[Coral-List] ICRS and ISS Conference Clash

[Simon Davy]

Dear Coral List members,

I hope that you're all staying safe and well under the current, difficult circumstances.

This email particularly relates to those of you who work in the symbiosis field, where a major conference clash has arisen. The 10th International Symbiosis Society (ISS) Congress is scheduled to take place next year, from 18-23 July 2021 in Lyon, France (see http://iss-symbiosis.org/<https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fiss.cloverpad.org%2F&data=02%7C01%7Csimon.davy%40vuw.ac.nz%7C949a59d2a2c34f9098a708d7e0ca36f3%7Ccfe63e236951427e8683bb84dcf1d20c%7C0%7C0%7C637225031468241438&sdata=RUzpsezqFHzXmJK4HT9vuGXbYpO0vYUr1KQYxt32IJg%3D&reserved=0> for more details). Due to the Covid-19 crisis, however, the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS), which was originally scheduled to take place this year in Bremen, Germany, has now been postponed and will be held at the same time as the ISS Congress. The ISS and ICRS presidents and conference organisers have met to discuss this clash, but unfortunately neither organisation has any capacity to shift their conference dates due to venue availability.

ISS and ICRS have a large number of shared members, and cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis and other aspects of coral reef symbiosis research are central to both meetings, so the intention is for the two societies to work cooperatively to minimise the impact of this clash. One solution being considered is scheduling of sessions at the two conferences so that participants can attend half of each meeting, which is facilitated by the relatively close proximity of Lyon and Bremen. Given this, I'm soliciting feedback from coral reef symbiosis researchers about whether, if logistics and finances allow, they might consider attendance at both meetings - and please note that the ISS Congress will have a free day on the middle Wednesday which will assist with travel between cities.

Could symbiosis researchers/students please reply to me at simon.davy at vuw.ac.nz<mailto:simon.davy at vuw.ac.nz>, letting me know: 1) whether or not you might attend both meetings; and 2) if you will only attend one meeting, which one is it likely to be. Of course, I acknowledge that your response is indicative only and that your plans could change.

Your response is very important as it will allow us to gauge the extent to which we need to accommodate this clash in the scheduling of these two major international meetings.

Best wishes,

Simon Davy

President, International Symbiosis Society