132 14 JANUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6577 science.org SCIENCENEWS | IN DEPTH
Omicron leads to fresh wave
of meeting cancellations
One biology society goes ahead with in-person conference
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITYI
n a near rerun of early 2020, a hand-
ful of scientific societies are once again
canceling their in-person meetings
as the contagious Omicron coronavirus
variant sweeps across the globe. Although
many societies had planned hybrid meet-
ings that could easily shed their in-person
components, some were caught off-guard
and forced to cancel altogether, whereas oth-
ers doggedly plowed ahead with in-person
components, taking extra safety precautions.
AAAS, the largest general
science society in the world
and publisher of Science, said
last week it would cancel the
in-person component of its
annual meeting, set to take
place next month in Phila-
delphia, and proceed with an
online segment. AAAS CEO
Sudip Parikh says the deci-
sion was meant to protect
the health of staff, members,
and attendees, and also to
avoid contributing to the virus’ spread. “As a
scientific organization, it would be hard to
justify,” he says.
The American Meteorological Society
announced that it, too, was canceling the
in-person component of its annual meet-
ing in Houston later this month. The Joint
Mathematics Meetings said it would cancel
a wholly in-person event set to begin last
week in Seattle and replace it with a virtual
meeting in April.
Similarly, the American Astronomical
Society (AAS) canceled its annual meet-
ing in Salt Lake City, upsetting plans for
about 2200 people who had paid to at-
tend a largely in-person event set for this
week. AAS could not shift to a full virtual
meeting in time, so the whole thing was
abandoned. The society says its typically
smaller summer meeting will be recast as
the main event of the year. “We’ll take a big
financial hit—we’re still unwinding that—
but it’s still the right decision, despite the
aftermath,” says AAS Executive Officer
Kevin Marvel.
Some astronomers were frustrated and
thought AAS should have been more pre-
pared. “I was really just disappointed atthe lack of contingency planning,” says
astronomer Elisabeth Mills of the Univer-
sity of Kansas, Lawrence, who lost grant
money from nonrefundable hotel bills.
“Having a robust virtual hybrid plan is go-
ing to be necessary for the next few years.”
In contrast, the Society of Integrative
and Comparative Biology (SICB) went
ahead with its in-person meeting last week
in the Phoenix convention center, which
has a top-of-the-line ventilation system.
Even as Omicron surged, in-person atten-
dance numbers only dropped from 1500 to- As added precautions,
SICB moved audience seat-
ing farther from speakers in
meeting rooms, and placed
air filtration systems near
the podium.
SICB also required at-
tendees to show they had
been vaccinated and wear
masks. They placed posters
farther apart and shifted
social gatherings outdoors—
not so hard to do in Phoenix
in January. Some sessions were spiked or
became virtual when speakers tested posi-
tive before the meeting. But the organiz-
ers worked hard—on New Year’s Eve until
11 p.m.—to reorganize the program to
avoid gaps. “It was a wild ride, and it was
tough,” says Jack Socha, a comparative bio-
mechanist at the Virginia Polytechnic In-
stitute and State University who oversaw
setting up the program.
Most attendees seemed to be content
with the experience. “I’m not so good at
being remote,” says Todd Oakley, an evo-
lutionary biologist at the University of
California, Santa Barbara. “And I like it
that the meeting is a little less crowded.”
The true test will be in the numbers of
COVID-19 cases among attendees in the
coming weeks.
Parikh says he can’t imagine future AAAS
annual meetings without a virtual compo-
nent. “There’s too much to be gained,” he
says, in terms of increased participation
and reduced travel time, costs, and carbon
footprints. But he doesn’t belittle the value
of meeting friends and collaborators face
to face. “We can do online for one more
year,” he says. “We’ll be back in 2023.” j
By Daniel Clery and Elizabeth Pennisi“Having a robust
virtual hybrid plan
is going to be
necessary for
the next few years.”
Elisabeth Mills,
University of Kansas, Lawrencebecause it had hired too many people on
temporary contracts, which BRIN does not
recognize. In addition, because Handoko
wants to increase the share of Indonesian sci-
entists who have a Ph.D., Eijkman research-
ers with a bachelor’s or master’s degree were
offered a chance to stay on if they entered
a university Ph.D. program. But sources
at the institute say BRIN only gave them
3 months to do so—and many did not suc-
ceed. E ijkman’s research will move to BRIN
headquarters in Cibinong, some 50 kilo-
meters south of Jakarta. Some other activities
will be transferred to the Ministry of Health,
which will also inherit the building.
Sudoyo, who also has an affiliation with
the University of Indonesia, tells Science she
will leave Eijkman and try to find a place
where she can continue her research with
her current co-workers. “What’s most im-
portant for me is my team—these passion-
ate and committed bright minds,” she says.
Sudoyo has several international grants;
she hopes her funders will understand her
dilemma and let her keep them. “This is
force majeure,” she says.
Protests have also erupted among techni-
cians on the Baruna Jaya, a research vessel
operated by the Agency for the Assessment
and Application of Technology, which BRIN
has also taken over. Its crew learned that
50 would have to leave after returning from
Sumba island to implement an early warning
system for tsunamis. “Before we departed,
they told us that we could work for another
6 months. But now, they’re forcing us to
leave,” says Andhika, a technician who has
worked on the ship for 7 years. (Like many
Indonesians, he goes by a single name.)
Scientists within BRIN, meanwhile, have
complained that the new bureaucracy is
hard to navigate. To set up an expedition, for
example, they have to apply separately for
travel and materials, a slow and cumbersome
process, says Ibnu Maryanto, a biologist at
BRIN. At the Herbarium Bogoriense, which
has one of the world’s largest collections of
dried plants, researchers have had trouble
getting access to samples after BRIN took
over LIPI’s botanical research department,
Maryanto says. “I am afraid in the future, sci-
entists will be reluctant to submit collections
because of the red tape,” he says.
Yet it’s too early to judge BRIN, others
say. “Every reorganization takes time,” says
Muhandis Shiddiq, a physicist formerly at
LIPI and now at BRIN. Shiddiq applauds
Handoko, who worked in Japan for many
years, for his efforts to lure Indonesian sci-
entists working abroad. “I hope this policy
works,” Shiddiq says. j
Dyna Rochmyaningsih is a science journalist
in Palembang, Indonesia.