COVID Safety Policies

Given current rates of COVID-19 cases in the United States and worldwide, we have the following policies related to COVID-19 safety for this workshop.

Masks: We intend this workshop to be a mask friendly space. Our masking expectation for indoor sessions is "masks optional but encouraged." Attendees may bring their own masks, and we will have KN95 and surgical-style masks available.

Tests: For anybody who wants to take a COVID test during the week, we will have at-home tests available on request. There are enough for each attendee to test at least once. Let the organizers know if you test positive.

Symptoms prior to the workshop: Please do not attend the workshop with COVID-like symptoms or with a positive COVID-19 test (the latter defined according to the CDC).

Symptoms during the workshop: If you develop COVID-like symptoms during the workshop, please alert the organizers and take one of the available tests. For anyone who tests positive, please let us know. We have a bedroom available for temporary isolation. However, since we only have one such room we would ask that the attendee find alternative accommodation as soon as possible. It is not possible for Biosphere 2 to house people Friday night or later.

Vaccinations: We have not determined, asked for, or required the vaccination status of attendees to this workshop, though we encourage all attendees to keep up with the latest vaccinations available to them.

If any attendee has a concern about the above policies or wants to make a request specific to their own situation, they should contact Michael Blanton (michael.blanton@gmail.com)) or any of the SOC members that they feel comfortable contacting.