Sponsors

Major funding will be provided by the National Science Foundation Division of Arctic Sciences.

We are actively seeking additional sponsorship. If your organization is interested in participating as a co-sponsor, please contact Susan E. Fox, ARCUS, at fox [at] arcus [dot] org or 1-907-474-1600.

Several arctic-focused organizations and programs are also participating as partners in conference planning, and we welcome new partners. {more}

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With an annual budget of about $6.06 billion, NSF is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.

The Division of Arctic Sciences in the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) supports scientific research in the Arctic, related research, and operational support.

Science programs include disciplinary, multidisciplinary, and broad, interdisciplinary investigations directed toward both the Arctic as a region of special scientific interest and a region important to global systems. Disciplinary interests encompass the atmospheric, biological, physical, earth, ocean, and social sciences. The Arctic System Science Program provides opportunities for interdisciplinary investigations of the Arctic as a system. OPP also encourages research relevant to both polar regions, especially glaciology, permafrost, sea ice, oceanography, and ecology.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it.

International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere

The main mission of the International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) is coordination of atmospheric data collection at existing and newly established intensive Arctic atmospheric observatories. This effort supports the International Polar Year (www.ipy.org) but is intended to establish a continuing network consortium into the foreseeable future. Data of interest to the IASOA consortium include measurements of standard meteorology, greenhouse gases, atmospheric radiation, clouds, pollutants, chemistry, aerosols, and surface energy balances.

Study of Environmental Arctic Change

SEARCH is an interagency effort to understand the nature, extent, and future development of the system-scale change presently seen in the Arctic. These changes are occurring across terrestrial, oceanic, atmospheric and human systems, including:

increased air temperatures over most of the Arctic;
changing ocean circulation and rising coastal sea level;
reduced sea ice cover; and
thawing permafrost.

The core aim of SEARCH is to understand the recent and ongoing complex of interrelated pan-arctic changes. These changes are affecting ecosystems, living resources, and the human population, and are impacting local and global economic activities.

Arctic System Science Program

The goal of the NSF ARCSS Program is to answer the question: What do changes in the arctic system imply for the future?

The Arctic is highly complex, with a tightly coupled system of people, land, ocean, ice, and air that behaves in ways that we do not fully comprehend, and which has demonstrated a capacity for rapid and unpredictable change with global ramifications. The Arctic is pivotal to the dynamics of our planet and it is critical that we better understand this complex and interactive system. The goal of the NSF ARCSS Program is to answer the question: What do changes in the arctic system imply for the future?

US Arctic Research Commission

The Arctic Research Policy Act of 1984 established USARC. Its principal duties are to develop and recommend an integrated national arctic research policy and to assist in establishing a national arctic research program plan to implement the policy. USARC Commissioners facilitate cooperation among the federal government, state and local governments, and other nations with respect to basic and applied arctic research.

North Slope Science Initiative

The North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI) was developed by federal, state and local governments with trust responsibilities for land and ocean management, to facilitate and improve collection and dissemination of ecosystem information pertaining to the Alaskan North Slope region, including coastal and offshore regions. The mission of the NSSI is to improve scientific and regulatory understanding of terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems for consideration in the context of resource development activities and climate change. The vision of the NSSI is to identify those data and information needs management agencies and governments will need in the future to develop management scenarios using the best information and mitigation to conserve the environments of the North Slope. The NSSI adopts a strategic framework to provide resource managers with the data and analyses they need to help evaluate multiple simultaneous goals and objectives related to each agency’s mission on the North Slope. The NSSI uses and complements the information produced under other North Slope science programs, both internal and external. The NSSI also facilitates information sharing among agencies, non-governmental organizations, industry, academia, international programs and members of the public to increase communication and reduce redundancy among science programs.

International Arctic Science Committee

The International Arctic Science Committee, is a non-governmental organisation that aims to encourage, facilitate and promote leading-edge multi-disciplinary research to foster a greater scientific understanding of the arctic region and its role in the Earth system.

Arctic Ocean Sciences Board

The Arctic Ocean Sciences Board (AOSB) is a non-governmental body that includes members and participants from research and governmental institutions in Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Alaska Ocean Observing System

The Alaska Ocean Observing System’s mission is to improve our ability to rapidly detect changes in marine ecosystems and living resources, and predict future changes and their consequences for the public good.

Regionally, a partnership has been formed to promote development of a regional program in Alaska. Partners include the State of Alaska; federal agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Interior; academic institutions, including the University of Alaska; research organizations, such as the North Pacific Research Board, the Alaska SeaLife Center, the Prince William Sound Science Center, the Arctic Research Commission, and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium; and industry groups, including fisheries and aquaculture associations.

Nationally, the effort is being led by the Ocean.US Office under the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Legislation creating the national system and associated regional systems has passed the U.S. Senate (S. 1400), calling for a $140 million commitment to ocean observing by 2006, with $50 million for regional efforts.

Internationally, a Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) steering committee is working to link U.S. national efforts to the existing global observation network.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy's overarching mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex. The Department's strategic goals to achieve the mission are designed to deliver results along five strategic themes:

Energy Security: Promoting America's energy security through reliable, clean, and affordable energy
Nuclear Security: Ensuring America's nuclear security
Scientific Discovery and Innovation: Strengthening U.S. scientific discovery, economic competitiveness, and improving quality of life through innovations in science and technology
Environmental Responsibility: Protecting the environment by providing a responsible resolution to the environmental legacy of nuclear weapons production
Management Excellence: Enabling the mission through sound management

Within these themes there are sixteen strategic goals which are designed to help DOE successfully achieve its mission and vision.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

To do that, thousands of people have been working around the world -- and off of it -- for 50 years, trying to answer some basic questions. What's out there in space? How do we get there? What will we find? What can we learn there, or learn just by trying to get there, that will make life better here on Earth?

WWF

WWF is an international conservation organization with offices in more than 40 countries. It has over 5 million supporters. Since 1992, WWF's Arctic Programme has been working on circumpolar issues. Its current focus is to provide the information required to persuade world governments to take urgent action on climate change, and to provide leadership in areas such as governance and conservation planning to ensure that changes already triggered do not overwhelm fragile Arctic ecosystems.

Association of Polar Early Career Scientists

Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) APECS is an international and interdisciplinary organization for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early faculty members, educators and others with interests in Polar Regions and the wider cryosphere. Our aims are to stimulate interdisciplinary and international research collaborations, and develop effective future leaders in polar research, education and outreach. We seek to achieve these aims by:

Facilitating international and interdisciplinary networking to share ideas and experiences and to develop new research directions and collaborations;
Providing opportunities for professional career development; and
Promoting education and outreach as an integral component of polar research and to stimulate future generations of polar researchers.

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was established in 1946 through the consolidation of the General Land Office (created in 1812) and the U.S. Grazing Service (formed in 1934). The functions of the BLM are also addressed in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA). (For more details, please see BLM and Its Predecessors ). To see a comprehensive list of legislation that BLM operates under, click here . And, to see videos describing the early history of BLM, click on "Fractured Land Patterns."

The BLM is responsible for carrying out a variety of programs for the management and conservation, of resources on 253 million surface acres, as well as 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, These public lands make up about 13 percent of the total land surface of the United States and more than 40 percent of all land managed by the Federal government.

Sponsors

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