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International Organizations
The United Nations Environment Programme (
UNEP) is concerned with global environmental and sustainable development issues. The site offers information, jobs for environmental scientists, and links to other UN conventions.
The UN launched the most extensive
study on the state of the world's ecosystems on World Environment Day (5 June) this year.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (
IPCC) is the most renown institution to analyze the potential impact of anthropogenic climate change and consists of more than 2500 scientists from all over the world.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (
OECD) also features environmental information on their site.
The Web site for the
Johannesburg Summit next year is already accessible.
The
Worldwatch Institute is a renowned international environmental watchdog and research organization.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (
IUCN) deals with conversation issues, among them international standards for national parks.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (
IISD) is being funded by (mostly Canadian) federal and provincial governments It covers and reports on international negotiations and brokers knowledge gained through collaborative projects with global partners on the environment.
The European Commission's
Environment Directorate General focuses on the European environment.
National Institutions and Organizations
U.S.: The Environmental Protection Agency (
EPA) is the U.S. federal agency that forms policy and makes regulations on environmental topics. The
National Park Service is responsible for protecting America's sacred lands and employs many environmental experts.
Canada:
Environment Canada is the Web site for the federal government's environment branch.
UK: The
Environment Agency is the largest public organisation for protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales. Following a reorganisation of government departments after the General Election, environmental protection in the UK is now the responsibility of the Department for Evironment, Food and Rural Affairs (
DEFRA). The
Natural Environment Research Council supports basic, strategic, and applied research; surveys; long-term environmental monitoring; and related postgraduate training in terrestrial, marine and freshwater biology, earth observation, and earth, atmospheric, hydrological, oceanographic, and polar sciences.
Germany: The Federal Environment Ministry (
BMU), the Federal Environment Agency (
UBA), and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (
BfN) offer information about Germany's environmental issues. Also, you might want to try two expert advisory councils:
Rat von Sachverständigen für Umweltfragen and
Nachhaltigkeitsrat.
Environmental Organizations
International: Both
Greenpeace and the
World Wildlife Fund feature information plus links to their individual country sites all over the world on their global home pages. Friends of the Earth International (
FoEI) is the world's largest federation of environmental groups. The
European section offers additional information.
U.S.: The
Sierra Club, founded by John Muir, is the largest and oldest environmental organization in the U.S.
Environmental Defense is devoted to environmental justice issues.
UK: The
National Trust is a conservation charity that employs over 600 countryside staff, about 20% of whom are expert in some aspect of nature conservation.
Germany: Naturschutzbund Deutschland (
NABU) and Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (
BUND) are Germany's largest and oldest organizations uniting environmentalists.
Environmental Projects
International:
Living Lakes is an international partnership on five continents that promotes voluntary international collaboration among organizations that carry out projects benefiting lakes, wildlife, and people.
Germany:
Projektgruppe Seeadlerschutz is a project devoted to preserving Germany's white-tailed sea eagle population (site is in German).
U.S.:
Digital Earth is a U.S. project aiming at developing a digital representation of the planet that will allow people to explore and interact with vast amounts of natural and cultural information.
Environmental Jobs
Germany: Several green job databases exist:
oekojobs.de and
greenjobs.de are the largest ones. A study on environmental jobs by the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit is available for
download.
U.S.:
EnviroNetwork.com or
environmental-jobs.com may just have the right job for you.
Environmental Research Institutions, Corporations, and Consulting Firms
Canada: The NRC's Biotechnology Research Institute has an
Environmental Biotechnology Sector that conducts research in prevention, pollution control, green technologies, and sustainable development.
Canada: The Canadian Environment Industry Association (
CEIA) is the national voice of the Canadian environment industry.
Canada: The Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (
CRESTech) is an Ontario Centre of Excellence, with a mandate to stimulate and promote collaborative research, innovation, and new enterprise through academic, industrial, and government partnerships.
Canada: The
ESTAC is a Canadian industry/university/government alliance committed to sustainable development through excellence in environmental and industrial research and development.
UK: The
Durrel Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury.
UK: The University of Manchester's
EIA Centre undertakes research and training in environmental impact assessment and offers further
links.
UK: The International Association for Impact Assessment
Web site includes a
links list on EIA.
Germany: The
Öko-Institut e.V. is a nonprofit, independent environmental research institution since 1977.
Germany: The
GKSS Research Centre focuses, among other things, on climate research.
Germany: The Environmental Research Centre (
UFZ) Halle-Leipzig examines environmental problems, primarily in central Germany.
U.S.: Princeton University's
Carbon Mitigation Initiative.
Other interesting resources
If you need a jump-start for your career, read the National Research Council's
Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences for some ideas.
Environmental Science and Engineering Magazine is a bimonthly magazine covering the environmental protection and drinking water industry since 1988. It has an archive of issues and articles.
Also see Next Wave's recent feature on
Careers in Zoos, Museums, and Gardens for additional profiles of environment-related careers.