ICAR 2020 Postponed to June 21-25, 2021, Due to Global COVID-19 Concerns

Message Take-Aways

* ICAR 2020 is being postponed and will become ICAR 2021 (June 21-25,
2021) at the same location: University of Washington, Seattle

* Details regarding refunds, travel award competition, and our objective
to transfer as much of the existing program to next year as possible
etc. are provided below my signature.

* ICAR 2021-Belfast is postponed and will become ICAR 2022-Belfast (June
20-24, 2022)

* ICAR 2022-Japan is postponed and will become ICAR 2023- Japan
(date/location, tba)

THIS STATEMENT AND A JOINT INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT AT:
http://icar2020.arabidopsisresearch.org

Since late February, NAASC (the ICAR 2020 organizing committee), has 
been monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak, and COVID-19. We've been 
proactively developing options in case it became clear that it would be 
inadvisable to hold ICAR 2020 in Seattle, the site of the first
confirmed U.S. cases of COVID-19.  We've been talking with University of 
Washington-Seattle conference staff and our international Arabidopsis 
community colleagues, and the organizers for ICARs 2021 (Ireland) and 
2022 (Japan). In addition, we continued to monitor actions taken by 
other science conferences taking place in the near and medium term. We 
paused new registrations on March 7th in order to assess the situation 
without incurring additional fees (on our end).

We offer our best wishes, in particular, to our Asian colleagues whose 
countries have dealt first with the brunt of this outbreak, and have 
provided important lessons in managing its spread. Also, to our European 
colleagues, whose countries are currently experiencing increasing cases 
and hardship.

As the gravity of this global pandemic is becoming clear, U.S. testing 
for COVID-19 is finally ramping up, and scientific and medical experts 
have additional data to develop more accurate models, we have come to 
realize that it would be inadvisable to convene ICAR 2020 this July.

Through consultation with our international colleagues, we will postpone 
ICAR 2020 to June 21-25, 2021, in Seattle. As described in our joint 
statement (ABOVE), the organizers of ICARs 2020 (USA), 2021 (UK) and 
2022 (Japan) have come together, on behalf of the global Arabidopsis 
community, to work together to solve some of the challenges caused by 
these extraordinary circumstances. We express our gratitude for the 
willingness of our international partners to postpone their meetings and 
allow ICAR 2020 to take place in 2021.

Although we are sorely disappointed with this necessary action, the 
safety and health of our community are more important than convening 
this summer and we believe it would be irresponsible to host a large 
international conference where there is a substantial risk to our 
participants (and by extension, our friends, colleagues, and families
back at home).

We will transfer as much of the existing program to ICAR 2021 as 
possible. Many from our global community have been part of developing 
adiverse, and exciting scientific program over the past two years, 
including 32 community-organized sessions selected through a community
competition.

We anticipate that some speakers and organizers will be unable to 
re-commit for next summer; we will find excellent replacementsover the 
next 6-12 months as needed. Organizers will soon reach out to invited 
speakers and session organizers to discuss their individual
situation and to determine whether they can be part of the program in
2021.

Thank you for understanding the difficult position we are in with 
respect to this unexpected crisis. We hope you will be excited to signup 
for ICAR 2021-Seattle, and also hope that you, and those closest to you, 
remain healthy.

If you have additional questions that aren't answered, below, please 
don't hesitate to reach out to us at [log in to unmask]

Finally, the local staff at the University of Washington are currently 
overwhelmed with managing near-term and future events that must be 
rescheduled or canceled, all while working off-site to comply with 
campus closures. Therefore, please be patient with an expected
slower-than-usual response time; they are doing their best to manage 
many events in addition to ours, and are under significant stress.

Below you can find additional information about reimbursements, fees, 
and next steps for program participants.

We will be sure to take care of your needs, it just may take time.
Thanks for your understanding and cooperation. I hope you and yours
remain safe and healthy.

Yours,

Joanna

Joanna Friesner, NAASC Executive Director, Lead ICAR 2020 Organizer

On behalf of the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC)
Jose Dinneny, Stanford University (2015 - 2020) NAASC Treasurer
Elizabeth Haswell, Washington University- St. Louis (2015 - 2020)
Representative to MASC
Roger Innes, Indiana University (2016 - 2021) NAASC President
Peter McCourt, University of Toronto (2016 - 2021)
Sean Cutler, University of California, Riverside (2017 - 2022)
Jennifer Nemhauser, University of Washington, Seattle (2017 - 2022)
NAASC Vice-President
Federica Brandizzi, Michigan State University (2018 - 2023)
Anna Stepanova, NC State University (2018 - 2023)
Siobhan Braybrook, UCLA (2019 - 2024)
Keith Slotkin, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center & Univ. of
Missouri-Columbia (2019 - 2024)

Registration Reimbursements

* NAASC organizers will waive the $100/person cancellation fee and 
provide
full reimbursements.

* This week, the University of Washington will initiate reimbursements 
of
all charges paid by registrants. You do not need to request a refund;
refunds will be issued automatically.  Once the refund is initiated, it
will take several business days to show up on your account. Therefore,
please be patient and look for your reimbursement to post sometime
during March 30-April 3.

We hope you will re-register for ICAR 2021-Seattle when we reopen the
registration site late this year or early 2021. We will notify the
community through our various outreach mechanisms when this occurs.

Invited Plenary and Keynote Speakers

Members of NAASC will reach out to you in the coming days to discuss 
bwhether you are able to participate as an invited speaker at ICAR 
2021-Seattle (June 21-25, 2021).

Community Mini-symposia and Workshops

ICAR organizers will reach out to the ORGANIZERS of each session 
(mini-symposia and workshops) in the coming days to discuss whether they 
will organize their session at ICAR 2021- Seattle. Budget offers may be 
reduced as we will lose some existing funds due to grant expiration.  We
will ask each organizer to communicate with their program participants.

- For example, if the organizer is unable to commit to the program in
2021, they will be instructed to communicate this cancellation to all
session speakers in a timely manner.

- Alternatively, if the organizer can commit to ICAR 2021, they will be
instructed to communicate this to session speakers and confirm with each
whether they also want to remain part of the program.

- In the event that an organizer is unable to lead their session at ICAR
2021, they may attempt to find a replacement organizer. Replacements
must be communicated to, and confirmed by, ICAR organizers.

-Please be aware that our budgets will change for 2021 as some of our
funding will have expired. Therefore, new budget offers will be
necessary for most sessions, unless we are able to secure additional
funding.

Travel Award Competition

We will hold the applications, letters of recommendation, and supporting
documents (e.g. CVs) until early 2021. At that time, we will contact
each applicant to ask if they would like their materials to be
considered again. At that time, applicants will have the opportunity to
update their materials. For example, you may wish to submit a new CV, a
new letter of recommendation, or new answers on the information form. In
particular, if you've transitioned to a new position, have a new
advisor, or have new accomplishments (publications, grants), you may
wish to update your materials.

You may also withdraw your application (now, or in the future). To
withdraw your application, email us at [log in to unmask]
We will delete your submitted materials.

Exhibitors, Sponsors, Advertisers

We invite you to consider leaving your funds intact and transfer them to
ICAR 2021-Seattle. To the best of our abilities, we will implement your
funding as you have designated (e.g. sponsorship of a particular event,
or session). However, if this is not desirable, we will fully reimburse
your funds. In this case, we hope you will consider joining us in
Seattle for ICAR 2021. We appreciate our generous supporters who make
our community-supported conference possible! It is only through
exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers that we can offer travel grants to
our participants (speakers, students, session organizers, etc.)

Dorm Lodging Cancellations

Guest cancellations on or before the deadline date (June 12, 2020) will
receive a full refund, less the $20 non-refundable Housing Reservation
Fee. You should consult the University dorm reservation receipt that was
emailed to you after you register for instructions on how to cancel.

Submitted Abstracts

We will delete existing abstracts from the submission database. If you
plan to attend ICAR 2021-Seattle, you will upload a new abstract when we
reopen the database, late this year, or January 2021.

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