Accessing Journals, Web of Science, etc. from off campus:
http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/ul/services/connect/
The library encourages use of the VPN. I don’t find the VPN to be very user friendly and therefore recommend going through the proxy server. If you use Firefox, there are add-ons that can make switching between having the proxy off (when you are on-campus) and on (when you are off-campus). I find “QuickProxy” works pretty well.
Searching the Literature:
Knowing how to search the academic literature is an important skill that takes practice. One tool that helps you to search the literature is Web of Science. Through WOS you can search by author, subject, etc. You can also see who has referenced any given article, or link to references in a given article. You can also “export” your marked references to a reference manager program (such as Endnote X3). Similarly, many journals now make it easy to download and add a given reference to your Endnote library. A WOS tutorial is available here.
In addition to WOS, Google Scholar also does a pretty good job of finding articles. If you happen to know the exact title of a paper you are looking for it is often the fastest way to get there. Google Scholar is nice because it is a free service. However, unless you have access to the articles you find (often not free), then it is of limited utility.
Endnote is a reference management program that can be used to insert and format references in word documents. It allows you to easily re-format depending upon the specific requirements of a given journal. Endnote is available for free(!) download from the university through your my.ucdavis.edu account. Alternatively, you can use the online Endnote Web, which interfaces nicely with WOS.
Data Analysis:
In all likelihood, you will need to move beyond Excel-based analysis of your data. You will certainly need to use something other than Excel when making graphs for publications or formal presentations. The programs of choice are either IGOR or Matlab. If you are not extremely familiar with Matlab already, IGOR is recommended. A very brief “good practices” tutorial is available(courtesy Ed Dunlea/Jose Jimenez).
Fellowship Opportunities:
Graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply for external fellowships. Some fellowship opportunities can be found below.
Note that most of the deadlines are in the fall.
Department of Energy Graduate Research Environmental Fellowships (GREF)
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG)
Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowship
Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowships
American Meteorological Society
Other fellowship opportunities
Departmental Resources:
CEE Department Graduate Manual
Applying to UCD: