Filling the gap: improving education on the ethics of animal use in biological field research

联邦法规控制在生命科学研究中使用动物，以确保在计划和实施使用动物的实验时处理伦理问题。 大多数实验都是在经过机构动物护理和使用委员会（IACUC）审查后在实验室环境中进行的，法律要求审查和批准涉及活脊椎动物的每项研究。 然而，现有的语言是广泛的，也适用于实地研究。后者是在非常不同的条件下进行的，通常侧重于自由生活的人口或物种的福祉，使现有的道德准则存在问题。 IACUSs经常发现自己很难将实验室研究的语言和规定的方法应用于野外生物学研究的问题和方法。这可能导致两种不良后果：第一，应该进行的研究将被不适当地削减;第二，应该避免的研究可能被错误地批准。本研究通过以下方式解决了这一问题：1）为实地生物学研究确定适当的伦理准则; 2）设计一种方法，在一个示范机构指导当前和下一代实地研究人员研究这一主题; 3）评估这种方法的有效性，并根据研究结果对其进行修改; 4）为该计划的国家测试生成材料。更广泛的影响是实质性的主办机构正在实施的伦理倡议，旨在鼓励学生和教师之间的道德问题的讨论，并与IACUC要求审查与动物的实地研究的所有研究机构。

Federal regulations control the use of animals in research in the life sciences to ensure that ethical issues are dealt with in planning and carrying out experiments using animals. Most of the experiments are conducted in laboratory settings after review by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs), required by law to review and approve every study involving live vertebrates. However, the existing language is written broadly and also applies to field studies. The latter are conducted under very different conditions and typically focus on the well-being of free-living populations or species, making the existing ethical guidelines problematic. The IACUSs often find themselves struggling to apply the language and prescribed methodologies of laboratory research to the questions and methodologies of field biological research. This can result in two types of undesirable consequence: first, studies that should be performed would be inappropriately curtailed; and second, studies that should be avoided might erroneously be approved. This research addresses this problem by 1) identifying appropriate ethical guidelines for field biological research; 2) devising a methodology for instructing the current and next generation of field researchers on this topic at a model institution; 3) evaluating the effectiveness of this methodology and modifying it based on the findings; and 4) generating materials for national testing of the program. The broader impact is substantial to the host institution which is implementing an Ethics Initiative aimed at encouraging discussion of ethical issues among students and faculty and to all research institutions with IACUCs asked to review field studies with animals.