona fide scientist in my own right. I can talk confidently about the process of science. When I show them images of glacial retreat, they are from my own first-hand account (not just a picture found on a web image search) brought alive further by my own emotional response. I think this has enormous intangible results in terms of students' heightened enthusiasm for, and interest in, science. Giving students a flavor of the actual field work is also important to me. Following my 2011 experience, every year I have my students do their own sediment coring at a local pond to see if we can detect any evidence of climate change. This year I will also bring in some of our recent CTD data as part of a data visualization exercise. 39 Figure 5. Mark's students coring sediment at a local pond. This is one of the ways that Mark has brought his Arctic research into his curriculum, which has increased interest and enthusiasm for science among his students. Photo courtesy of Mark Goldner. Ideally, science instruction should be a hands-on, immersive experience. What better way to impart our enthusiasm for authentic instruction than to participate in hands-on immersive field experiences ourselves! 40 Figure 6. Our research team in front of the Kronebreen glacier in July 2021 (photo taken from drone). Photo courtesy of Mark Goldner. For more information, see: !" Mark Goldner's PolarTREC blog from this summer's research field work (https://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/high-arctic-change-2021) !" Video clips of drone footage and other video clips from the summer field work (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3dbSwL6VFzivGdldRyFx7osv2B-pgB9q) !" Sediment Coring Activities (https://docs.google.com/document /d/1AmvTxC7u1SuM14u3g3NJL0EnZWg6o4b04AWneiVdqMw/) About the Author Mark Goldner teaches 7th and 8th grade science at the Heath K-8 Elementary School in Brookline, Massachusetts, and he has been teaching middle and high school science for the past 29 years. He has led extensive professional development work for teachers around science and literacy, and is co-author of the book, "The Stories of Science." Mark has participated in multiple polar research experiences through PolarTREC, Alaska Geographic, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and the ARMADA project. 41 National Science Foundation News NSF Awards Grants to Early-Career Polar Investigators Editors: ARCUS Staff The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP) has awarded $3.8 million to early-career scientists as part of the OPP Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (PRF) Program. This is the first year of funding for the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The program encourages new investigators who have not previously worked in polar regions and/or innovative techniques that have not previously been applied to polar science into polar research. Additionally, the OPP-PRF aims to support beginning investigators with experiences that will establish them in positions of leadership in the scientific community. Postdoctoral Research Fellowship provide opportunities for early-career scientists, including social scientists, to accomplish one or more of the following goals: !" Expand their work across traditional disciplinary lines. !" Develop new partnerships connecting the polar regions and/or non-polar research communities. !" Provide entry to researchers who have traditionally had limited access to polar research resources, sites, and facilities. NSF has awarded 13 grants as part of the Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, with seven representing the Arctic research community and six representing the Antarctic research community. These include: Submesoscale Fjord Variability and Its Influence on Glacial Melt Abstract Award # 2138790 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138790& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Ken Zhao, Oregon State University. Revealing the Genomic Underpinnings of Polar Bear Physiological Adaptations to the Arctic Abstract Award # 2138649 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138649& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Blair Perry, Washington State University. Investigating 2.5k Years of Human History and Atmospheric Transport in Greenland Ice Using High48 Resolution Lead Isotopic Records Abstract Award #2138782 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138782& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Sophia Wensman, Nevada System of Higher Education, Desert Research Institute Freeze-thaw Effect on Biogeochemistry and Nutrient Cycling in Arctic Soils Abstract Award #2138937 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138937& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Erin Rooney, University of Tennessee Knoxville Assessing the Relationship Among Fire, Temperature, and Precipitation in the Arctic During the Pleistocene Abstract Award #2138893 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138893& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Emily Tibbett, University of Massachusetts Amherst Investigating the Effects of Late Holocene Climate Change on Polar Bears Abstract Award #2139044 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2139044& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Lillian Parker, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Bowhead Whales to Identify Biotic and Abiotic Drivers and Timing of Migration Abstract Award #2138801 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138801& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Angela Szesciorka, Oregon State University Organic Matter Export, Processes, and Transformations Drive Carbon Cycling Patterns in the Arctic Ocean Abstract Award #2138584 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138584& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Jumanah Hamdi, Louisiana Universities Marine Corsortium Calving, Icebergs, and Climate Abstract Award #2139002 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2139002& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Alexander Huth, Princeton University Investigating the Influence of Ocean Temperature on Antarctic Ice Sheet Evolution During the Early 49 to Middle Pleistocene Abstract Award #2139051 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2139051& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Michelle Guitard, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University High-resolution Nested Antarctic Ice Sheet Modeling to Reconcile Marine and Terrestrial Geologic Data Abstract Award #2138556 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138556& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Anna Ruth Halberstadt, Berkeley Geochronology Center The Role of Southern Ocean Iron Limited Diatoms in Modulating Copper Speciation Abstract Award #2138217 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138217& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Angel Ruacho, University of Washington Pygoscelis Penguin Response to Potential Prey Retention Along the West Antarctic Peninsula Abstract Award #2138277 (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138277& HistoricalAwards=false) Principal Investigator: Katherine Hudson, Stony Brook University To learn more about the grantees and their projects, visit the OPP Postdoctoral Research Fellowship awardees page (https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/postdoc_awardees2021.jsp) . Learn more about future opportunities on the NSF solicitation webpage (https://beta.nsf.gov/funding /opportunities/office-polar-programs-postdoctoral-research-fellowships-opp-prf) . Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 50 National Science Foundation News An Introduction to Polar Cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation By: Allen Pope Polar, Cyberinfrastructure Program Director, Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation What do you think of when you hear the term, "Polar Cyberinfrastructure?" Whatever you thought of, worry not, because even experts agree that, "cyberinfrastructure is a word commonly used, but lacking a single, precise definition" (Stewart et al., 2010) (http://dsc.soic.indiana.edu/publications/fp109a-stewart.pdf) . Breaking down the jargony mouthful, we have three parts: 1. Polar—"relating to the North or South Pole" 2. Cyber—"relating to or characteristic of the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality" 3. Infrastructure—"the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise" Stewart et al. (2010) continue to cite a broad definition that, "Cyberinfrastructure consists of computational systems, data and information management, advanced instruments, visualization environments, and people, all linked together by software and advanced networks to improve scholarly productivity and enable knowledge breakthroughs and discoveries not otherwise possible." This definition includes interoperability and collaboration as key features of cyberinfrastructure, including a range of technologies which are connected together to facilitate a full range of scientific activities. Other aspects of cyberinfrastructure, or CI, highlighted by Atkins et al. (2003) (https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/106224 /report.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y) and "What is Cyberinfrastructure?" (https://cnx.org/contents /NSJb9NWz@1/What-Is-Cyberinfrastructure) include sharing of common resources, as well as lowering the barriers to entry to use the cyberinfrastructure itself. In addition to technical aspects, it is important to recognize that cyberinfrastructure includes human aspects such as training, exchanges, and community organizations. Polar Cyberinfrastructure (Polar CI) brings the above systems and technologies to bear on Arctic and Antarctic applications. Polar CI is, and should be, embedded in the way polar scientists work, supporting the full range of polar research requirements and goals. At the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of 51 Polar Programs (OPP), Polar CI has alternated between having a dedicated program officer and being shared among those with other duties. Figure 1. Principal Investigator Jessie Creamean prepares for a podcast interview in Utqiaġvik. Creamean's research is part of a multi-year effort to determine whether ice nucleating particles (INPs) from permafrost make their way into the Arctic atmosphere via lateral hydrologic transport. To do this, her team collects samples along coastal water, lakes, and the Elson Lagoon. Photo courtesy of Thomas Hill. Today, Polar CI is included in the main Arctic Research Opportunities (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2021 /nsf21526/nsf21526.htm) solicitation. Through this solicitation, the Polar CI program considers proposals that promote effective collaboration between polar and cyberinfrastructure researchers and aims to support proposals that provide significant benefit to the polar research community. This benefit could be realized in a variety of ways, spanning the full breadth of cyberinfrastructure. The Polar CI program also helps build collaborations between OPP and the NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) (https://www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=CISE) , Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) (https://www.nsf.gov/cise/oac/about.jsp) , aiming to incubate and encourage polar submissions to relevant solicitations across NSF. There are several potential solicitations that might be of particular interest to polar research. The Cyberinfrastructure for Sustaining Scientific Innovation (CSSI) (https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/cyberinfrastructure-sustained-scientific-innovation-cssi) program emphasizes addressing scientific community needs to enable new science, as well as the Training-based 52 Workforce Development for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (CyberTraining) (https://beta.nsf.gov/funding /opportunities/training-based-workforce-development-advanced-cyberinfrastructure) program, which facilitates a range of different types of data and computing-related training for CI professionals and CI users—which could include Arctic researchers or residents! Data-focused researchers might also be interested in exploring a range of opportunities available through NSF's Harnessing the Data Revolution (HDR) initiative. NSF, through OAC, also sponsors a range of computing and training resources related to high performance computing (e.g., XSEDE (https://www.xsede.org/) ), cloud computing (e.g., CloudBank (https://www.cloudbank.org/) ), and distributed computing (e.g., PATh (https://path-cc.io/about/) ). Some or all of these may be available to Arctic researchers, depending on needs, applications, and funding situation. As a tentpole of the Polar Cyberinfrastructure program, the interdisciplinary Arctic Data Center (ADC) (https://arcticdata.io/) is the primary data and software repository for NSF-funded Arctic research. The ADC provides data management tools, training, outreach, customizable data portals, and other research community support services. The Polar CI program also supports the Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) (https://www.pgc.umn.edu/) , which provides a range of freely available datasets like the Arctic Digital Elevation Model, aerial photography, and maps, as well as training and materials for building geospatial data skills. PGC also provides high-resolution satellite data, tasking, and support for NSF-funded Arctic researchers. In addition to these large initiatives, the Polar CI program supports more focused activities, services, workshops, and research projects at a wide range of different sizes and scopes! You can read more about the current (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?PIId=&PIFirstName=&PILastName=& PIOrganization=&PIState=&PIZip=&PICountry=&ProgOrganization=&ProgEleCode=5407& BooleanElement=All&ProgRefCode=&BooleanRef=All&Program=&ProgOfficer=&Keyword=& AwardNumberOperator=&AwardAmount=&AwardInstrument=&ActiveAwards=true& OriginalAwardDateOperator=&StartDateOperator=&ExpDateOperator=) and past (https://www.nsf.gov /awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?PIId=&PIFirstName=&PILastName=&PIOrganization=&PIState=& PIZip=&PICountry=&ProgOrganization=&ProgEleCode=5407&BooleanElement=All&ProgRefCode=& BooleanRef=All&Program=&ProgOfficer=&Keyword=&AwardNumberOperator=&AwardAmount=& AwardInstrument=&ExpiredAwards=true&OriginalAwardDateOperator=&StartDateOperator=& ExpDateOperator=) Polar CI portfolio in the NSF award search. In the Dear Colleague Letter: Supporting Data and Sample Reuse in Polar Research (https://www.nsf.gov /pubs/2021/nsf21041/nsf21041.jsp) , OPP also encourages submission of proposals that leverage existing data, physical and non-physical samples, facilitate the reuse of existing data, and projects that leverage and 53 make publicly available data or samples that are currently unavailable or inaccessible (i.e., data rescue and reuse). As you can see, Polar Cyberinfrastructure cuts across many disciplinary boundaries, facilitating and potentially transforming how Arctic knowledge is built. The NSF Arctic research community is encouraged to explore the opportunities included above to think about how cyberinfrastructure can help build understanding of the changing Arctic. As always, you are encouraged to reach out to your NSF program officer(s) to talk more about your great ideas! For more information, see: !" Polar Cyberinfrastructure Webinar Page (https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/members/events /21809) !" Polar Cyberinfrastructure Webinar Recording (https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=1gmYYCSHMBk) !" NSF GEO Cyberinfrastructure Information (https://www.nsf.gov/geo/geo-ci/index.jsp) Or contact Allen Pope, NSF [email protected] and @PopePolar About the Author Allen Pope joined the Office of Polar Programs as the new Program Director for Polar Cyberinfrastructure in September 2020. Prior to NSF, Allen served as the Executive Secretary of the International Arctic Science Committee. Allen is also a glaciologist and remote sensing scientist—most recently tracking lakes on the surface of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets, studying ultra-cold surface temperatures in Antarctica, tracking iceshelf velocities and fractures, contributing to a glacier inventory of the Mongolian Altai, and researching and teaching on the undergraduate-focused Juneau Icefield Research Program. Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 54 Interagency News Global Climate-Fragility Risks Associated with Arctic Change By: Marisol Maddox, Arctic Analyst, the Wilson Center Polar Institute The Wilson Center (https://www.wilsoncenter.org/) was chartered by Congress in 1968 as the official, living memorial to President Woodrow Wilson. It serves as a key, non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue to inform actionable ideas for the policy community. The Polar Institute of The Wilson Center was formed in 2017 and has become a premier forum for discussion, policy analysis, and expertise on issues pertaining to the Arctic and Antarctic. 55 Figure 1. Cover image of the Climate-Fragility Risk Brief: The Arctic, published by the Climate Security Expert Network with support from the German Federal Foreign Office. Image copyright rests with © adelphi. During the summer of 2021, I authored the Climate-Fragility Risk Brief: The Arctic (https://www.adelphi.de /en/publication/climate-fragility-risk-brief-arctic) as part of a Polar Institute (https://www.wilsoncenter.org /program/polar-institute) collaboration with the Berlin-based think tank, adelphi (https://www.adelphi.de/en) , and their Climate Security Expert Network (CSEN) (https://climate-security-expert-network.org/) . Climate change is one of several "actorless threats," which will increasingly shape the global threat to the environment and challenge stability. The term, actorless threats, referring to the lack a proximate causal actor, is useful because of the implications it has for the evolution in thinking necessary for policy, security, 56 and intelligence communities to properly frame our changing reality, where significant threats are developing in the form of something other than a state or non-state actor. These risks are demonstrative of the fact that actorless threats, like climate change, will increasingly influence global stability, both directly as well as indirectly through the ways that state and non-state actors respond to them. For instance, certain geoengineering technologies are relatively inexpensive and accessible, so could potentially be deployed by a wealthy individual. The risks are profound whether or not the intentions are benevolent. The Arctic is warming three times faster than the global rate of change. Several global climate tipping points are directly linked to changes in the Arctic, namely, the stability of the Greenland ice sheet, the stability of permafrost, and the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is a giant ocean conveyor belt that contains the Gulf Stream. There is about seven meters worth of global sea level currently locked up in the Greenland ice sheet, and it is melting from the top down and the bottom up. Research has demonstrated the global climate impacts of diminishing land-based ice from Greenland, such as the established connection between Greenland's ice melt and a "drastic decrease" in west African monsoon precipitation, which impacts the fragile Sahel region of Africa. The gravitational pull of the Greenland ice sheet means its melt has direct implications for the US Eastern Seaboard (Bartelme 2021). Over 80% of Alaska and 60% of the Russian Federation are underlaid by permafrost and there are significant concerns about implications for critical infrastructure as well as for permafrost's contributions to further warming. When permafrost thaws, it releases methane—an extremely potent greenhouse gas—as well as carbon dioxide. It is estimated there are around 60 billion tons of methane and 560 billion tons of carbon trapped in subsea permafrost, sediment, and soils. Permafrost is also concerning as a source of novel pathogens (ancient viruses, fungi, bacteria), as well as radon and mercury, which are both pertinent to public health. New research takes a novel approach in beginning to catalog a list of biogeochemical impacts of permafrost thaw, making it clear that the implications of Arctic cryosphere degradation are profound (Miner et al. 2021). The AMOC is the weakest it has been in over 1,000 years due to the freshening and warming of the Arctic Ocean. Increased rainfall, coupled with greater melting of ice, adds significant amounts of freshwater to the ocean. This reduces the salinity and density of the ocean water, which combine with the temperature increase to inhibit the sinking and circulation of AMOC— hence it slows down. If this trend continues and combines with a period of reduced solar activity due to natural variability, the result could be decades-long megadroughts in central Europe. 57 Dr. Richter-Menge, an expert in Arctic sea ice, is serving a second term as a research representative, as she was previously appointed to the USARC in 2016 by President Obama. Ms. Vo, a Program Officer at the Rasmuson Foundation and a former Special Assistant for Rural Affairs to Senator Lisa Murkowski, is the commission's new Indigenous representative. The USARC's mission is to develop and recommend US Arctic research policy to the President and Congress and to build cooperative links in Arctic research within the federal government, with Arctic residents, the State of Alaska, researchers, and international partners. Visit the USARC website (https://www.arctic.gov/) for more information on our duties and how to connect via our Daily Arctic Update or our social media accounts. 64 About the Author Cheryl Rosa, Deputy Director and Anchorage-based Alaska Director of the United States Arctic Research Commission (USARC), is trained as a wildlife veterinarian and wildlife biologist and has worked with subsistence communities on the North Slope and in the Russian Far East on a wide range of studies involving wildlife health and zoonotic disease, marine mammal stranding response, subsistence food safety, and oil spill/offshore discharge research. She is a member of the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee, as well as numerous other federal and non-federal boards and steering committees. Presently, she is involved in running USARC's Alaska Rural Water and Sanitation Working Group, the Arctic Renewable Energy Working Group, and the Arctic Mental Health Working Group. Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 65 International News Building Bridges between Research and Community By: Anna-Sofie Skjervedal, Head of Secretariat, International Arctic Hub in Nuuk, Greenland During 2021, an area as big as Sweden and Norway combined melted from the Greenlandic Ice Sheet. Researchers worldwide visit Greenland to study these extreme weather conditions and socioeconomic effects. Meanwhile, politicians struggle to navigate an ocean of information, while locals try to adapt new realities, with everyone strongly depending on each other to adapt. The International Arctic Hub (https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/Naalakkersuisut/Departments/IKTIN/International-Arktisk-Hub) is here to create a bridge between knowledge and action. The year 2021 became a record year in regard to ice melting from the Greenlandic Ice Sheet. According to National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) (http://nsidc.org/greenland-today/) , the melt extent peaked at 872,000 square kilometers (337,000 square miles) on 14 August, melting an area as big as Sweden and Norway combined. In all the years we have had satellite observations, this scale of melt was only matched in 2012. Meanwhile, new studies from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (https://www.ipcc.ch/) state that within 30 years the Arctic will experience the first ice-free conditions during summertime. Greenland is the Center of Attention The changing climate has undoubtedly increased international attention to Greenland, where much important scientific knowledge is conducted. However, much of this knowledge is never absorbed into society. That is one of the reasons why the governments of both Denmark and Greenland decided to finance the International Arctic Hub (https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/Naalakkersuisut/Departments/IKTIN/International-Arktisk-Hub) locally anchored in Nuuk, Greenland, concentrating on building bridges between science and the community. 66 "We are trying to prevent what we call 'fly in-fly out' conditions. So many different researchers come to Greenland to conduct their research, collect data, and discovering ways to approach various topics and solutions. The researchers often have so little time, and many are uncertain as to how to approach, for instance, local community engagement or how to disseminate their valuable data," says Anna-Sofie Skjervedal, Head of Secretariat, International Arctic Hub (Arctic Hub) in Nuuk, Greenland. At the same time, coming to Greenland is not easy, as the infrastructure and logistics are difficult and expensive. Further, many of the researchers coming to Greenland do not have a local network. Figure 1: International Arctic Hub staff in Nuuk, pictured from left to right are Nicoline Larsen, Communications Officer; Anna-Sofie Skjervedal, Head of Secretariat; and Jula Maegaard-Hoffmann, Project Manager. Photo courtesy of Christian Sølbeck. The Arctic Hub will be a one-door entry point to research in Greenland, and a forum for information and inspiration on how to navigate matters like this. The aim is that Arctic Hub can help smooth the initial process and facilitate communication and dialogue across disciplines and Arctic research stakeholders. Local anchorage of knowledge is key to sustainable development, and there is much to gain for both researchers and society if researchers put more effort into disseminating their findings. A primary function 67 of Arctic Hub is, therefore, to contribute to making knowledge from research in and around Greenland more visible and more easily accessible, and in that way, to support society at large. As a first step, Arctic Hub focuses on disseminating knowledge from research conducted in and around Greenland to a broader audience through video and popular scientific articles. Arctic Hub also arranges workshops, providing tips and tools for communicating research to, for instance, the Greenlandic media or a specific Greenlandic audience. Another way Arctic Hub contributes to strengthen the link between research and society is by facilitating events that encourage dialogue beyond research, across research and education, business and industry, from citizens to politicians, as well as across national boundaries. "It is so important that we now have a forum of sharing knowledge and connecting people. We are very excited to be part that collaboration." Anna-Sofie Skjervedal, Head of Secretariat, International Arctic Hub (Arctic Hub) in Nuuk, Greenland. Combining Expertise Arctic Hub is a new secretariat established as a Danish-Greenlandic collaboration. The Danish Finance Act annually contributes three million Danish kroner, and the Greenlandic Finance Act contributes 750,000 Danish kroner a year from 2019–2022. Arctic Hub has a Board consisting of eight members; four Danish members and four Greenlandic members. The secretariat is administrated through the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. For more information, see the International Arctic Hub (https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/Naalakkersuisut /Departments/IKTIN/International-Arktisk-Hub) or follow #ArcticHub at LinkedIn and on Facebook. Or, contact the International Arctic Hub via email ( [email protected] ), or by mail: International Arctic Hub; Pikialaarfik, 1.floor; Kivioq 2, 3905 Nuussuaq; Greenland. 68 About the Author Anna-Sofie Skjervedal is Head of Secretariat at the newly established International Arctic Hub (Arctic Hub) in Nuuk, Greenland. (Photo is courtesy of Christian Sølbeck.) Anna-Sofie holds a PhD from Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland) and Aalborg University, in which she focused on meaningful youth engaging through visual means and social media (Towards Meaningful Youth Engagement: Breaking the Frame of the Current Public Participation Practice in Greenland, 2018). As prior head advisor in public participation, she has also overseen public participation strategy development—and implementation at the Municipality of Sermersooq in Nuuk, Greenland. Moreover, Anna-Sofie is part of the steering committee of the Greenland Science Week, a multidisciplinary science event for networking and outreach. To read more, see Greenland Science Week (https://scienceweek.gl/) and #greenlandscienceweek2021. Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • [email protected] 69 Arctic Research Consortium of the United States 3535 College Road Suite 101 Fairbanks, AK 99709 USA Phone: 907-474-1600 Fax: 907-474-1604 [email protected]g Editors: Betsy Turner-Bogren and Lisa Sheffield Guy Contributors: A. E. Copenhaver, H. Epstein, G. Gannon, M. Goldner, N. Haycock-Chavez, B. M. Jones, M. Jull, M. Kanevskiy, B. P. Kelly, G. W. Kling, M. Maddox, A. N. Petro, A. Pope, C. Rosa, D. Russell, J. Russell, T. Schwoerer, A-S. Skjerveda, I. Sutton, A. Taylor, B. Turner-Bogren, J. Warburton, M. K. Ward Jones ARCUS is a nonprofit organization consisting of institutions organized and operated for educational, professional, or scientific purposes. Established by its member institutions in 1988 with the primary mission of strengthening arctic research, ARCUS activities are funded through member dues and contracts and grants with federal and private entities. Witness the Arctic is published periodically by ARCUS. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. Archived issues of Witness the Arctic are available at: https://www.arcus.org/witness-the-arctic