Collaborative Research: A Workshop to Draft the Implementation Plan for the Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) Initiative - Winnipeg, October 2010

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) Initiative is to better understand multifaceted climate processes across the land-ocean-atmosphere system. The Initiative began in response to the last International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP), which identified the need for synthesis activities across Arctic system science. Subsequently, the ART program was established and has two phases. The first phase was completed in early 2010 with the drafting of a science plan that was the product of a three day workshop hosted at the International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. The workshop brought together more than 50 scientists from nine counties to outline the priorities to be considered within the ART Initiative. The science plan was presented to the Arctic Ocean Science Board (AOSB) and endorsed by the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) during their annual meeting in Nuuk, Greenland. With the science plan written, vetted and endorsed by the broader Arctic science community phase two of the Initiative can now begin. A workshop will be held at the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg Canada from October 18 - 20th to draft an implementation plan based on the research priorities identified in the science plan. The implementation plan will focus on linkages within the marine system, including contributions from land-ocean gateways, shelf seas, and the deep ocean. A range of time scales will also be explored, from Paleoclimates to the rapid change currently being observed in the Arctic. As with the science plan, the implementation effort will be organized and executed almost entirely by early career scientists from five different nations (U.S., Canada, Norway, Germany, and Sweden) making the ART Initiative a unique international effort.