News

The International Permafrost Association (IPA) and The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) are pleased to announce that the IPA Secretariat will be officially located and hosted at UNIS from 1 December 2016 until 2020. The IPA Secretariat was previously hosted at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, Germany, where Karina Schollaen served as Executive Director of the IPA. Professor Hanne Christiansen, Arctic Geology Department Leader at UNIS, became President of the IPA in June this year. Sarah Str…

"The Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) is an annual meeting of national and international organizations focused on Arctic research and exploitation, which include academia, government agencies, local communities, industry, non-governmental organizations and others." More details, including the complete session list, are available online: http://www.assw2017.eu/ Abstract submission is currently open and will close December 16, 2016. Registration will remain open until March 15, 2017, but early registrat…

We would like to call your attention to two conferences relevant for permafrost scientists being held in Russia in 2017. Earth’s Cryosphere: Past, Present, and Future June 4-8, 2017, Pushchino, Russia In addition to covering permafrost, geocryology, and physio-chemical properties of frozen ground, this conference will also feature research regarding paleoclimate reconstructions and cryosphere ecosystems. XI International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering September 5-8, 2017, Magadan, Russia The aim…

Registration and abstract submission are now open for the 2nd Asian Conference on Permafrost (ACOP2017), on the conference website. The conference will be held July 2-6, 2017, in Sapporo, Japan. Abstracts are due by December 31, 2016, while advance registration remains open until March 31, 2017. After this, participants can still register at an increased rate. We hope to see you in Sapporo!

In 2015, a symposium was held at the 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference to honour the memory of the life and work of Professor J. Ross Mackay. The Proceedings of the symposium are available for download (free) at: https://carleton.ca/permafrost/symposium-honour-professor-j-r-mackay-1915-2014/ Nineteen papers were presented at the symposium and prepared for publication after review. The titles and authors are: Part 1. Reflections on the life and work of Professor Mackay The geocryological bibliography o…

Deadline: October 31, 2016 Funding: Up to 2500 €/year More information:IPA Action Groups The IPA is pleased to introduce a new call for funded Action Groups. Action Groups are an element in the IPA structure and are meant to fund targeted groups working towards the production of well-defined products. Action Groups will be funded on a competitive basis at up to 2500 € per year (maximum of 5000 € over the life of an Action Group). Up to 10 000 € per year of the IPA total budget will be devoted t…

APECS is hosting a Figure Competition as part of their International Polar Week. Two of the entries come from the IPA Action Group "A Frozen-Ground Cartoon;" the illustrations are by Heta Nääs and Noémie Ross. Check out all the figures and vote for your favorite by this Sunday, September 25 at midnight!

The 2nd Asian Conference on Permafrost will take place in Sapporo, Japan from July 2–6, 2017. Those interested in attending can find the relevant information on the conference website. Abstract submission will open by early October. As is tradition, this conference will include a short field trip during the meeting week and longer excursions afterwards (possibilities include Mt. Fuji, Mongolia, and the Kamchatka Peninsula). We hope to see you in Sapporo in July 2017!

GTN-P achievements Congratulations to Dr Boris Biskaborn, who was selected by the WDS Scientific Committee (WDS-SC) as the 2016 winner of the WDS Data Stewardship Award. This accolade highlights exceptional contributions to the improvement of scientific data stewardship by early career researchers through their engagement with the community, academic achievements, and innovations. For more information visit: https://www.icsu-wds.org/news/news-archive/boris-biskaborn-wins-2016-wds-data-stewardship-award…

The Eleventh International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016) ended last Friday. It was attended by almost 800 scientists and engineers. Now 3 field trips with conference participants are running in Russia, the European Alps and Svalbard. Thank you for being part of the conference! For more information visit the ICOP website: www.icop2016.org A conference summary will follow next week. Credit: Alfred-Wegener-Institut/Jan Pauls.