News > Navigating the New Arctic

Navigating the new Arctic is a series of NSF funded workshops led by Craig Allen, Hannah Birge and Martha Shulski. The first meeting was held March 13-15, 2018 in Fairbanks Alaska.

A number of RA members are participating in this series of workshops that is designed to explore the theme of convergence as it relates to what is being called The New Arctic, reflecting the complex dynamics and rapid changes underway in the Arctic. The first workshop brought together a diverse group of participants contributing their expertise in the areas of biogeochemistry, economics, traditional knowledge, complex adaptive systems, and resilience.

The workshop focused on six themes that span a variety of perspectives and disciplines including: Arctic resilience to global-scale drivers, Indigenous traditional knowedge, biogeochemical cycling, spatial regimes, agroecosystem mid-latitude linkages, and new tools for convergence.

The United States' National Science Foundation (NSF) funds work addressing grand challenges within science and engineering. Through its "Growing Convergent Research" portfolio , NSF highlights the value of Convergence, i.e., "the deep integration of multiple disciplines in order to ad- vance scientific discovery and innovation."