Sheena Campbell
Student Services Department
Student Services Librarian
by Sheena Campbell – January 6, 2021
Welcome to the UC Davis Library guide to environmental science, policy and management resources. This guide provides links to key information resources and services in the subject areas of biodiversity, climate change, conservation and natural resource management, ecology, and environmental science and policy.
EPA’s central repository of all EPA documents with over 7,000 titles available in paper or electronic form.
Organizes, summaries, and indexes worldwide technical literature on the marine and brackish water environments. Oceanic Abstracts covers marine biology and biological oceanography, physical and chemical oceanography, meteorology, geology, geophysics, geochemistry, marine pollution, conservation, environmental protection, fisheries, aquaculture, nonliving resources and technology, ships and shipping, navigation and communications.
OECD iLibrary is OECD’s Online Library for Books, Papers and Statistics and the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data. It replaces SourceOECD, and hosts all content so users can find – and cite – tables and databases as easily as articles or chapters.
Treesearch is an online system for locating and delivering publications by Research and Development scientists in the US Forest Service. Publications in the collection include research monographs published by the agency as well as papers written by Forest Service scientists but published by other organizations in their journals, conference proceedings, or books. Research results behind these publications have been peer reviewed to ensure the best quality science. As of 12/19/2013, Treesearch contains >41,000 publications.
Mapping tool that helps identify California communities affected by pollution. Uses environmental, health, and socioeconomic information to produce scores for every census tract in the state.
Captures the work, observations and studies of NASA scientists, engineers, and other personnel.
Environmental statistics and data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Taylorfrancis.com is a brand new platform for all academic, science, technology and medical e-Book content from Taylor & Francis and its imprints: CRC Press, Routledge, and Garland.
Former CRCnetBASE collections are incorporated in this collection including: AGRICULTUREnetBASE, BiomedicalSCIENCEnetBASE, CHEMnetBASE, ENVIROnetBASE, FOODnetBASE, FORENSICnetBASE, MATHnetBASE, NUTRITIONnetBASE, STATSnetBASE and VETnetBASE (VetMed).
The 2nd edition of this 7 volume comprehensive work covers all aspects of biodiversity. “Major themes of the work include the evolution of biodiversity, systems for classifying and defining biodiversity, ecological patterns and theories of biodiversity, and an assessment of contemporary patterns and trends in biodiversity.” Over 320 articles with “approximately 1,800 figures and 350 tables complement the text, and more than 3,000 glossary entries explain key terms”. Topics range from: Agriculture; Conservation & Restoration; Economics of Biodiversity; Environmental Conditions & Effects; Evolution; Extinctions; Genetics; Geographic & Global Issues; Habitats & Ecosystems; Human Effects & Interventions; Invertebrates; Microbial Diversity; Plant Biodiversity; Population Issues; Public Policies & Attitudes; Species Interactions & Interrelationships; Systematics & Species Concept; Techniques & Measurements; Theories & Concepts of Biodiversity; to Vertebrates
Covers the issues of environmental physics, chemistry, and biology; risk analysis and public health; ecosystem governance, management, and planning; social and legal issues toward sustainability; and environmental engineering. Each article is reviewed annually; and about 50-75 new articles are added each year.
Online version of this 3-volume encyclopedia provides “detailed comparative essays on major biomes and their component ecosystems. Includes entries on land biomes and water biomes and covers climate, elevation, soil, water bodies, vegetation, animal life, food web, plant and animal adaptations, endangered species, human effects on the biome and the effects of the environment on humans’ culture and economy.”
Finding existing GIS data is a common but often difficult task. Sometimes the data you would like is simply not available, but other times it’s just difficult to find. Here are some strategies for finding data.
Searching for data online is going to require a search engine. Many search engines have advanced options that can help narrow down a search or restrict the results. For example, Google has menus for Settings and Tools, as well as searches targeted to specific results like images.
Keep your search terms broad. Also, try synonyms for terms you are interested in. For example, if you were looking for a shapefile of beaches in California, you might search try separate searches for “beach shapefile” or “coast shapefile”. Also, try synonyms for the data type. “GIS”, “map”, “geospatial”, and “shapefile” might find different but relevant results.
Think about how data might be developed or what kinds of layers would go into your analysis rather than terms that define your final product. For example, you might be interested in identifying areas considered a “food desert” but you might need to look for layers for “census data” and “grocery store locations”.
Search results for geospatial data often fall into one of three categories.
Data repositories are places that store data. Many public repositories are themed by subject or by the entity that produces the data. For example, many California counties, the State of California, and the federal government have their own repositories for GIS data, including repositories for specific agencies. Data Basin is an example of subject-specific repository that focuses on data for environmental stewardship.
Researchers in your field may be using datasets that are useful for your research. Read the methods section and citations list to look for sources of datasets and links to how to access the data.
On campus, talk to the Library’s GIS Data Curator or ask on the Geospatial email list. If the data you need is from a particular place, such as a county or conservation organization, you may be able to contact the organization’s GIS, data, or IT staff to ask about the availability of data. Additionally, posting in online forums (such as the aforementioned Stack Exchange), websites, or social media using keywords that describe the data you need (see the discussion above about synonyms) and hashtags to get a broader audience can be fruitful.
The UC Davis Library’s Geospatial Data Specialist provides Drop-In Hours on Mondays from 1:30-3:00 in the DataLab Classroom – room 360 in Shields Library. This time is set aside for any and all questions about spatial data, from simple to complex. Library patrons are always welcome to make an appointment for another time with the Geospatial Data Specialist, Michele Tobias, to discuss spatial data.
UC Davis affiliates can sign up for email lists through the UC Davis Information & Educational Technology’s Sympa list serve manager. The “Geospatial” email list is a widely-used list for UC Davis faculty, students, staff, and local community members who work with any type of geospatial data. The list can be used for announcements or questions.
The geospatial industry has a number of established, well-respected, and long running free and open source projects that may suit the needs of researchers and students. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation oversees many of these projects, including QGIS (which runs on Mac, Linux, and Windows).
Esri’s ArcGIS suite of software is available to any UC Davis affiliate. Information on product availability, and licensing guides can be found at http://arcgis.ucdavis.edu
The lower level of Shields Library has one GIS workstation that UC Davis students, faculty, researchers, and other staff may to use for a maximum of two hours per day. The workstation room is located near, but outside the Map Room and is open the same hours as the Library. The workstation has the full suite of ArcGIS 10 software (available to campus affiliates) and QGIS 3 (available to anyone).
An 11″ x 17″ color scanner is available for maps and aerial photography.
Workstation use must comply with UC Davis Computer Use Policies and the Library Computer Use Policy as well as the following guidelines:
Will you be starting a project from scratch that will require your attention for months, even years OR are you continuing a project started by somebody else?
The Data Management Program is here to help make both of these situations less painful. We can help you with
Note: many funding agencies require that you provide open access to your data!
For more information, visit our website or contact us at dataserv@ucdavis.edu
The California Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) Document Library is an online repository of thousands of DFG related documents from California agencies, contractors, and related non-governmental organizations. In addition to advanced searching for title, author, subject, keywords, and date ranges, all documents in the DFG Document Library are organized by Categories. “Browse By Category” is a convenient way to see all available groupings and learn which DFG function or program is responsible for each category. You may also view a complete list of DFG documents and then link directly to that program’s web page. The majority of documents digitized are from the 2000s with the largest collection of documents on “California Wildlife Habitat Relationships”. NOTE: CA DFG (Department of Fish adn Game) changed to CA DFW (Department of Fish and Wildlife) in January 2013.
Designed for those who need to know what’s happening to issues on Capitol Hill. From federal agency appropriations to comprehensive energy legislation, E&E Daily is the place insiders go to track their environmental and energy issues in Congress.
EnergyWire is designed to provide deep, broad and insightful coverage of the transformation of the energy sector. EnergyWire focuses on the business, environmental and political issues surrounding the rapidly expanding energy industry.
EPA’s central repository of all EPA documents with over 7,000 titles available in paper or electronic form.
Treesearch is an online system for locating and delivering publications by Research and Development scientists in the US Forest Service. Publications in the collection include research monographs published by the agency as well as papers written by Forest Service scientists but published by other organizations in their journals, conference proceedings, or books. Research results behind these publications have been peer reviewed to ensure the best quality science. As of 12/19/2013, Treesearch contains >41,000 publications.
Blog about research in agroforestry or growing trees on farms. Focus is on the developing world.
PPIC is the Public Policy Institute of California. Blog topics include climate change and energy, economy, health and human services, political landscape, population, and water policy.
EPA offices and laboratories, and outside organizations, have developed approved methods for measuring the concentration of a substance or pollutant.
Started in 2010, the entire journal is dedicated to protocols, field methods and “promotes the development of new methods in ecology & evolution, and facilitates their dissemination and uptake by the research community.”
A repository of planned and published systematic reviews and (evidence) maps providing rigorous and transparent methodology to assess the impacts of human activity and effectiveness of policy and management interventions.
The site also features guidance for planning and conducting evidence syntheses, including a new free-to-use software tool for environmental evidence synthesis, CADIMA.
For additional guidance and resources for finding and conducting evidence syntheses, see this systematic reviews guide, put together by UCD health sciences librarians.
The Access Initiative is the largest civil society network in the world dedicated to ensuring that citizens have the right and ability to influence decisions about the natural resources that sustain their communities.
This e-book analyzes the central terms and debates currently structuring research in and across environmental studies. It includes sixty essays from humanists, social scientists, and scientists, each written about a single term or keyword.
COVID-19 Related Library Updates
Find the latest information about library resources and services during the COVID-19 response.
Connect to UCD Library resources from your own computer or from off-campus
Leyla Cabugos Feel free to reach out by phone, email, or to set up a web meeting in Zoom.
Need a basic question answered ASAP? Your fastest option is Ask A Librarian 24/7 chat. Note that this service is staffed collaboratively by libraries nationwide, so the librarian you talk with may not be at UC Davis.
Take Notes
Document your search process, so you can easily update and build upon it. This useful template for note taking was developed by Carrol Community College.
Manage Citations
Software to organize and automatically reformat your bibliographies. Compare popular citation management products: EndNote, Mendeley, Zotero, and F1000
Funding for Open Access Publishing
Access up to $1,000 per article from the UCD Library toward publishing fees in fully open access journals.
Most literature databases provide a description of articles, or other literature resources, that allows you to find them among thousands of sources. However, there is often another step required to access a full text copy. This extra step is facilitated through the UCD E-links button, found on the item record.
Not all articles will be accessible directly from a database, as UCD E-links can only connect you to material licensed or owned by the library. However, we can borrow material from other libraries, if you put in an Interlibrary Loan request.
Watch how to make an Interlibrary Loan request for articles not available in the library collection.