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While this decision disappoints us on the Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair Board, we agree with the International Science and Engineering Fair that it’s for the best.
Of course, our biggest prize has always been sending our champions to ISEF. We will find another way to recognize them in this pandemic, and we will let you know when we do!
Dear Fair Directors & Fair Contacts,
The Society for Science & the Public and Regeneron are deeply disappointed to share that, based on our comprehensive evaluation of guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control related to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2020, scheduled for May 10–15 in Anaheim, California.
The health and wellbeing of everyone who attends our events is always our top priority. Given the unprecedented travel restrictions, government recommendations and protective measures being taken across the world, the Society and Regeneron believe the most responsible decision is to cancel this year’s Regeneron ISEF and avoid gathering thousands of people and students from around the world.
These are challenging and unprecedented times, and we share in the sadness of our finalists who looked forward to meeting and competing with their peers from around the world. We applaud the leadership of the fairs around the world who in the last several weeks have had to make equally hard decisions to cancel, postpone or pivot to managing a virtual experience for their students.
We are deeply grateful to everyone who collectively dedicated thousands of hours of their time along with their energy and passion to ensure that Regeneron ISEF would be an amazing experience. This includes the fair directors and parents, Regeneron and all of our sponsors, the Orange County Local Arrangements Committee, the hundreds of volunteers and judges, our many vendors and partners, and of course our staff.
Regeneron ISEF is a cancellation and not a postponement or a virtual judging experience after much thought and consideration. This decision was made with an awareness that many of our affiliate fairs were not able to be held and we did not want to hold an event that left out a significant portion of our community. Likewise, we were concerned with the equity of virtual judging experience across time zones, languages and access. Regeneron ISEF is an experience that goes beyond the boundaries of the judging interview process. It is a cultural and scientific exchange of people and ideas and experiences across 6 days that we believed we could not properly represent.
We do want to acknowledge and honor the students who have been named finalists. We now consider them members of the Society for Science & the Public’s alumni network. In the coming days, we will look at how else we might recognize their accomplishment in becoming a Regeneron ISEF finalist.
Please visit the Society’s website at www.societyforscience.org for our full statement and more information.
We look forward to healthier and happier times and to Regeneron ISEF 2021.
Be well,
Michele C. Glidden
Chief Program Officer
Maya Ajmera
President and CEO, Society for Science & the Public
Publisher, Science News