2020 ARENA cohort announced

July 1, 2020

University Relations

Poster with six thumbnail photos of participantsThe 2020 Arctic Remote Energy Networks Academy participants' bios are now live on the ARENA website.

“We're thrilled to have such a diverse cohort bringing a depth of expertise and a wealth of local knowledge to one another and the program,” says ARENA coordinator Carolyn Loeffler.

This year’s call attracted over 33 applications from throughout the circumpolar north. Eighteen individuals were selected for the final program: seven Americans, five Canadians, three Russians and three Greenlanders. More than half of the final cohort members identify as Indigenous.

One application accepted into the program is a Greenland-U.S. partnership that will send three different individuals to one of each of the three in-person weeklong gatherings.

Although the first two in-person have been postponed due to COVID-19, the cohort will meet virtually this summer, and hopes to meet in person in Iceland in late October. Please visit the ARENA website for more information regarding COVID-19 program delays.

ARENA is a unique circumpolar knowledge sharing program about isolated power systems integration organized in partnership with Canada, Gwich’in Council International, the U.S. and Iceland, and endorsed by the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council. ARENA is designed specifically for individuals living and working in remote circumpolar Arctic communities.

For more information, email Carolyn Loeffler at cjkozak@alaska.edu.