Early Career Researcher Workshop for the Synoptic Arctic Survey 2

A 2-day workshop to plan a pilot program for the next SAS field campaign

The very first workshop for and by early-career researchers, will take place on 25-26 March 2026 at the Arctic Science Summit Week in Aarhus, Denmark. The aim is to identify science and training goals for a research and training cruise as a pilot program for the next SAS field campaign (SAS-II) that will be held ~2030.

Workshop activities will include presentations, thematic breakout groups, discussions, and writing with the goal of preparing a white paper and proposal outline. We invite physical and biological oceanographers, atmosphere- and cryosphere-focused ECRs that use observational data and/or modeling in their work, as well as Indigenous scholars to contribute to this initiative.

Students and researchers 1-7 years post PhD can apply for travel funding until 16th January 2026.

Project Description

The Arctic is a rapidly changing environment that poses unique challenges to the monitoring and prediction of such changes. This proposal builds off the international Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS) effort to collect "snapshots" of the state of the Arctic at roughly 10-year intervals, serving to monitor the longterm changes in the Arctic ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere. The first effort and collection of data took place over 2020-2022, with the next effort, SAS2, planned for ~2030. To maintain continuity between past and future efforts, this proposal seeks to facilitate the continued involvement, support, and training of international early-career researchers (ECRs) for SAS2, a primary goal set forth by the SAS program. Through working with the Marine, Atmosphere, and Cryosphere Working groups of IASC, ECRs will develop an informed strategy to establish an international group of ECRs within the SAS, identify research needs and goals, and plan the contribution of ECRs in the collection of relevant ocean, ice, and atmospheric data during SAS2 and beyond. This strategy will be discussed at a 2-day hybrid ECR workshop at the Arctic Science Summit Week 2026, where funding from this proposal will be utilized for travel support (with priority given to applications from Indigenous ECRs). In the longer term, ECRs will implement the prepared data collection plan on an ECR training cruise expected to take place before SAS2.

Date and Location 

25-26 March 2026 (ASSW 2026)  |   Aarhus, Denmark

IASC Working Groups funding the project

• Atmosphere WG
• Cryosphere WG
• Marine WG

Project Lead

Clare Gaffey (Oregon State University, USA) 

Year funded by IASC

 2025