Science Resources for Journalists

Berkeley Labs Library - Subject Guide
Astronomy and Astrophysics * Chemistry * Computer Science * Energy, Earth Sciences and Environment * Engineering * Life Sciences, Health and Medicine * Materials Science * Mathematics and Statistics * Physics * Social Sciences
Climate Diagnostics Center
Part of the Earth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Earth Oservatory (NASA)
The Media Resources page contains a number of Science Writers' Guides. Media Alerts Archive contains press releases from a number of institutions. They also provide data and images on atmosphere, oceans, land, life on earth, heat & energy.
Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory)
"PSD's scientific goal is to provide the observation, analysis, and diagnosis of weather and climate physical processes necessary to increase understanding of Earth's physical environment, including the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and land, and to enable improved weather and climate predictions on global-to-local scales."
Earthquake Hazards Program
U.S. Geological Survey - maps of the latest earthquakes - info on recent and historic earthquakes - scientific data, preparedness info, faults, etc. See also: Berkeley Seismological Lab - S. Calif. Earthquate Data Center - Cal Tech Seismological Lab
Environmental Journalism Home Page - Society of Environmental Journalists
Among the offerings here: "TipSheet provides biweekly news tips to notify journalists of potential environmental stories and sources," and a large collection of links to resources.
EnviroLink
A major portal to enviornmental information.
Environmental Information Resources
"This site has been developed as a project of The GW Green University Initiative, a unique public-private partnership between The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and The George Washington University." Not kept current but you can often find the site once you have the title.
EurekAlert!
Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) -- an average of 20 news releases a day on the "latest research advances in science, medicine, health, and technology." Also, extensive links to research organizations, science publications and links to scientific dictionaries and glossaries.
Health News (Healthfinder)
Don't let the graphics and consumer approach fool you, this site is an excellent onramp for health news and information. Sources include: "U.S. government agencies - National voluntary, nonprofit, and professional organizations serving the public interest - Universities, other educational institutions, and libraries - State and local government agencies offering information services beyond their geographic boundaries - Organizations partnering with government agencies to provide information to the public."
Math for Journalists
Bruce Garrison of Miami University has put together this remedial tutorial on: Vocabulary - Doing Percent Change - Figuring Averages - Rates - Ratios. Unfortunately he output PowerPoint slides to large, slow loading gif files instead of simply typing the information out on a page. But if you're desperate for the information it might be worth the wait.
Media Resource Services
"The Media Resource Service is a program of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. The service puts journalists in touch with reputable sources of scientific information."
National Association of Science Writers
"The largest organization devoted to the professional interests of science writers, the National Association of Science Writers fosters "the dissemination of accurate information regarding science through all media normally devoted to informing the public."
ResearchSEA
Connects journalists with the latest news and key experts from the most respected research institutions in Asia. ResearchSEA has 6 research news themes: Medicine, Science, Technology, Business, Culture and People.
Science Dictionaries and Glossaries
Collected by EurekAlert! by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Science Journalism Center
Sci-Find: A Resource Library of Science from the University of Missouri will soon provide a searchable database of articles on science and biomedical news.
Social Science Research Network
Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences. Categories:Accounting, Economics, Financial Economics, Latin American, Legal Scholarship, and Litigation Support Network.
Society of Environmental Journalists
A solid set of links by subject,, biweekly news tips, issue briefs and the text of the Environment Writer as well as membership information.
Tropical Dynamics and Climate (NOAA)
"Tropical Dynamics and Climate research focuses on an improved understanding of tropical circulation systems and their impact on global climate. Wind profilers developed within the Aeronomy Laboratory provide continuous observations of atmospheric winds in the tropical Pacific. They provide important observations of large-scale tropical circulations and their intra-seasonal, seasonal and interannual variability. They also yield important information about precipitating cloud systems."
Why Files
Funded by the National Science Foundation, examines the science, math and technology questions behind headline news.
Writing With Numbers - American Press Institute
A page of links to calculators, converters, and other math information and aides.