The Course:
BIO403: Vertebrate Field Zoology

Cheap waders and field hooks are optional; flashlights, fanny packs and field shoes (or boots) are not.

The reasons why Dr. Ben Cash lists these accessories on his syllabus become pretty clear pretty quickly to students enrolled in BIO403: Vertebrate Field Zoology. Within a few days of registration, they’re wading around in cold, muddy water and tracking through the College Woods, looking for frogs, lizards and turtles.

The weather may be snowy, sunny or rainy.

“There will be times when you get sweaty, wet and/or dirty,” Cash writes in his syllabus for students. “And rain is wonderful – not something that requires that I cancel lab to stay inside.”

An integrative study of a particular group of vertebrate animals, BIO403 may be taught as ichthyology (the study of fishes), ornithology (the study of birds) or herpetology (study of amphibians and reptiles). For Spring 2008, BIO403 is concentrated on “herps,” and led by Cash, associate professor of biology and respected herpetologist.

“You could teach this course with slides and preserved specimen, but you would not get the experience. You would be disconnected.”

- Dr. Ben Cash

Vertebrate field zoology is not a required course for biology majors (students have the option of choosing another 400-level course to fill graduation requirements), but most juniors or seniors interested in going to graduate school in areas such as zoology, ecology or behavioral biology take the “herps” course.

Dr. Cash’s enthusiasm for this field of study is obvious. The walls of his office and the bulletin board outside showcase pictures of frogs, snakes and turtles; students in the field; and himself at Churchill Northern Studies Centre in Manitoba, Canada, where he has spent numerous summers studying the breeding habitat characteristics and circadian calling dynamics of the wood frog and the boreal chorus frog.

“[Reptiles and amphibians] are the specific types of organisms I work with, and herpetology is my favorite course to teach,” he said. “We get out in the field and get familiar with the organisms and their habitats.”

Cash uses lecture, assigned reading and laboratory experience to help students learn about amphibians and reptiles. Taxonomic, physiological, behavioral, ecological and population aspects of the animals are examined. Laboratory work emphasizes identification and characterization of animals in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Understanding diagnostic characteristics of the animals and their taxonomy is emphasized through the use of museum and live animals.

Almost all the lab work for this course is done outside, “in the field.” Cash and his students make frequent day excursions during the course’s three-hour lab to the 115-acre College Woods (located on campus) and nearby Cherokee National Park and Hiker’s Bottoms.

Students do more than just explore habitats. Each student is required to contribute data to the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) web site. A research initiative funded through a grant from the National Park Service and the Discover Life in America organization, the ATBI seeks to compile a comprehensive inventory of all life forms in the park. With this knowledge, park officials can better manage its habitats and resources.

Cash is spearheading a reptile inventory for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as part of ATBI, and with their contributions, his BIO403 students will become coauthors for the initiative. ATBI is one of the most viewed sites of its kind in the nation; therefore, Cash stressed, “it is important the product we put out there is high quality.”

The course typically ends with a field trip to Sapelo Island and South Georgia that Cash describes as a “capstone” for the entire semester. Students stay in a marine station and get the opportunity to study organisms and explore habitats that Cash did in graduate school at Georgia Southern University.

“In a coastal plain of the Southeast, the indigenous herps are different than they are here in the southern Appalachians,” he explained. “The diversity is rich because there are sand dunes, saltwater and freshwater habitats. It is an experience second to none.”

According to Cash, the fieldwork is vital.

“You could teach this course with slides and preserved specimen, but you would not get the experience. You would be disconnected,” he said. “To be a science major, a biologist, you cannot just sit in the classroom – you need to go experience what you are studying.”