The Field Ecology Appalachian Field Trip is a travel course built around a two week trip to the southern Appalachians, including such locations as the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Pisgah National Forest, Nathahala National Forest, Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory, or other locales. The trip is scheduled for the end of the summer each year, approximately the last week in July and the first week in August. Students study the ecology of the southern Appalachian region focusing on unique species, forest communities, and wildlife populations that are dissimilar from the flora and fauna of east Texas. Examples include black bears, elk, spruce-fir forests, northern hardwood stands, and high-elevation grassy balds. By meeting with local managers, researchers, and agency personnel students will develop an in-depth understanding of the ecology of this topographically complex and extraordinarily biodiverse region.