Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
647 Contees Wharf Road
P.O. Box 28
Edgewater, MD 21037
Tel: 443.482.2273
Fax: 443.482.2286
email: libmail@si.edu

About the Library

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Library, located in Edgewater, MD, is one of 20 branch libraries in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries system. It was founded in 1977 at the Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies (CBCES) to support the Center's research and education programs. The CBCES was renamed the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in 1986 upon the closing of the Smithsonian Radiation Biology Laboratory (SRBL) in Rockville, MD and the partial merging of staff and collections.

The SERC Library collections provide support for the scientists studying coastal zone ecosystems and the education staff which conveys information gleaned from SERC research on the human impact on the environment to the public, particularly children in grades K-12.