Arctic researchers to discuss NSF-led, interagency initiative to quantify arctic enviro. change
Researchers from around the world will meet later this month in Seattle, Wash., to discuss what science can tell us about environmental changes occurring in the Arctic as well as the next scientific steps needed to better understand the complex physical processes that govern the Arctic environment.
The first open science meeting for the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), a multi-agency initiative led by the National Science Foundation (NSF), will take place from Oct. 27-30. SEARCH is a broad, interdisciplinary program of long-term observations, analysis and modeling aimed at understanding a series of significant and apparently interrelated changes that have occurred across the Arctic in recent decades.
Two SEARCH researchers-James Morison, of the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, and Peter Schlosser, of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University-will speak at a press briefing on Oct. 28. They will discuss what SEARCH scientists have learned about changes in sea-ice coverage, temperatures and other physical factors in the Arctic and where future research directions may lead. Other panelists will address long-term trends in climate change from a paleoclimatology perspective, discuss contemporary trends in the Arctic's marine and terrestrial environments and examine the social and economic impacts of these changes on Native and other Arctic populations.
Reporters in the Seattle area are invited to the media briefing at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. Reporters from the Washington D.C. area who are unable to attend the briefing can participate through a telecommunications link at NSF's headquarters. It will also be possible to call into the Seattle and Arlington, Va. teleconference locations. Please contact Peter West, NSF media officer, listed below, for details.
James H. Morison, University of Washington Peter Schlosser, Columbia University Jonathan T. Overpeck, University of Arizona Caleb Pungowiyi, Robert Aqqaluk Newlin Sr. Memorial Trust Jacqueline M. Grebmeier, University of Tennessee Mark Nuttall, University of Alberta Matthew Sturm, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
What:
Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) media briefing
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