Often, it is critical to meet with your participants/students before meeting them in the field. Your participants need to be physically, mentally, and logistically prepared for their field experience. Here are some important things to consider to help prepare your participants to have a safe experience:

• Schedule an orientation meeting before heading out in the field. See chapter 4 for a format of how to run an orientation meeting.

• Send or give your participants information regarding your course to help them prepare. This can include a personal equipment list, a description of what to expect, a participant medical form (see below), syllabus, waivers, and contact info of leaders and other participants.

• Send out a participant medical form to gather information that will help you best support each student. See the appendix for a sample form. In addition, encourage participants to get medical procedures (e.g. dental procedures) taken care of before extended field experiences.

• Initiate direct one-on-one communications with your participants. It may be necessary to talk directly with students beforehand to determine whether a field class or research expedition is the right choice for them.