Coordination and Participation: US-UK Joint Workshop on Arctic Research

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This proposal is for travel support to approximately 25 U.S. participants to the US-UK Joint Workshop on Arctic Research to be held at Clare College, University of Cambridge, UK in 2012. The workshop will build on significant new investments in arctic research made by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through its Arctic Research Programme. The workshop will enable U.S. investigators to discuss common areas of interest, potential collaborations, and opportunities for sharing logistical resources with their UK colleagues. Participants will be selected by a committee based upon their expected contributions to the subject and their experience in relevant research themes, disciplinary balance and geographical location. U.S. participants are anticipated to be familiar with the goals of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change SEARCH. SEARCH is in the process of developing an updated set of scientific goals for the next five years, which currently include: improving understanding and prediction of sea ice changes and the consequences for ecosystems, human activities, and climate; understanding the consequences of the loss of shallow permafrost on arctic and global systems; improving predictions of future land?]ice loss and impacts on sea level; and analyzing societal and policy implications of arctic environmental change. NERC is developing a program focused on four linked scientific objectives, detailed in its science plan (http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/arctic/documents/arctic-science-plan.pdf): understanding and attributing the current rapid changes in the Arctic; quantifying processes leading to Arctic methane and carbon dioxide release; reducing uncertainty in Arctic climate and associated regional biogeochemistry predictions; and assessing the likely risks of submarine hazards associated with rapid Arctic climate change. This proposal will facilitate international collaboration and furtherance of the two national initiatives to study change in the Arctic.