This Earth Week, UCI Libraries invite you to explore the research of F. Sherwood Rowland (1927-2012), former UCI professor, climate advocate, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

From heartwarming memoirs and eco-cinema to sweeping coverage of global phenomena, the Libraries also have a wide selection of environmental-related research aids, ebooks, and streaming media.

Pivotal Global Environmental Research

F. Sherwood Rowland won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Mario Molina and Paul Crutzen in 1995 for work demonstrating that chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, commonly used in refrigerators and aerosol cans, were a threat to the Earth’s protective ozone layer. According to the Nobel Prize press release, “By explaining the chemical mechanisms that affect the thickness of the ozone layer, the three researchers have contributed to our salvation from a global environmental problem that could have catastrophic consequences.”

Specializing in radiochemistry and atmospheric chemistry, Rowland authored more than 430 scientific publications and was the founding chair of the Department of Chemistry and the Donald Bren Research Professor of Chemistry and Research Professor in Earth System Science at UC Irvine.

The F. Sherwood Rowland Papers, housed in the UCI Libraries Special Collections and Archives, contain materials documenting his research and global efforts to educate the public and policymakers about stratospheric ozone depletion, global climate change, and related environmental issues. The collection, which Rowland gifted to UCI Libraries in 2008, contains Rowland’s lifework in atmospheric science and radiochemistry, including speeches, lab notebooks, correspondence, teaching materials, research, National Academy of Science files, and photographs. It also documents the public controversies surrounding the CFC theory of ozone depletion and efforts to negotiate international agreements to ban CFC production, including the Montreal Protocol.

To learn more, see the F. Sherwood Rowland Papers Finding Aid or contact the Libraries Special Collections and Archives.

Related Library Resources

In addition to the F. Sherwood Rowland Papers, UCI Libraries offer access to a wide variety of publications, resources, and media related to sustainability, climate change, conservation, and environmental and earth systems sciences. Unless otherwise noted, a UCInetID login may be required.

UCI Research and Finding Aids

• UCI Department of Earth System Science (ESS) collection on eScholarship: More than 3,600 UCI faculty research publications published between 1966 and 2024. Department research topics include how the atmosphere, land, and oceans interact as a system and how the Earth will change over a human lifetime. (no login required)
• Orange County Environmental Issues, Land Use, and Planning Collection: Correspondence, reports, court documents, minutes, photographs, and newspaper clippings documenting three major environmental and political issues in Orange County, California, in the 1960s: agricultural preserves, beach erosion, and redistricting. (no login required)
• Library Research Guides on earth system science and environmental science (no login required)

Streaming Media

• Docuseek documentaries on conservation, the environment, environmental justice, and related topics
• Kanopy Earth Day collection, including eco-cinema, documentaries, and more 

Recent Book Acquisitions and Related Ebooks

• Biodiversity Conservation: A Very Short Introduction by David W. Macdonald (2023): Introduces the concept of biodiversity and the basic biological processes it involves, considering both threats to biodiversity and solutions for the future.
• The Climate Majority Project: Setting the Stage for a Mainstream, Urgent Climate Movement by Rupert Read and Liam Kavanagh (2023): Calls for a new wave of urgent, inclusive, citizen-led climate action that makes space for a diversity of people to show up just as they are and protect what they love.
• The Ethics of Climate Change: An Introduction by Byron Williston (2023): Examines the ethical issues surrounding climate change, such as the main causes of political inaction and climate denial, intragenerational and intergenerational justice, and whether capitalism can be reformed to prevent climate catastrophe.
• Environmental Innovation: An Action Plan for Saving the Economy and the Planet By 2050 by Jack Buffington (2024): Defines the challenges facing climate goals and offers achievable solutions to meet these goals by 2050 - without sacrificing economic growth.
• Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant (2023): Account of a large Canadian wildfire and exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind.
• Land, Water, Air and Freedom: The Making of World Movements for Environmental Justice by Joan Martínez-Alier (2023): Using 500 in-depth empirical analyses from the Atlas of Environmental Justice, analyzes the commonalities shared by environmental defenders and offenders.  
• Net-Zero and Low Carbon Solutions for the Energy Sector: A Guide to Decarbonization Technologies by Amin Mirkouei (2024): Guide to choosing and investing in decarbonization technologies for the energy sector written from the perspective of firsthand research experience in the field.
• What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman (2023): Illuminates the rich biology and natural history of owls and reveals remarkable new scientific discoveries about their brains and behavior. 

Diversity of UCI Libraries’ Collections

UCI Libraries collect materials in all formats to support the university’s research, teaching, and public service mission.

We believe it is crucial that our collections reflect the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, and larger Orange County community. Thus, we are making an effort to collect materials that consider the needs and perspectives of historically underrepresented, marginalized, and oppressed groups. For more information, please refer to our Diversity Statement and Plan.

For additional information about UCI Libraries’ efforts to celebrate diversity in its users, staff, collections, and resources, visit the UCI Libraries Diversity webpage.