The 2010 Symposium was held January 18-22 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. An estimated 700-800 people attended the event which included plenary talks, workshops, meetings, and poster receptions by scientists and researchers working in Alaska.

A special session at the Symposium on the 2009 Prince William Sound Field Experiment was presented by ten investigators who explained the components of the project and shared early results. The presentations from the session and other information from the project can be found here.
Another highlight of the Symposium was a workshop and panel discussion on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP). CMSP is recognized by NOAA as "a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas." The goal is to determine the best use of ocean resources, including fishing, transportation, recreation, energy production, and protection of marine ecosystems.
Kate Moran from the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House provided an overview of the Interim Framework developed by the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. Ian Dutton from the Alaska SeaLife Center provided examples of CMSP in other parts of the world. (Presentation here, 2.2MB PDF). This was followed by several discussion panels with members representing Alaska's Congressional delegation, marine conservation, oil and gas, Native Alaskans, federal agencies, and the University.
The Interim Framework for CMSP is currently out for public review. Written comments can be submitted on the website of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The deadline for comments is Feb 12th 2010, and a final report to the President is scheduled to be submitted in March.