Preparing for a Northwest Passage: A Workshop on the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic

The rapid warming of the Arctic and melting of Arctic sea and land ice has ramifications around the globe. Shipping routes through an ice-free Northwest Passage in combination with modifications to ocean circulation and regional climate patterns linked to Arctic ice melt affect trade, transportation, coastal ecology and hydrology, human-built infrastructure, demographics and cultural identities, fish and wildlife, energy resources, and air and water quality -- not only in the Arctic but also in mid-latitude coastal regions such as New England. With profound changes on the horizon, this is a critical opportunity for regions such as New England to prepare for the uncertain yet inevitable economic and environmental impacts of Arctic change.

A regional workshop, "NNA Convergence: Preparing for a Northwest Passage – the Role of New England in Navigating the New Arctic" (NSF #17443460), hosted by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on March 25-27, 2018, gathered expertise and talent from academic and external partners throughout New England and beyond involved in Arctic research. The workshop paired two of NSF's 10 Big Ideas, Navigating the New Arctic and Growing Convergence Research at NSF , to discuss the socio-economic and environmental links between New England and the Arctic. The workshop adopted a convergent framework, considering the methods and conceptual frameworks from the social sciences, the experimental and modeling tools of the physical and life sciences, and the solution-driven problem solving of engineering.