While Island Press is not the official "author" of the book, we are eager to receive new or updated information to be included in the next edition. Drawing from this information, Island Press has created an online listing of programs that were not profiled in the book. To submit your contribution, either fill out the postcard included in the book itself, or e-mail the name, address, phone number, and e-mail address of the "contact person" for that program; someone will contact that person for further information as the second edition is developed. If you would like to correct an error or to provide specific "update" information, please e-mail that information or return the card included in the book.

Following is a description of how the book was researched and the profiles compiled:

The research process began with a list, drawn up by career center staff at University of California at Santa Barbara, of 412 environmental programs, departments, and schools within universities across the country. The list was based on a literature search, queries over the Internet, and contact with environmental professionals and associations. Certificate-only programs were not included. Selection preference was given to programs mentioned repeatedly by environmental professionals, and to those drawing a more diverse student body.

Postcards requesting information and course catalogues were sent to all 412 programs.

A survey was mailed to faculty representing each program. Of the 412 graduate programs queried, 156 programs completed and returned their surveys. Each completed survey was reworked into a profile. Schools that did not respond to the mailing were contacted twice by phone to remind them to return the survey.

To supplement this information, and to ensure that the most noteworthy programs were included in the guide, additional profiles were compiled for a select number of key programs that failed to return their surveys. These latter profiles were based on literature review and personal interviews.

In all, each program was contacted three times – once by mail and twice by phone – to encourage them to submit their surveys, and to verify and update information.

The absence of a particular profile, or segment of a profile, reflects no editorial judgement on the part of the authors. Rather, if a specific program was not profiled, the most likely explanation is that the program in question did not return its survey. If you have information on other graduate environmental programs, please pass that information on to us, so that we can include them in future editions of the guide.

Most of the information provided was accurate as of November 1994 – the date by which the surveys were completed – and some follow-up verification was conducted during the summer of 1996, before the book went into production. There are an ever-expanding number of programs in the environmental field, and existing programs are constantly evolving. Readers should therefore expect to continue to encounter ongoing changes in names, titles, and phone numbers.