This is a 3-hour travel-based experiential learning course designed to immerse students in some of the most biodiverse areas in the U.S. Students will experience and learn about the ecology, geology, conservation, and management activities and policy of these areas by: 1) visiting several representative protected areas (e.g. National Parks, National Forests), and 2) interacting with resource managers and land stewards that work on landscape and local conservation and management issues to get a feel for the challenges and opportunities in protecting biodiversity and accommodating human needs. Student funded domestic travel is embedded with this course. There is a cost of approximately $600 for this trip.