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Canadian Studies Center, Polar Research and Policy Initiative host high-level dialogue on Arctic Transportation

2018-04 Arctic Encounters5
Dr. Dwayne Ryan Menezes, Director, Polar Research and Policy Initiative, London, introduces panel of speakers including two of UW’s former Canada Fulbright Chairs in Arctic Studies.

May 8, 2018

On April 19, 2018, UW’s Canadian Studies Center joined the London-based international think tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI) in co-hosting the 7th High-Level Dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Arctic during the 2018 Arctic Encounter Symposium, the largest annual Arctic conference in the United States, held at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle. Chaired by Dr. Dwayne Menezes, Founder and Director of PRPI, dialogue was convened on “Arctic Transportation: Bridging Needs, Opportunities and Investment.” Following an opening address by Ambassador Aleksi Härkönen (Finland), Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials at the Arctic Council, who affirmed the importance of the topic to the Finnish chairmanship of the Arctic Council, we had short presentations by six distinguished speakers from policy, academia, and industry: Aleqa Hammond, former Premier of Greenland and current Chair of the Greenland Committee in the Danish Parliament; Tony Penikett, former Premier of Yukon, former UW Canada Fulbright Chair in Arctic Studies, and currently Visiting Professor at Simon Fraser University; Drew Pearce, Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation and former Senior Advisor – Alaska Affairs to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior; Major-General Randy “Church” Kee, USAF (retired), Executive Director of the Alaska Domain Awareness Center, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence hosted at the University of Alaska; Heather Nicol, Professor at Trent University and former UW Canada Chair in Arctic Studies; and Scott Habberstad, Director of Sales and Community Marketing at Alaska Airlines and Director of the Alaska Travel Industry Association.