Scientists from across the country gather for their ninth annual NGEE Arctic All-Hands meeting to celebrate success and discuss progress and plans for the project
Every year since 2011 researchers from the NGEE Arctic project have gathered for two days to discuss plans and accomplishments from the previous year’s field, laboratory, and modeling activities. This year was no exception as more than 90 participants in the project, joined by many national and international collaborators, spent two days sharing science from across the project. Team members focused their Day 1 efforts on reviewing 2019 research accomplishments and discussing steps required to migrate knowledge to the DOE E3SM Earth system model. Early career scientists had an opportunity to share their insights during a Real Science, Real Short session moderated by ORNL’s Verity Salmon. Joel Rowland from Los Alamos National Laboratory was our featured lunchtime speaker on Saturday and highlighted the new InteRFACE project sponsored by the DOE Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. Day 2 focused on-site descriptions, use of the ILAMB software package, and international synthesis activities. An Arctic Café facilitated round-table discussions and engage team members on what lies ahead for NGEE Arctic, including possible focus areas beyond Phase 3. Kaare Erickson, community liaison with UIC Science in Utqiaġvik, AK spoke at lunch on Sunday and provided an informative and fascinating history of native communities in Alaska, along with personal thoughts on how scientists can better engage local communities. One of many highlights during the meeting was the Awards Ceremony. Dan Stover, sponsor of the NGEE Arctic project, joined us in awarding plagues to Vladimir Romanovsky (UAF), David Graham (ORNL), Amy Breen (UAF), and Verity Salmon (ORNL). Congratulations to Vladimir, David, Amy, and Verity, and to all who travelled to this year’s all-hands meeting!