Preserving the Environment of the Arctic Region

Program Agenda and Videos
November 12, 2010

Morning Session

9:00 a.m.- Welcome by Dean Erwin Cherminsky, School of Law, University of California, Irvine
Michael Robinson-Dorn, Professor, School of Law, University of California, Irvine

9:05 a.m. - Introduction to the Arctic Region and Its Challenges
Shaun MacGillivray, MacGillivray Freeman Films
The Role of Law and Governance in Preserving the Arctic Environment
Michael Byers,  Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada Research Chair, Global Politics and International Law (View Video)

10:00 a.m.-Litigation on Behalf of Environmental Protection in the Arctic and the Gulf (View Video)
Jim Ayers, Founder and President of Alaska Strategies

  • Michael LeVine, Pacific Senior Counsel, Oceana
  • Dr. Geoff Shester, California Program Director, Oceana

10:45 a.m.- Coffee Break

11:00 a.m.- Introduction
Alejandor Camacho, Professor, School of Law, University of California, Irvine

Sturctures of Knowledge in the Arctic Council for Sustainable Development
Paula Kankaanpaa, Director the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland, Finland (View Video)

Indigenous Peoples and the Importance of Traditional Knowledge Insights (View Video)

11:30 a.m.- Helen Ingram, Moderator, Research Fellow, Southwest Center, University of Arizona, Professor Emerita, University of California, Irvine

  • Gabriel Nirlungayuk, Director of Wildlife, Nunavut Tunngavik, Inc.
  • Stephen Kakfwi, Advisor, WWF Canada

The Impact of Industrial Oil and Gas Development on Arctic Indigenous Peoples
Aileen A. Espiritu, Director, The Barents Institute, Norway

12:45 p.m.- Lunch

Science and the Future of the Arctic Region

1:30 p.m.- Lisa Grant Ludwig, Moderator, Professor, Program in Public Health, University of California, Irvine

Petroleum Resource Potential of the Arctic Region
Donald L. Gautier, Geologist, Energy Resources Program, USGS (View Video)

The Continental Shelf of the Arctic Region
Larry Mayer, Professor, University of New Hampshire (View Video)

Developing Arctic Seabed: Russian and International Approaches
Andrey K. Krivorotov, Secretary of the Board, Head of Division, Shtokman Development AG

Scientific Certainty and Uncertainty about the Future of the Arctic
Donald Blake, Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine (View Video)

Is Greenland Melting?
Eric Rignot, Professor, Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine
(View Video)

Commentary on the Future Arctic Region

4:45 p.m.-Introduction
Joseph F. C. DiMento, Director, The Newkirk Center for Science and Society, Professor, School of Law and Planning, Policy and Design, University of California, Irvine

Commentary on the Future Arctic Region
Oran Young, Professor, Institutional and International Governance and Envioronmental Institutions, University of California, Santa Barbara (View Video)

5:30 p.m.- Reception