MASC received this statement from NAASC in February 2026 after concerns were expressed about the choice of location (Madison, WI, USA) for ICAR2027.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about holding ICAR in the United States in 2027. We share many of your concerns about the location of this conference. In planning ICAR 2027, the NAASC members have had many difficult discussions and our decision was not taken lightly.

In our initial consideration for location, we explored options in the US, Canada and Mexico. We extensively debated the merits of holding the conference in the US vs outside the US, and while there were many financial and logistical considerations, NAASC ultimately decided to prioritize support for scientists based in the US, particularly trainees who have been affected by visa and immigration challenges and/or science funding issues. We have first-hand knowledge of examples in the last year in which international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers located in the US have been unable to attend scientific conferences outside the US, including ICAR, due to visa issues. Additionally, federal funding of US research has been in chaos this past year, which negatively impacts conference travel support for many US-based trainees, so we sought a very affordable location. Ultimately, we prioritized these factors because NAASC’s mission is to support the professional development of early-career scientists working in North America.

We also sought input from MASC as we listened to the valid concerns of the international community that the US is currently not an optimal location for international travel. Adrienne Roeder, our outgoing president, presented a short slide set on these competing concerns during the Sept 18, 2025 annual MASC meeting. She conducted a mentimeter poll and asked MASC for comments. The vote result (added to the slides) was that 73% of MASC members in attendance recommended that NAASC select a US location, with Madison, WI being the NAASC-recommended US site. We thus included this feedback from MASC in our decision, with this international perspective being succinctly summarized in a comment made by a MASC member during the ensuing discussion:

“International researchers in the US can’t leave, and so haven’t been able to go to Europe or Asia and if we have it (ICAR) in Canada, they won’t be able to go there either, which affects their career development”. 

In our discussions about ICAR potential sites, we spent many months in discussion with venues in the US and Canada. We acknowledge that while a Canadian location would be more inclusive to those from outside the US, it would likely exclude many trainees and others in the US. Additionally, a non-US location in 2027 would mean that many US trainees may not be able to attend an ICAR until 2030, the next year that North America would be considered, in the current 3-year global cycle. That would be a 6-year gap between ICAR 2024-San Diego to ICAR 2030 (if that meeting were in the US); a significant time span that exceeds the period of training for many researchers. The cost to hold ICAR 2027 in Canada was also in excess of our current budget and guaranteed funds.

For all these reasons, in December 2025, NAASC made the decision to hold ICAR 2027 in the US. We fully acknowledge that the political situation in the US has grown even more complicated since December, but do hope that things will become more welcoming to people born or residing outside the US by the summer of 2027. Science in the US is facing significant challenges, and many community members are negatively impacted. NAASC is trying to best support North American scientists, with the largest subset residing in the US, who are facing myriad challenges. With MASC’s input, we decided that under our current challenging circumstances, holding ICAR in the US was the best way to support trainees and their professional development and that UW Madison was an affordable and welcoming location.

We will make our best effort to support participation from outside the US, and we hope that international colleagues will attend and continue to support Arabidopsis research in the US. We understand that there are valid reasons why some Arabidopsis researchers may be unable or unwilling to come to the United States for a conference at this time and we fully respect that decision.

Thank you for sharing your perspective,

on behalf of NAASC:

Gloria Muday, NAASC President
Adrienne Roeder, NAASC Past President
Liang Song, NAASC Vice President
Joanna Friesner, NAASC Executive Director
Mary Gehring, NAASC Member
Zachary Nimchuk, NAASC Member
Arif Ashraf, NAASC Member 
Wolfgang Busch, NAASC Member
Tomo Kawashima, NAASC Member
Dior Kelley, NAASC Member
Mentewab Ayalew, NAASC Member
Anna Dobritsa, NAASC Member
Sharon Kessler, NAASC Member