Environment, Resources and Sustainability: Get started

This guide will help students and faculty in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability navigate the library to meet their learning and research needs by:

• showcase relevant databases to find articles for your subject
• provide links to Reference materials, ebooks, additional resources
• provide examples for citing different types of information
• identify tools that support academic goals and objectives

There are five additional tabs to provide assistance with navigation:

Find articles lists databases for specific topics, such as:

• climate change, sustainability
• governance of aquatic systems, coastal regions
• ecological restoration and rehabilitation
• animal populations and landscape genetics
• agricultural biotechnology
• global environmental politics and food security
• water resource management, governance, policy
• environmental politics, democratic theories, security
• social dimensions of invasive biology
• agroecology, agroforestry, soil ecosystems
• enchantment, ontological and behavioural change
• ecological processes and patterns in long-term human settlements

A brief overview of databases on:

• how to navigate
• what databases contain
• some of the functions and benefits

Find books has information on:

• how to search the library catalogue
• how can I find my books?
• library catalogue search function
• placing holds and recalls
• if an item is not in the catalogue
• on-campus book return bins locations
• new books
• core texts for the discipline
• eReference materials
• eBooks and eBook collections

More resources:

• library guides
  • essential
  • subject specific
  • topic specific
  • for advanced library users
• unique collections
  • data; statistics
  • films
  • Geospatial Centre
  • Special Collections & Archives (SC&A)
    • Digital library
    • Special Collections / Rare books
• publications of selected centers and institutes
  • Heritage Resources Centre
  • Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3)
  • Southwestern Ontario Research Data Centre (SWORDC)
  • Water Institute
  • Waterloo Institute for Complexity & Innovation (WICI)
  • Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation (WISIR)
  • Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE)

The Research toolkit provides an overview of the research process and tips to help with:

• academic writing, essays and research papers
• help with references, citing your work
• bibliometric tools
• more than technical skills, soft skills
• time management tips
• the research process
• saving your search strategy
• setting up alerts
• publishing your work

Access to the electronic resources requires your WatIAM credentials. The system will prompt you to login If you encounter any difficulties with gaining access, please contact a library staff member directly through the  Ask us chat and email service. 

Omni, the library catalogue

Omni, the library catalogue is a dynamic platform that provides more functionality, well designed options, clear navigation signs and detailed descriptors. Eighteen additional university library catalogues are included to provide a full spectrum of items available. Enhanced interlibrary loan service contributes to provide a more rewarding experience as you browse and search for information.

Current examples of research topics:

• Adaptive and collaborative governance in coastal and marine systems
• Aquatic ecology and ecotoxicology
• Biogeography and forest ecology
• Coastal conservation and social-ecological systems
• Cumulative effects assessment
• Community-based/participatory research
• Ecological restoration, resilience and conservation
• Ecology and policy of parks and protected areas
• Energy governance and policy
• Environmental assessment law and process reform
• Environmental monitoring
• Environmental politics and non-rational drivers of behaviour
• First Nations, adaptive capacity, resilience and climate change
• Gender and environmental governance
• Global and agricultural governance
• Global change ecology
• Historical ecology
• Human dimensions of environmental change
• Identity, spirituality and ritual in water decisions
• Landscape genetics
• Local and sustainable agriculture in Arctic Indigenous communities
• Maker culture and consumer society
• Managing complex social-ecological systems in peri-urban and remote First Nations communities
• Pollination and invasive species ecology
• Re-conceptualizing conservation, parks and invasive species for the Anthropocene
• Social dimensions of biodiversity conservation and climate change
• Social innovation and complex social-ecological systems
• Social movements, environmental/climate justice, just transition
• Social-psychological dimensions of water decisions
• Soil health, biochar, carbon sequestration
• Sustainability assessment principles and applications
• Sustainable agriculture and climate change resilience
• Sustainable energy strategies
• Urban political ecology and green economic development
• Water and environmental governance
• Water resources management
• Water scarcity, drought and efficiency mechanisms
• Wildlife ecology and management

You can email me with your question(s), or book a consultation. Email questions are answered within1-2 business days. Consultations can be booked up to a month in advance and could be up to an hour in length.

I'm here for you.

My goal is to meet every graduate student in the Faculty of Environment.

Why? Because I can help you:

• navigate databases
• locate items quickly
• create a research strategy
• cite your references
• answer your questions
• and more . . .