The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations define field research as: "a study conducted on free-living wild animals in their natural habitat. However, this term excludes any study that involves an invasive procedure, harms, or materially alters the behavior of an animal under study."

If the animals are confined in any way, if an invasive procedure is involved, or if the behavior of the animals is harmed or materially altered, then the field study is regulated and must comply with the regulations and standards. If the field study involves SOLELY invertebrates, or the salvage of dead vertebrates, it does not need to be reviewed by the IACUC.

To further understand the requirements for field studies, please read the IACUC's new training module for field research.

The standard IACUC Protocol Application Form should be used for field research. It includes questions about live trapping methods, captivity, and biopsy techniques and can be found on the UTA IACUC Forms website.