Arctic science conference to focus on northern sust...( Fairbanks Alaska More than 150 scien...)

Fairbanks, Alaska More than 150 scientists are expected to attend the 59th annual American Association for the Advancement of Science Arctic Division conference in Fairbanks, Alaska Sept. 15-17 2008.

The conference will focus on sustainability science and the people of the Arctic. Sessions will cross multiple disciplines and focus on observed and continuing changes in northern regions, as well as on the responses to those changes by northern residents now and in the future. Highlights include sessions on indigenous people and knowledge, northern engineering, terrestrial responses to climate change, circumpolar health and interdisciplinary education, as well as nearly a dozen others. The conference will also host the 15th Arctic Round Table, a meeting of scientists and policymakers to discuss current issues in the Arctic. This year's roundtable will focus on changes in the Arctic and beyond.

Conference plenary speakers include Maribeth Murray of the University of Alaska Fairbanks; Hajo Eicken, UAF researcher and head of the International Polar Year North by 2020 project; James Rattling Leaf of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Catherine Middlecamp of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Peter Schlosser of Columbia University; and Buck Sharpton, vice chancellor for research at UAF.

The AAAS Arctic Division conference is one of the nation's largest gatherings of arctic scientists. Conference sessions will take place at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel in downtown Fairbanks.

'/>"/>