The Arctic Visiting Speakers Program, managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States with funding from the National Science Foundation Division of Arctic Sciences, is currently accepting applications from individuals, institutions or organizations interested in hosting an arctic visiting speaker. AVS provides travel grants for speakers to present on arctic topics to a variety of audiences.

Visiting speakers can include scientists and researchers, indigenous peoples or any other person with expertise relevant to the Arctic. Speaking tours can serve many types of audiences, but should include a community or public activity. Speakers can be selected from the Speakers Bureau, which is available online here. Alternately, a speaker not yet listed in the Bureau can be added with approval from ARCUS.

Sucessful host applications will provide a schedule of events that includes a wide variety of speaking engagements to a diverse set of audiences. Rural and underserved areas are especially encouraged to apply.

The grants are capped at $2,000 for domestic (U.S.) tours and $2,500 for international tours. Grants can include, but are not limited to, funding for transportation, lodging, per diem and a speaker stipend. Applications must be submitted at least one month prior to the expected event dates. Applications are reviewed as they are received.

Application and other information can be found here.

Examples of past tours can be found at http://www.arcus.org/arctic-visiting-speakers.

For additional information, contact Judy Fahnestock at judy [at] arcus [dot] org or 907-474-1600.