[Coral-List] ICRS 2021 Hybrid/Dual Strategy

[Christian Wild]

Dear coral reef community,

As you are aware, due to the COVID-19 pandemic we were unfortunately  
forced to postpone the 14th ICRS from July 2020 to July 2021. We now  
realize that the pandemic may also affect ICRS 2021, because of the  
enduring risk of infection, related travel restrictions, and  
implementation limitations.
 
These circumstances represent a clear financial and logistical  
challenge for us organizers of the 14th ICRS. We committed ourselves  
to host an unforgettable ICRS 2021 on-site event in Bremen. We  
strongly believe in the importance of face-to-face networking and the  
development of personal contacts that such a global conference (which  
only takes place every 4 years) provides to all participants. This  
goes far beyond the mere exchange of scientific contents. And that is  
why we are trying our best to make this on-site event happening.
 
To accommodate the above considerations, we have started to develop a  
hybrid/dual strategy that combines the planned ICRS 2021 On-Site Event  
from July 18-23 in Bremen with ICRS 2021 Online. This will provide not  
only on-site, but also online participants the opportunity to have  
their work evaluated, seen, and commented on by the coral reef  
community.

The design and implementation of this strategy of course strongly  
depends on the development of the pandemic, the availability of  
additional funding, and the number of registered on-site/online  
participants. When we have all necessary information, we will announce  
a more detailed strategy for /ICRS 2021 Hybrid/.  
 
Next Tuesday September 15th, we will announce a related abstract  
submission deadline extension. This provides the opportunity to  
participate on-site, online, or both, and will give participants the  
necessary time to prepare their related new abstracts.

All the best and kind regards from sunny Bremen,
Christian (Wild) on behalf of the organizing committee for ICRS 2020/2021
  Prof. Dr. Christian Wild
Marine Ecology

Faculty of Biology & Chemistry (FB2)
Universität Bremen
UFT, Leobener Str. 6, Room 2160
D-28359 Bremen
Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)421 218-63367
Fax: +49 (0)421 218-62949
Email: christian.wild at uni-bremen.de