Dear Friends:

On behalf of the ICGI steering committee, I am writing to update you on the status of our biennial research conference. Originally, our ICGI International Research Conference was scheduled for fall 2020 in Rehovot, Israel with Professor Yehoshua (Shuki) Saranga graciously agreeing to lead the local organizing committee. In January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and we were forced to postpone the conference to a later date. Since that time, the steering committee and Prof. Saranga's team has been in continual contact to discuss how to best navigate the ongoing situation.

During 2021, at the beginning of the Delta variant surge and prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant, we decided to tentatively re-schedule the conference for May/June 2022. Very recently, although the pandemic is easing in most parts of the world, we determined that all of the direct (health and safety) and indirect (travel restrictions) impacts of the current situation prohibit ICGI from holding the conference in 2022.

As such, this is our plan moving forward.

1. We will tentatively plan to hold the ICGI research conference in 2024. Prof. Saranga and his team will be given the opportunity to host the conference in 2024. The steering committee, in consultation with Prof. Saranga, will make a decision about Israel hosting in 2024 by the end of 2022. 2. 3. In the absence of our biennial research conference, the steering committee is tentatively planning to expand our annual ICGI workshop at PAG in January 2023. The tentative plan is to hold an ICGI business meeting and social/networking event in addition to the traditional scientific program.

Please forward this information to any of your colleagues who might be interested to know about these updates.

On behalf of the steering committee, I want to thank you for your patience during these trying times. We are in unchartered water and learning how to navigate without any prior experience doing so. Please let me know if you have any questions, and be on the lookout for future updates during the remainder of 2022.

Regards,

Todd

___________________________________ B. Todd Campbell, Ph.D. Research Geneticist Chair, International Cotton Genome Initiative (ICGI) USDA-ARS, Coastal Plains Soil, Water, and Plant Research Center 2611 West Lucas St. Florence, SC 29501 Phone: 1-843-496-3751 ___________________________________

This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.