Paleontological resources of the National Park Service (NPS) include specimens preserved in the field, as part of museum collections, and in cultural contexts. Taking large groups of students to directly experience national parks can be challenging to incorporate into course activities; however, opportunities to explore the geology and paleontology of the NPS can be integrated into courses using a variety of approaches. Students in all majors and across all levels can build connections to U.S. national parks by learning about them in a way that fosters a holistic understanding of their nonrenewable resources such as through place-based methods and project-based learning. Providing opportunities for ownership and real world applications that range from engaging in scientific research to evaluating the role that visitors, media, and resource management play in protecting these fossils can have lasting impacts on students.

Two course approaches are herein described for different courses at Georgia State University, an urban minority-serving institution in Atlanta, GA. Honors 1000 (From Volcanoes to Dinosaurs: Exploring the Rock and Fossil Record of our National Parks) is a small seminar course for students from all disciplines early in their undergraduate journey. The course covers the history, mission, and organization of the NPS, basic geology and paleontology, and explores different focus areas weekly for these parks. Topics include inventory and monitoring, film/media/visitor perceptions, education and policies, culture/place/identity, and scientific advances. Students have individual and group projects that involve literature and online research about their parks.

Principles of Paleontology (GEOL/BIOL 4011/6011), is an upper level and graduate course. Students study paleontological concepts, participate in laboratory exercises, and engage in an embedded authentic semester-long research project. This course-based research experience (CURE) has led to dozens of students presenting their work at professional conferences, and most recently featured a collaboration with the paleontology program of the NPS. Students explored the scope, significance, distribution, and management of paleontological resources in a series of understudied southeastern parks. Using the NPS inventory approach as a guide, our class developed fossil fact sheets for the parks. Students in both courses demonstrated increased appreciation and enthusiasm for the geology and paleontology of our national parks, and had meaningful experiences to showcase in their portfolio of work for their future careers.