Environmental Science Research Guide

Environmental science is the study of how we and other species interact with one another and with the nonliving environment of matter and energy. It is an interdisciplinary science, integrating knowledge from the natural sciences  (physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and geography); the social sciences (demography, economics, politics, and ethics); and technology and engineering. Subtopics include ecology, energy, natural resources, climate, biodiversity and global warming.

Guide Contents

Print Resources

Books and other materials in the Moraine Valley Library

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Online Databases (Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles)

General Databases

Health and Biological Sciences Databases

Military Database and Government Database

News Databases

Web Sites

Government Sites

Environmental Organizations

Other Internet Resources

Print

Books and other materials in the Moraine Valley Library

Search the Public Access Catalog (PAC) by subject or keyword.  Try some of the following subject headings: biological diversity, climatology, ecology,  environment, environmentalism, environmental sciences, energy, evolution,  green movement,  global warming, natural resources.

Dictionaries

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ecology
Historical Dictionary of the Green Movement

Encyclopedias

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution
Companion Encyclopedia of Geography : The Environment and Humankind
Conservation and Environmentalism
The Encyclopedia of the Environment
The Green Encyclopedia
Historical Encyclopedia of Atomic Energy
Life on Earth : An Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution

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Online Databases

To find journal and magazine articles, use the library's online databases. These databases are research tools that cover thousands of printed publications.

General Databases

Academic Search Premier:  Academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics from 1975 - present.

Animals:  Provides in-depth information on a variety of topics relating to animals.

Article First:  General subject database with 12,000+ publications covering all topics. 1990 -present.

CQ Researcher:  Congressional Quarterly publishes 44 reports a year on single topics covering them in depth.

ECO:  A collection of scholarly journals covering all topics.1995 to present.

Expanded Academic ASAP:  Academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics from 1980 - present.

Periodical Abstracts:  Academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics from 1987 – present.

SIRS Researcher:  Contains thousands of full-text articles exploring social, scientific, health, historic, business, economic, political and global issues.

Wilson Select Plus:  Academic, news, popular, and trade publications covering all topics from 1994 to the present.

Health and Biological Sciences Databases

CINAHL Fulltext (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature):  More complete coverage nursing, allied health and health sciences journals from 1982 - present.

CINAHL Select: Selected articles from nursing and allied health journals and publications from 1973 to the present.

Clinical Pharmacology: Clinically-relevant information on U.S. prescription drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, over-the-counter products, and new/investigational drugs.

Health Reference Center Academic: Includes nursing and health journals, medical pamphlets, topical overviews, and reference books. Four years ago – present.

Health Source: Consumer Edition: Full text for 180+ health periodicals, 1100+ health pamphlets, and 20 health reference books, including Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. 

Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition: Nearly 580 scholarly full-text, health and medical journals and 600+ abstracted and indexed journals. Some journals are covered 1966-present.

MEDLINE: Created by the National Library of Medicine. Includes clinical medicine, nutrition, dentistry, pathology, education, psychiatry, experimental, medicine, toxicology, health services, administration, veterinary, medicine, and nursing. 1966 – present.

Physicians Desk Reference Electronic Library: A range of pharmaceutical databases including product photos, chemical structures, and illustrations. Includes Stedman's Medical Dictionary, drug cross-references, and PDR® Drug Interactions functions!

Military and Government Database

Military & Governement Collection: Full text from 320+ military and general interest publications. Updated weekly.

News Databases

AP Multimedia Archives (On Campus Only): Associated Press articles, images, and other news items.

Chicago Tribune: Include international, national, Chicago regional and local news. Paid advertisements are not included. 1985 - present.

New York Times: Full-text articles from the newspaper. Community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community. Paid advertisements are excluded.

Newspaper Source: Coverage from 174 newspapers and sources, including broadcasts of news programs such as Face the Nation, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, 60 Minutes, O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, CNN®, and CNBC.

Proquest Newspaper --Los Angeles Times: Major daily newspaper from Los Angeles. With the nation's largest editorial department, it offers extensive coverage of national, international, and local news. Covers 1985-present.

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Web Sites

Government Sites

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR): The mission of the ATSDR is to serve the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and disease related to toxic substances.

Army Corps. of Engineers: The Corps is comprised of both military and civilian engineers, biologists, geologists, hydrologists, natural resource managers and other specialists. This diverse workforce is involved in the planning, designing, building and operating of water resources and other civil works projects, e.g. navigation, flood control, and disaster response.

Department of Agriculture (USDA): USDA is the steward of the nation's 192 million acres of national forests and rangelands. In addition, USDA is the country's largest conservation agency, encouraging voluntary efforts to protect soil, water, and wildlife on the 70 percent of America's lands that are in private hands.

Department of Energy (DOE): DOE is responsible for insuring the integrity and safety of the country's nuclear weapons and the safe disposal of radioactive wastes. The department is also responsible for promoting energy conservation and efficiency and promoting the development of renewable and alternative energy sources.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC): The FERC regulates the transmission and sale of natural gas and electricity for resale in interstate commerce; governs the transmission of oil by pipeline; licenses and inspects private, municipal and state hydroelectric projects; and oversees environmental matters related to natural gas, oil, electricity and hydroelectric projects.

National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence (NDCEE):  The NDCEE was established in 1991, with the directive to serve as a national leadership organization to address high priority environmental problems for the Department of Defense (DOD), other government organizations, and the industrial community.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS): The mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is to reduce human illness and dysfunction from environmental causes by understanding each of these elements and how they interrelate.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): NOAA's mission is to describe and predict changes in the earth's environment, and conserve and wisely manage the nation's coastal and marine resources.

National Science Foundation (NSF): The National Science Foundation is an independent U.S. government agency responsible for promoting science and engineering through programs that invest in research and education projects in science and engineering.

Natural Resources Conservation Service: The Natural Resources Conservation Service is charged with helping people to conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA): The TVA supplies low-cost, reliable power, supports a thriving river system, and stimulates economic growth through a network of reservoirs and power plants that reaches across the Tennessee Valley. It also is involved in air and water pollution monitoring and husbanding of natural resources.

U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI): The DOI is compromised of 8 bureaus: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Bureau of Indian Affairs, The Bureau of Reclamation, The Minerals Management Service, The U.S. Geological Survey, The National Park Service, The Office of Surface Mining, and The Bureau of Land Management.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the environment (air, water, and land). Documents retrieved from this site include policy statements, environmental assessments, and pollution statistics.

Environmental Organizations

American Lung Association: The American Lung Association is a volunteer organization who's mission is to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. They are active in educational programs, research, tobacco control and smoking prevention, and in pollution control.

Cousteau Society: The Cousteau Society's mission is to educate on how to protect the planet's water systems.

Envirolink:  The EnviroLink Network is a non-profit organization which has been providing access to thousands of online environmental resources since 1991.

Environmental Defense Fund: Environmental Defense Fund's mission is to protect mankind's rights to clean air, clean water, healthy food and a flourishing ecosystems.

Friends of the Earth: Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of an influential, international network of grassroots groups in 70 countries. Their mission is to defend the environment and champion a healthy and just world.

Greenpeace: Greenpeace is a non-profit organisation, with a presence in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. As a global organisation, Greenpeace focuses on the most crucial worldwide threats to our planet's biodiversity and environment.

National Audubon Society: Audubon's mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

National Wildlife Federation: The National Wildlife Federation was established in 1936 to promote wildlife conservation and education.

Natural Resource Defence Council: The Natural Resources Defense Council's purpose is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals and the natural systems on which all life depends.

Nature Conservancy:  The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

Rainforest Action Network: The Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through education, grassroots organizing, and non-violent direct action.

Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. The Sierra Club has been instrumental in preserving wilderness, wildlife and nature's most splendid wild places for over 100 years.

Union of Concerned Scientists: Citizens and scientists for environmental solutions. They augment rigorous scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world.

The Wilderness Society: The Wilderness Society's mission is to deliver to future generations an unspoiled legacy of wild places, with all the precious values they hold: biological diversity; clean air and water; towering forests, rushing rivers, and sage-sweet, silent deserts.

World Wildlife Fund: World Wildlife Fund leads international efforts to protect endangered species and their habitats. They focus conservation efforts toward three global goals: saving endangered species, protecting endangered habitats and addressing global threats such as toxic pollution, over-fishing and climate change.

Other Internet Resources

Biotechnology Dictionary: This is an annotated agricultural and environmental biotechnology dictionary.

Earth Trends: EarthTrends is a comprehensive online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on the environmental, social, and economic trends that shape our world.

Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment: The Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment written by the Atmosphere, Climate & Environment Information Progamme is a source of information on a range of atmopsheric issues, including air quality, acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion.

Environmental Contaminants Encyclopedia: The Environmental Contaiminants Encyclopedia was put together by the National Park Service.

EPA Global Warming: This is the Environmental Protection Agencies' informational page on global warming.

The Environmental Directory: Earth's biggest environmental search engine.

Global Climate Change Briefing Book: This is the U.S. Department of Commerce's page on global warming.

The Great Lakes Atlas: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book: This site is put together by Environment Canada, a department of their government.

Hazardous Substances Data Bank: This is published by the United States National Library of Medicine on their Toxicology Data Network.

The Internet Public Library - Environmental Science and Ecology:  This is a directory to dozens of environmental Web sites.

NASA's Global Hydrology and Climate Center:  This site contatins interactive global geostationay weather satellite images.

National Geographic—Earth Pulse: This is National Geographic's conservation page. 

National Library for the Environment: A universal, timely, and easy-to-use single-point entry to environmental information and data for the use of all participants in the environmental enterprise.

Population and Environmental Linkages Service: Abstracts and links to 14,110 environmental science resources.

State of the Air Report: County by country grade report on air pollution.

United Nations Environment Network: A global portal to authoritative environmental information based on themes and regions.

The World Directory of Environmental Organizations Online: This descriptive directory has over 350 Web pages with thousands of entries and links.  It has detailed subject and geographic sections, background pages, and numerous cross-references.

 

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