Lawson Brigham, Distinguished Professor of Geography and Arctic Policy at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and Retired US Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner were the featured speakers at two LISD seminars on Friday, February 11. Professor Brigham discussed, "The Arctic Council Forum on the Arctic States," at 10:00 am and Col. Gardiner discussed, "Cold War or Warming Cooperation: The Process and Dilemmas of Formulating a US Arctic Strategy," at 12:00 pm.

Lawson Brigham is Distinguished Professor of Geography and Arctic Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of the North in Anchorage. Widely published in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia and Norway, his research interests for more than three decades have focused on the Soviet/Russian maritime Arctic, Arctic climate change, marine transportation, remote sensing of sea ice, Arctic environmental protection, and polar geopolitics. From 2005 to 2009 he was chair and US co-lead of the Arctic Council’s Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment and vice chair of the Council’s working group on Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment. He was a career US Coast Guard officer serving from 1970 to 1995 and retiring with the rank of captain. Brigham also served as chief of strategic planning and director of the work-life study at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. He has participated in more than 15 Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. He has been a research fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a faculty member of the US Coast Guard Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School, and deputy director and Alaska office director of the US Arctic Research Commission. He is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (B.S.), a distinguished graduate of the US Naval War College, and holds graduate degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (M.S.) and the University of Cambridge (M.Phil. and Ph.D.).

Sam Gardiner is a retired US Air Force colonel, military strategist, and strategic games expert. He has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War College, and Naval War College, and has been a visiting scholar at the Swedish Defence College. He has been a regular commentator on CNN, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, BBC radio and television, and National Public Radio. He has conducted war games on Iran and on North Korea.