The spotlight will fall on the 'New Maritime Arctic' on 8 September 2008 when Dr Lawson Brigham, Chair, Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) and Deputy Director of the US Arctic Research Commission (Anchorage, Alaska), USA delivers the next Stanley Gray Lecture at the headquarters of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).

Dr Brigham will explore how a reduction in Arctic sea ice during the melt season and rapid technological advances have already combined, leading to rapid development in the circumpolar region and will provide an informative overview of the achievements of the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (2005-2008). He will introduce the social, economic and environmental impacts of shipping in the Arctic today.

He will also take a look into the future of shipping in this rapidly changing region of the Earth. The opportunities and challenges these changes in marine activities represent for governments and local Arctic communities will be discussed alongside a debate of the risks, both to human safety and the environment, of operating in this pristine and demanding region.

"We are delighted that Lawson Brigham will be joining us in early September to share these important findings with our audience," says Keith Read CBE, Chief Executive of IMarEST. "The opportunities opening up for the maritime world in the previously ice-bound areas of the Arctic are huge; but it is imperative that the area is treated with great respect both in environmental and safety terms, and we look forward to hearing from Dr Brigham just how the various sectors of the maritime industries should be preparing themselves for the challenges ahead."

As a US Coast Guard officer for 25 years Dr Brigham sailed on expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic aboard polar icebreakers and served in Washington, DC as chief of the Coast Guard's strategic planning staff.  He has been a contributor to the International Northern Sea Route Programme (INSROP), the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and to many polar environmental & policy studies.  Captain Brigham received his PhD from Cambridge University in the UK and has been a long-term researcher on the Russian Arctic, polar affairs and Arctic climate change.

The Lecture will be delivered at IMarEST, 80 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5BJ. Attendance is free of charge to IMarEST members and non-members alike. The evening begins with tea and networking at 17.00; the lecture starts at 17.30 and the post-lecture reception is at 18.45.

Editors note:

Stanley Gray and the Stanley Gray Lectures The IMarEST Stanley Gray Lectures (and the annual Stanley Gray Awards) are named in memory of Stanley Gray who was the Chief Mechanical Engineer at the Port Directorate of Basra during the 1950s & 60s.  When he died in 1973 he left half his estate to be held by the Institute in trust to create the Stanley Gray fund.  He expressed the wish that the money should be awarded via a scholarship or prize to wherever the Institute saw distinction in Marine Engineering.  This remit has been expanded following due process to include Marine Science and Technology.

The Stanley Gray Series of prestigious lectures is held to mark his generosity to, and patronage of, the Institute.

The IMarEST Stanley Gray Lecture series was launched in 2002 to reflect the broadening scope of the Institute's remit.  This lecture was previously held once a year in June (the final Annual Stanley Gray Lecture was delivered by Hon Justice Coleman on the Derbyshire Enquiry), but is now held three times a year; each given by key figures from the fields of marine engineering, science and technology. Since this new format of three Stanley Gray Lectures each year was introduced by IMarEST, many influential members of the marine community have given lectures.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 July 2008 )