US-SCAR News

Through this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Section for Arctic Sciences (ARC) of the Office of Polar Programs announces its interest in proposals to repurpose a subset of stations of the Alaska Transportable Array. This DCL encourages proposals to modify and operate a network of stations with a view to provide long-term environmental observations. Continue Reading

The National Science Board (NSB) has authorized the National Science Foundation (NSF) to move forward with the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science (AIMS) project. AIMS is planned as a 10-year undertaking to overhaul McMurdo Station into an energy- and operationally efficient platform from which to support world-class science. Continue Reading

The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) is the designated single point manager for the United States Antarctic Program. The Antarctic Sciences Section (ANT) supports research in all areas of science in Antarctica and works in close collaboration with OPP's Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics Section (AIL), other parts of OPP and NSF, other U.S. Agencies, and National programs in other countries in supporting forefront research in Antarctica. The incumbent will be responsible for managing a dynamic proposal driven research grants program. Continue Reading

The proposal deadline for Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) has been extended to March 4, 2019. Join one of the virtual office hours with NNA Program Officers to learn more about Navigating the New Arctic Solicitation 19-511 and get your questions answered. Continue Reading

The proposal deadline for Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) has been extended to March 4, 2019. Join one of the virtual office hours with NNA Program Officers to learn more about Navigating the New Arctic Solicitation 19-511 and get your questions answered. Continue Reading

Containing decades of data and studies, this book set and accompanying databases describe the impacts of climate change on the fate and transport of contaminants, the containment of contaminants in frozen ground, and remediation strategies for contaminated sites. Continue Reading

The OPP Advisory Committee has drafted a succinct and broad synthesis of recommended priorities for OPP research investments in the document. The document, An Advisory Overview for the Office of Polar Programs, is based on reports developed by the science and science-support communities over the past five years. The synthesized priorities will help inform science-funding leadership, other NSF advisory committees and others. OPP's advisory committee invites the broader science and support-communities to review and comment on the document. Continue Reading

The Next Generation Polar Research Conference (NGRP-3) is designed to train and network early career polar researchers for interdisciplinary research careers. This week-long symposium will be held at the University of Southern California's Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island, CA. Participants from disciplines spanning the natural, physical and social sciences will be competitively selected to participate in dynamic networking opportunity with plenary talks, poster sessions, and professional development training. Continue Reading

This is a second announcement for the U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP) Subglacial Access Science Planning Workshop in Herndon, Virginia, which will take place on March 29-30, 2019. The primary objective of this workshop is to provide focused feedback from subglacial research community into the IDP Long Range Science Plan. Specifically, we seek to stimulate discussions that will yield a prioritized list of science objectives and associated targets and requirements (sampling, drilling and support needs) for the coming decade for the 2019 update to the IDP Long Range Science Plan. Continue Reading

NSF-funded Next Generation Polar Research Symposium May 5-11, 2019. Venue: USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island. The Next Generation Polar Research Conference (NGRP-3) is designed to train and network early career polar researchers for interdisciplinary research careers. Travel funding priority will be given to applications received by January 11, 2019. The deadline for all applicants is January 18, 2019. Continue Reading

Alexandra Isern has been named as the new head the Office of Polar Programs' (OPP) Antarctic Sciences Section. She is currently acting section head and will make the transition to the federal Senior Executive Service as she takes on the section head duties permanently. She has served at NSF for seventeen years, nine of which have been in OPP. Continue Reading

Office of Polar Programs' Arctic Sciences Section program directors will provide an overview of staffing changes, program updates, upcoming NSF opportunities of interest to Arctic scientists, and other topics from 11AM to noon on Dec. 10 at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in Washington D.C. Continue Reading

Today, 16 November 2018, the Special Observing Period in the Antarctic started. For the next three months, weather services and international scientists will increase the number of atmospheric and sea-ice observations from different Antarctic land stations, during terrestrial field expeditions and aboard research vessels in the Southern Ocean. The goal of the international Year of Polar Prediction is to improve weather and sea-ice forecasts in the polar regions. Continue Reading

A long-range plan to modernize McMurdo Station, the National Science Foundation's logistics hub in Antarctica, to better support cutting-edge science in the coming decades cleared a major hurdle in the last week of October when a Final Design Review (FDR) of what is envisioned as a 10-year undertaking was conducted. Continue Reading

The National Science Foundation has issued a new solicitation for research proposals under the rubric of Navigating the New Arctic, one of the agency’s 10 Big Ideas. The solicitation estimates that--pending the availability of the anticipated funding amount of $30 million--25 awards will be made. The deadline for proposals to this solicitation is 5PM (submitter’s local time) on Feb. 14, 2019. Continue Reading

Erin Heard has joined the Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics Section in the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs as NSF’s Station Manager, Antarctica. In this role, during the Southern Hemisphere winter, he will provide day-to-day oversight of infrastructure and facilities operations in support of science in and around McMurdo Station, NSF’s logistics hub on the continent. Continue Reading

The National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs (OPP) welcomes three new program directors to the Section for Arctic Sciences: Gregory J. Anderson, Program Director, Arctic System Sciences; Roberto Delgado, Program Director, Arctic Observing Network; and Colleen Strawhacker, Program Director, Arctic Social Sciences. Continue Reading

The National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs (OPP) is seeking input from the arctic research community for its Arctic Science Section (ARC) Portfolio Review Committee, which is reviewing ARC’s successes as well as potential future changes in the scope and structure of its programs, and the balance of its funding. Survey responses will be anonymous, as the results are identified only by a computer-generated ID number. The survey should take roughly 1-15 minutes to complete. Continue Reading

The Research on Learning (DRL) and Undergraduate Education (DUE) divisions of NSF’s Education and Human Resources Directorate and the Office of Polar Programs have jointly issued a Dear Colleague Letter to encourage proposals that will leverage NSF’s investment in polar sciences and infrastructure and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education research and development. Continue Reading

The National Science Foundation will make a major upgrade to the pier at the U.S. Antarctic Program’s Palmer Station, located on Anvers Island on the Antarctic Peninsula. NSF’s Office of Polar Programs (OPP) is currently in the process of finalizing the plans and designs needed to prepare for construction in the coming months. Continue Reading