USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s (PWRC) Bird Banding Lab (BBL) recently hosted a field trip at the long-term fall migration monitoring station, for students from the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC). The students are enrolled in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, which includes coursework related to field skills and tools/techniques to evaluate presence, distribution, and movement of species, and monitor and assess biodiversity. The visit to the BBL’s banding station was not only a chance for the students to work on their bird identification skills, but also see how mist-netting, scoring, and evaluation are performed at a long-term monitoring station. In addition, students had the opportunity to meet with PWRC biologists performing science within their career field.