Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

Georgia Aquarium maintains a Class R research registration and an independent committee to evaluate animal welfare and ethics surrounding our research programs. The IACUC is responsible for the oversight of Georgia Aquarium’s animal care and use in teaching and research. It is a federally regulated committee that reports to the Institutional Officer and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

IACUC responsibilities include:

• Review, evaluate, and approve research proposals for animal welfare and ethics.
• Full review of the institution’s animal care and use program and an inspection of animal facilities every 6 months.
• Review animal care and use concerns surrounding research activities and investigate, if warranted.
• Continued monitoring of ongoing activities involving the care and use of the animals for teaching and research.
• Local, state, and federal reporting as required.

Research conducted with Georgia Aquarium must be aligned with the aquarium’s strategic goals, Guidelines for Research Activities, the IACUC’s Policies and Procedures (see below) and all conditions outlined in approved protocols and approval letters. If you have any questions or concerns about Georgia Aquarium’s animal care and use program, please contact the Animal Welfare Committee or the IACUC at iacuc@georgiaaquarium.org.

All parties interested in conducting research with Georgia Aquarium must be adequately trained to conduct the proposed work on their protocol(s). To ensure continuous education, all participants with a training requirement described below must complete retraining every 5 years via the CITI Training Program (unless otherwise noted below). Complementary training modules from other programs may be considered to satisfy Georgia Aquarium’s training requirements. Please read these instructions if you need assistance with setting up a CITI account with Georgia Aquarium or adding us as an affiliated institution to an existing account.

Level 1 Research Training Requirements

• Under Level 1 Research, the Principal Investigator assumes full responsibility to ensure that all personnel are appropriately qualified and trained to conduct activities under their protocol.
• Georgia Aquarium personnel are required to complete the Research Basics training (Georgia Aquarium Academy) as part of their employment training responsibilities and additional training may be required as deemed appropriate.
• All Principal Investigators must also complete CITI Program’s “Working With the IACUC”, regardless if they will be handling animals or not.

Level 2 Research Training Requirements

Under Level 2 Research, the IACUC requires that the following training modules be completed. For purposes of this section, “Species Appropriate Module(s)” include, but are not limited to, Working with Fish in a Research Setting, Working with Amphibians in a Research Setting, Working with Reptiles in a Research Setting, and Working with Birds in a Research Setting. For species appropriate training for mammals or invertebrates, please contact the IACUC.