U.S. and Iceland are strong Arctic Partners

"Ambassador Arreaga addresses participants
 at a welcoming reception for the 7th International
Congress of Arctic Social Sciences in Akureyri"

I attended the opening ceremony of and co-hosted a reception in honor of the “7^th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences“in Akureyri. The event brought together about 500 scientists and officials focused on Arctic issues. I am pleased to report that the United States had a robust contingent of representatives at the Congress including universities in Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Vermont, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Oregon, Montana, Virginia, Iowa, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Massachussets, Maryland, South Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, as well as representatives from several U.S. government agencies such as the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, the National Science Foundation, and the North American Space Agency (NASA). The breadth and depth of U.S. participation constitute clear evidence that American and Icelandic cooperation on Arctic science and research is strong and my sense from multiple conversations I had with conference participants is that our cooperation will grow substantially over the coming months.