Subject Guides: Environmental and Sustainability Studies: Home

Environmental and Sustainability Studies: Home

ENS & Sustainability at GVSU

Environmental & Sustainability Studies Program
ENS at Grand Valley State University draws upon a variety of disciplines to develop a holistic, place-based, and solutions-oriented understanding of environmental and sustainability challenges. The program emphasizes a practical approach to environmental issues through collaborative problem-solving, involvement in faculty-led research projects, internships, practicums, and community engagement projects. Students gain an understanding of the way interconnected physical, institutional, and cultural systems shape our attitudes and behavior toward the environment.
Sustainable Agriculture Project
The Sustainable Agriculture Project is a physical place, and a scientific station, where students can go to research plants, the environment, human-environmental interaction, systems thinking, and community. It is also a laboratory in that it is a space where students can get their hands dirty while learning quantitative and critical thinking skills relating to soil, water, plant life, climate change, and the environment. It is also a working studio space and gallery for artists, a field site with a ready-made community of people on a small working farm perfect for sociological study. It is also a business that produces and sells food to support the activities of the SAP.

Internet Resources

Great Lakes Commission
The GLC is a binational agency that promotes the orderly, integrated and comprehensive development, use and conservation of the water and related natural resources of the Great Lakes basin and St. Lawrence River.
Invasive Species Information
This website is a collaboration among several agencies to provide information on invasive species in North America. Browse by species or geographic region. Includes photos, videos and maps.
National Water Quality Assessment Program
Information to promote understanding of water quality issues and how they may vary locally, regionally & nationally; whether they are getting better or worse over time; & how natural features & human activities affect water quality.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Forest Management Advisory Committee page of the Michigan DNR.

Finding Articles

Databases are the first place you want to look for articles. Databases usually have information about an article (such as the title, author, name of the journal or magazine the article appeared in) and sometimes they will also contain an abstract, or summary, of the article.

Databases also often have information about other types of resources too - sometimes they contain information about books, book chapters, government documents, and other things.

Some databases will also have the articles themselves (called the full text of the article). When that happens, you should see a link to an HTML or PDF document. If you do not see a link, click on - this will check the other library databases for the full text of the article.

Environmental Studies Databases

These databases are great for environmental science topics. If you are having trouble finding what you need in the databases on this guide, please contact your liaison librarian for suggestions and assistance.

GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
GreenFILE searches for information in all areas related to the human impact on the environment. Some examples of topics covered: global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and recycling. Information available includes articles, government information, books, and book reviews.
Focus on the environment, with topics ranging from alternate fuel sources to global warming to recycling.
AGRICOLA This link opens in a new window
The National Library of Agriculture database that searches for articles and books in all areas of agriculture, forestry and animal science. 1970-present.
GeoRef This link opens in a new window
Created by the American Geological Institute, GeoRef has over 3 million references to books, journal articles, reports, theses, maps, and more. Materials cover North America from 1669 to the present, and the rest of the world from 1933 to the present.
Environment Complete This link opens in a new window
Scholarly, academic coverage in the areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, and related areas.

Not finding what you need?

Both of these databases are multidisciplinary, which means they should contain information for almost any topic.

Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Web of Science is a multidisciplinary resource that allows you to search multiple databases at once, including: Web of Science (Core Collection), Current Contents Connect, BIOSIS Previews, MEDLINE, and Journal Citation Reports. Find journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports, and tables of contents.
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate is a giant database that covers more than 10,021 journals, and full text for nearly 9,017 peer-reviewed titles. It is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary resource of scholarly research.