Dartmouth Institute Links Arctic Science and Public Policy

Dartmouth College and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks have partnered with Urbana University to create an institute aimed at examining scientific research about the Arctic and its effect on policy making. The Institute on Applied Circumpolar Policy, located at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, celebrated its opening on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008, at the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Scandinavia House in New York City. Andrew Revkin, widely known for his articles in The New York Times on climate change, was the featured speaker. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski addressed the opening through videomessage.

The Institute will break new ground through conferences and educational programs on issues associated with rapid climate change such as shipping and energy policy, transportation, resource extraction and sovereignty, food consumption, migratory pollutants, and western and indigenous science. "Polar regions are at the forefront of research on global change," says Amb. Kenneth Yalowitz, Director of the Dickey Center. "It is here that the human dimension of environmental change is evident. The circumpolar region is a unique opportunity for science to influence policy issues."

The Institute on Applied Circumpolar Policy is the first UArctic institute, a new type of activity within the University of the Arctic (UArctic). UArctic a cooperative network of universities, colleges, and other organizations committed to higher education and research in the North, currently totaling 116 members. "Our collaboration with UArctic will advance the fine work that is already on at Dartmouth in arctic studies," says Dartmouth Provost Barry Scherr, also a member of the International Board of Governors of UArctic: "I am pleased to see the Dickey Center and its Institute of Arctic Studies playing a prominent role in furthering these links."

For more information about the Institue on Applied Circumpolar Policy, contact:

Lee McDavid
IAS Program Coordinator / IGERT Grant Manager
Institute of Arctic Studies
Dickey Center, Dartmouth College
+1-603 646-1278
lee.mcdavid@dartmouth.edu

Barry Scherr
Provost, Dartmouth College
+ 1-603-646-2404
barry.scherr@dartmouth.edu

Lars Kullerud
President, University of the Arctic
+47-9087 0099
lars.kullerud@uarctic.org

Outi Snellman
UArctic Director of Administration and University Relations
University of the Arctic
+358-40-501 0209
outi.snellman@uarctic.org