Field studies and the IACUC: protocol review, oversight, and occupational health and safety considerations.

Field studies involving animals, like other institutional research endeavors, are regulated and evaluated by an IACUC to insure that the protocols employed in those studies are consistent with the most humane care and use of animals. Unlike many other on-site research projects, however, field studies present unique logistical and other challenges to IACUC evaluation. The authors explore many of these challenges, including the special protocol considerations and idiosyncratic occupational health and safety concerns characteristic of field-study reviews.