Pathogens and Permafrost Workshop II

On behalf of the Center for Resilient Communities, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, please join us for another small, focused, unclassified 2-day workshop to establish the state of existing knowledge and requirements on pathogens and permafrost in the context of defense and security operations.

Planetary scale changes in climate are resulting in rapid arctic environmental change which includes the thawing of large tracts of permafrost soils. Permafrost is a reservoir of mostly uncharacterized microorganisms and viruses several of which carry the potential for pathogenesis through either direct or indirect pathways. Our current knowledge of permafrost-resident microbes is limited and we lack a foundational basis on which to assess risks to operations in polar regions. The Permafrost and Pathogens (PFP) working group brings together military operators, medical professionals, academic scientists and cold regions engineers to establish a knowledge baseline from which the implications for human health and the sustainment of operations in the new Arctic environment can be assessed and developed.

Some of the objectives for this workshop include finding government responses to emerging pathogenic threats from thawing permafrost, defining a state-of-the art pathogen-permafrost-defense system, and ensuring resilience in food, water, and energy in a changing circumpolar North.

Location: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), 72 Lyme Road, 03755 Hanover, New Hampshire

Date: September 18-19, 2024

*This is an in person event only.

RSVP

To RSVP, contact Liz Rousseau at erousseau@uidaho.edu before August 1, 2024.

Please book your accommodations ASAP, as September is a tourist season in the area.