ENVS and ENSTU 300

Background reading for possible case study topics

Do some background reading on your topic to determine whether it's feasible before selecting it for your case study.

The library's reference and book collections can serve as a starting point for learning about the scope and terminology of your topic, and as a way to locate citations to articles on it.

Look up books in OneSearch by author, title, subject or keyword. Current CSUMB Students, Staff, and Faculty are welcome to check out Course Reserve items. For more information, click here. 

Check here for a quick list of books on:

environmental ethics

environmental justice

environmental policy

environmentalism and environmental movements

ecofeminism

human and social ecology

biodiversity

endangered species

global warming and climate change

sustainability

environmental education

Also consider these as sources for ideas for possible research topics:

Climate Change: In Context

Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

Environmental Issues: Essential Primary Sources

Environmental Justice: A Reference Handbook

Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy

Locate and read issue papers on your topic that introduce you to the policy implications

Congressional Research Service Reports

CQ Researcher

Resources for the Future

Scan some articles on your topic

Do a preliminary search in the Academic Search Premier database to find and scan various types of articles about your topic:

• News articles from newspapers and news magazines
• General magazine articles
• Scholarly articles from academic journals

Selecting a topic

Based on what you have read during your exploratory searching, consider the following:

• Can your topic be rephrased in the form of a research question?
• What did your preliminary literature search tell you about whether your topic is feasible, i.e., not too broad/narrow, an adequate number of scholarly publications appear to be available, etc.?