Environmental Science Research Guide

In addition to the sources below the Environmental/Natural Resources Law: Current Legislation and Policy  tab lists sources that track current legistation and environmental policy.

Highly recommended is the News search form in the Westlaw  fulltext database to search for environmental information. 

 General

• The Evolution of the Conservation Movement 1850-1920 (Library of Congress) Documents the historical formation and cultural foundations of the movement to conserve and protect America's natural heritage, through books, pamphlets, government documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and motion picture footage drawn from the collections of the Library of Congress.
• Congressional Research Service Reports (National Library of the Environment) Includes over 2200 reports on environmental topics that have been prepared for the U.S. Congress by the Congressional Research Service. CRS reports undergo review for accuracy and objectivity and contain nontechnical information that can be very useful to people interested in environmental policy. Browse by broad topic or search by keyword to find relevant documents.
• Environment and Energy Daily (E & E Publishing) (HSU Users only) Daily publication that tracks environmental and energy issues in Congress
• Environmental News Network (Environmental News Network) Includes original articles and articles contributed by other environmental news sites. Includes searchable archive.
• Sustainable Forestry Initiative (Forests.org) Links to news from other sources
• New Scientist: Environment

Western United States and Canada

• High Country News (High Country Foundation) (print copy available in Periodical S 900 H5) Independent bi-weekly newspaper that reports on the West's natural resources, public lands, and changing communities. Includes an archival database of articles dating from 1993 to the present that is keyword searchable or browseable by category.
• Sightline Daily: Northwest News that Matters Daily digest of top environmental, social, and economic headlines affecting Cascadia gleaned from more than 40 media outlets.
• Northcoast Environmental Center (print copy available in the Humboldt Room S 940 E37) The mission of the Northcoast Environmental Center is to promote understanding of the relations between people and the biosphere and to conserve, protect, and celebrate terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems of northern California and southern Oregon

• ABC-CLIO Companion to the Environmental Movement (Grossman) 1994 (ref GE 197 G76 1994) Guide to the conservation movement and enviromentalism in the United States from early naturalists to the present. Entries also include major environmental legislation and court decisions.
• Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History (Davis) 1983 (ref SD 143 E53 1983) 2 vols.
• Encyclopedia of Ethics in Science and Technology (Barber) 2002 (ref Q175. 35 B37 2002)
• Encyclopedia of Earth (Environmental Information Coalition and the National Council for Science and the Environment) Encyclopedia that contains articles about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. Articles are written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other's work. They are written in non-technical language and are useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public.
• Encyclopedia of Ecology and Environmental Management (Calow) 1998 (ref GE 197 G76 1994)
• Encyclopedia of the Biosphere (Folch) 2000 (ref GF75 B5613 2000)
• Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (Krech, McNeill, and Merchant) 2004 (Ref GF 10 E63 2004

See Environmental Planning-Statistical and Environmental Data

Index to Illustrations of Animals and Plants (Clewis) 1991 (ref N7525 C56 1991)

In addition to the general sources listed above there are more specialized sources listed in the following HSU Library research guides:

• Fisheries--Images and Sounds
• Forestry--Graphics and Images
• Oceanography--Graphics and Images
• Wildlife--Images and Sounds

United States

• Annual Environmental Quality Reports (US Council on Environmental Quality)  Report on US environmental quality required as part of the National Enviornmental Policy Act of 1969. Reports produced from 1970 to 1997.
• Freshwater Ecoregions of North America (Abel and others) 2000 (ref QH77 N56 F69 2000) ) Produced by a team of World Wildlife Fund-US scientists presents a conservation assessment of freshwater ecoregions and outlines measures that must be taken to conserve and restore native biodiversity.
• North America's Environment: A Thirty–Year State of the Environment and Policy Retrospective (United Nations Environment Programme) 2002
• OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: United States (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Reviews the efforts of the United States to manage its environment including air, water, nature, and biodiversity in a sustainable manner in co-operation with its global neighbors.
• NOAA Fisheries (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is responsible for the stewardship of the nation's ocean resources and their habitat. We provide vital services for the nation, all backed by sound science and an ecosystem-based approach to management
• Report on the Environment (US Environmental Protection Agency) Presents the best available data and information on national conditions and trends in air, water, land, human health, and ecological systems that address 23 questions EPA considers mission critical to protecting the nation's environment and human health. Some indicators are undated biannually.
• State of the Beach (Surfrider Foundation) Annual report that assesses the state of America's beaches by summarizing each coastal state's beach accessibility and health.
• Land Use (US Natural Resources and Conservation Service) Provides analysis and data on land use and change, soil erosion and soil quality, water quality, wetlands, and other issues regarding the conservation and use of natural resources on non-Federal land in the United States.
• State of the Nation's Ecosystems: Measuring the Lands, Waters and Living Resources of the United States (Heinz Center for Science, Economics & the Environment) 2008 (QH104 S73 2008) Examines the extent, condition and use of farmlands; forests; freshwaters; grasslands and shrublands; coasts and oceans; and urban lands in the United States.

California -- See "Reviews and Assessments" under each subject subdivision in the California Environment Information Sources research guide.

In addition to the general environmental reviews listed above there are more specialized reviews listed in the following HSU Library research guides:

• Fisheries--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
• Forestry--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
• Oceanography--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
• Rangeland Resource Science--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
• Wildlife--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans

Environmental reviews contain analysis of environmental issues and typically have a geographic or topical focus. The content frequently includes extensive statistical data.

World

• Environmental Sustainability Index (Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and World Economic Forum) Composite index that ranks 146 countries using 21 indicators that represent 76 variables of environmental sustainability. The socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional indicators cover such areas as past and present pollution levels, natural resource endowments, environmental management effors, contributions to protection of the global commons, and a society's capacity to improve its performance over time. Using the ESI, countries can be compared quantitatively on their progress towards improving and maintaining the quality of the environment.
• Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources (World Conservation Monitoring Centre) 1992 (print copy available in ref QH 75 G56 1992)
• Global Environmental Outlook (UN Environment Programme) Ongoing series of "state of the environment" reports initiated in 1995 in response to the environmental reporting requirements of Agenda 21 that includes global and regional perspectives on the past, present and future environment.
  • Global Environmental Outlook 2000 (2000)
  • Global Environmental Outlook 3 (2002) (print copy available in GE 170 G567 2002)
  • Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5) (2012)
  • Global Environmental Outlook 6 (2019)

• Living Planet Report (WWF International, Global Footprint Network and Zoological Society of London) Biennial report assesses the state of global ecosystems using two primary measures - the Living Planet Index, which is based on population trends for hundreds of forest, freshwater and marine species; and the Ecological Footprint, which is based on human demands on renewable natural resources.
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (United Nations) 2001-2005 Series of full and synthesis reports that assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. Their findings provide a "state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably."
• OECD Environmental Data and Indicators (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)
• World Atlas of Biodiversity: Earths Living Resources in the 21st Century (Groombridge and Jenkins) 2002 (print copy available in ref QH 541.15 B56 G762 2002) Prepared by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre this work uses text, maps, figures and tables to outline the broad ecological relationships between humans and the environment and to summarize trends and conditions of the Earth's main ecosystem types. General chapters include information on biodiversity through time; diversity of organisms; humans, food and biodiversity; and global biodiversity. Specific chapers cover the state of terrestrial, marine, and inland water biodiversity.
• World Resources Report (United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, World Bank and World Resources Institute) Annual (ref HC 59 W667)
• The World's Water: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources (Gleick) Biennial (TD 345 G54 - latest edition in Reference) Each report includes chapters dealing with the political, economic, scientific, and technological issues surrounding freshwater. Also includes charts and tables presenting data on the world's freshwater resources. Tables, figures, and maps are also available at The World's Water as well as links to Internet resources on water quality and water resources.