responsible for editing the peer-reviewed Journal of UNITED STATES OF Cold Regions Engineering published by ASCE. The quarterly Journal publishes practice- and research- AMERICA oriented articles from any area of civil engineering that is substantially related to cold regions. Topics US PERMAFROST ASSOCIATION include permafrost and seasonal frost, ice engineering, construction, environmental quality, The annual meeting of the US Permafrost snow and ice control, and cold regions materials. Association (USPA) Board of Directors and a The Journal currently publishes 25 to 30 refereed general member meeting was held on December 12 papers per year. at the 2017 Fall Meeting of the American In 2017, CRED was one of the sponsors of the Geophysical Union in New Orleans, Louisiana. Congress on Technical Advancement held in Duluth, Current USPA membership includes: 20 student MN on 10-13 September. The theme of the members, 45 regular members, 22 corporate/non- congress was Superior Performance in a Changing profits/lifetime members, for a total of 99 members Climate and it brought together engineers from the (including several non-US members). The annual Aerospace Division, Committee on Adaptation to a meeting convened at the Howling Wolf and was Changing Climate, CRED, Construction Institute, attended by approximately 150 members and their Energy Division, Forensic Engineering Division and guests. the Infrastructure Resilience Division. Permafrost Anna Liljedahl became the new President of was a common topic in many of the presentations. A the USPA. Dmitry Streletsky was elected President- published proceedings was produced and is Elect, John Thornley elected Board Member-at- available through ASCE Publications. The ASCE Large, and Molly McGraw re-elected Secretary. Cold Regions Engineering Awards were presented We regret to announce the unexpected death at a conference luncheon with Douglas J. Goering of Andrew Slater in September 2017. Drew was a receiving the Harold R. Peyton Award for Cold research scientist at the National Snow & Ice Data Regions Engineering and Howard P. Thomas Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, CO. The USPA received receiving the Can – Am Civil Engineering Amity a generous donation from Drew’s family to establish Award. All of the Committees of CRED met at the the Andrew Slater Memorial Scholarship for early Conference and the first meeting of the Committee career Arctic researchers. At the USPA General charged with updating the ASCE Standard on Frost Meeting, Heidi Rodenhizer (Northern Arizona Protected Shallow Foundations also occurred at the University) was the first recipient of the scholarship. Conference. The U.S. Permafrost Association, together The Environmental and Public Health with the American Geosciences Institute (AGI), Engineering Committee of CRED is currently provides a Permafrost Monthly Alerts (PMA) on updating the Cold Regions Utilities Monograph that’s USPA web site widely used as a reference by many engineers (http://www.uspermafrost.org/monthly-alerts.shtml). working in areas of permafrost. This document is The AGI GeoRef service regularly scans the scheduled to be published in late 2018. contents of over 3500 journals in 40 languages from ASCE is also co-sponsoring the upcoming the global geosciences literature, comprised of 2018 Arctic Technology Conference in Houston, TX approximately 345 different sources. In addition to on November 5-7 to discuss the latest technologies, journals, special publications such as papers in responsibilities, and practices for responsible proceedings and hard-to-find publications are exploration and production in the Arctic where provided. Where available, a direct link to the permafrost can be a major challenge. The next publication is included in the PMA. In 2017 there ASCE International Conference on Cold Regions were approximately 1500 accessions of which 1000 Engineering is tentatively scheduled for 2019 in were conference abstracts including all XI ICOP Quebec City. abstracts. See our website for current and past activities: http://www.uspermafrost.org/. International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAFG) American Society of Civil Engineers IAEG Commission 21: Engineering Geology of ASCE has reorganized the former Technical Council Permafrost Regions has been inactive for several on Cold Regions Engineering (TCCRE) into the new years and is currently being re-invigorated. Ed Cold Regions Engineering Division (CRED). CRED Yarmak from the USA has assumed Commission has five technical committees that assess and report chair and Dmitry Sergeev from Russia continues as on effects of cold regions environments upon Commission secretary. At the IAEG Council Meeting engineering design, construction, and operations. in Kathmandu on November 26, 2017, the call for Additionally, the Publication Committee of CRED is new membership of the committee was initiated. The 1 committee is preparing to produce a white paper to the permafrost changes in the 21st century” project help small communities assess when they need to the GIPL team modeled the permafrost dynamics of initiate engineering studies to maintain existing North Slope of Alaska through 2100 using Ecotype infrastructure on permafrost as the climate warms. approach. As part of “Community based permafrost The cost of prevention and remediation is generally and climate monitoring in rural Alaska” the GIPL small compared to the cost of replacement. team established 18 new ground temperature monitoring stations in the Upper Kuskokwim region Institution Member Activities: of Alaska. Visit Geophysical Institute Permafrost U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Laboratory website for further details on the current Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and past projects, data, reports, publications of all The U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and GIPL members, and latest permafrost news, Engineering Laboratory reports on a variety of active www.permafrostwatch.org. research and engineering projects. Extensive GIPL Team: Vladimir Romanovsky, Sergey excavations and upgraded facilities are ongoing for Marchenko, Dmitry Nicolsky, Alexander Kholodov, the Permafrost Tunnel near Fairbanks in 2018. The Reginald Muskett, William Cable, Santosh Panda, ultimate goal is a three dimensional test bed for Louise Farquharson, Lily Cohen, and Kirill Dolgikh. geophysical and remote sensed measurements of massive ice features. For the past few years CRREL George Washington University has conducted a successful permafrost thawing Professors Nikolay Shiklomanov and Dmitry experiment at the Fairbanks Permafrost Experiment Streletskiy continued to manage the long-term NSF- Station in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley funded Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) National Laboratory where fiber optic cables have Project. In August 2017, a group of GWU, Michigan been demonstrated to serve as an early detection State University (MSU), and University of Montana system for permafrost degradation. Ongoing (UM) faculty and students continued field work in engineering design and siting for infrastructure at northern Alaska. This year’s team consisted of GWU Thule, Greenland has included geological, undergrads, Patrick Huggins and Emily Evenden; geotechnical, design and remediation work. UM graduate student, Brianna Rick; and MSU Supporting Moose Creek Dam Flood Control Project graduate students, Kelsey Nyland (GWU Alumna) upgrades, CRREL conducted extensive geophysics and Clayton Queen. to delineate frozen vs thawed zones and identify In July 2017, Drs. Shiklomanov and changes in soil class. Supporting NSF's new Streletskiy, graduate student Luis Suter, and 8 development at McMurdo Station Antarctica, CRREL undergraduate students participated in an provided review and recommendation of site international field course in Western Siberia. conditions for infrastructure foundations to be placed Funded through the Arctic Partnerships for on frozen volcanic bedrock. Supporting the Army International Research and Education (PIRE) grant, High Altitude Research Facility upgrade on Pikes the group traveled from Moscow to field sites in Peak Colorado in conjunction with Colorado Springs Salekhard and Vorkuta. Colorado, CRREL provided review and recommendation of the site conditions and proposed 2017 publications: foundation for new infrastructure to be placed on ice- Streletsky, D.A., Shiklomanov, N.I., Little, J.D., rich decomposed bedrock. A variety of ongoing and Nelson, F.E., Brown, J., Nyland, K.E., and new projects are focused on identifying thermokarst Klene, A.E. (2017). Thaw subsidence in risks and studying habitat-hydrology-permafrost undisturbed tundra landscapes, Barrow, thaw linkages across interior Alaska. Alaska, 1962-2015. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 28(3): 566-572. Geophysical Institute Permafrost Laboratory, University of Alaska Fairbanks Michigan State University and Northern Michigan The Geophysical Institute Permafrost Laboratory University (GIPL) research team led by Prof. Vladimir Michigan State University’s (MSU) permafrost group Romanovsky continued the development of the consists of Adjunct Professor Fritz Nelson, Ph.D. observation borehole network for the thermal state of student Kelsey Nyland, and M.S. student Clayton permafrost (TSP) monitoring in Alaska, Russia, and Queen. The group is investigating periglacial Central Asia as part of the Arctic Observing Network landforms in the unglaciated uplands of interior and project “Development of sustainable observations of western Alaska. Our specific focus