LibGuides: American Indian &amp; Indigenous Studies: Environmental Research & Advocacy

Environmental Research & Activism

What kind of information can help with questions about indigenous ecology, the environment, sustainability, environmental justice, preserving water and land resources, etc.? There are many approaches to this area of study, considering what you want to know and where you might find related information can be helpful. Here are a few places to look.

Indigenous ways of knowing- Often found in books, indigenous-focused journals, or directly from Elders and indigenous groups.
Scientific research- Most often found in research articles in peer-reviewed journals and scientific databases.
Statistics and data - Statistics can help establish a problem or generate a hypothesis. Information such as the daily temperature, water level, crop yield, etc. can lay the foundation for many inquiries. Statistics are often gathered by government and non-profit research groups. They may be freely available to the public online, or in research articles.
Social science & health research- The impact of environmental issues on people, health, and society. Most often found in research articles in peer-reviewed journals and scientific databases.
Reference works - Help establish facts and identify things. For example, identify native plant and bird species. This includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, and some databases.
News - News can help give up to the minute and local information about environmental issues, activist groups, laws, and more.
Laws & Governmental Info - Laws that regulate land and water use, policies that effect pollution and industrial impacts on the environment, as well as the government agencies that oversee them.

Useful Databases

Biological & Agricultural Index Plus This link opens in a new window
Selected full-text articles, citations, and links to PDF page images, graphs, charts, diagrams, photos, and illustrations in biological, agricultural, veterinary science, wildlife management, and environmental science areas.
GeoBase This link opens in a new window
Offers bibliographic details and abstracts of peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles covering various subjects, including human and physical geography, ecology, geology, oceanography, geomechanics, and development studies.
GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed, government and general-interest non-scholarly articles with content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
Environmental Studies and Policy, by OneFile This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed and non-scholarly articles on environmental science, business, and policy.
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and ebooks in a wide range of the sciences and social sciences.
Environmental Issues Online This link opens in a new window
Multimedia materials (text, archival, primary sources, video, and audio) around key environmental challenges, including climate change, water/air pollution, biodiversity, conservation, agriculture, deforestation, and more. Content is drawn from many areas including Anthropology, Diplomacy, Ecology, Economics, Geography, History, Law, Medicine, Politics & Policy, Sociology, and Photography.

Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles in sociology, psychology, anthropology, geography, economics, political science, and law.
CINAHL Plus with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles and non-scholarly trade articles focused on health, nursing, and allied-health professions like physical therapy. Useful for identifying research on evidence-based practice.
NatMed Pro This link opens in a new window
An evidence-based, authoritative resource on dietary supplements, natural medicines, and complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies. Reports summarize safety information, including supplement effectiveness, drug interactions, and adverse effects.
SocIndex with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of sociology, including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, religion, racial studies and social work. Includes citations to books, conference papers, and other types of sources.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts for peer-reviewed research in health sciences, mental health, public health, and a wide range of biomedical research areas. Can be used to find eBooks, clinical trials results, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, and case studies.

National Centers for Environmental Information This link opens in a new window
Climate data, historical weather data, local and global climatological data, storm data, hourly precipitation data, and monthly climatic data for the world.

Birds of the World This link opens in a new window
Learn about the life history of all bird species and families through encyclopedia articles, images, video galleries, recordings of bird songs, and more. Each account contains information on distinguishing characteristics, distribution, systematics, behavior, ecology, demography, conservation, and priorities for future research.

Agencies and NGOs

EPA- Environmental Justice for Tribes and Indigenous Peoples
The Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Department of the Interior
The U.S. Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated Island Communities.
Indigenous Environmental Network
Established in 1990 within the United States, IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ). IEN’s activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect our sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities.IEN accomplishes this by maintaining an informational clearinghouse, organizing campaigns, direct actions and public awareness, building the capacity of community and tribes to address EJ issues, development of initiatives to impact policy, and building alliances among Indigenous communities, tribes, inter-tribal and Indigenous organizations, people-of-color/ethnic organizations, faith-based and women groups, youth, labor, environmental organizations and others. IEN convenes local, regional and national meetings on environmental and economic justice issues, and provides support, resources and referral to Indigenous communities and youth throughout primarily North America – and in recent years – globally.