The Encyclopedia is described as a free, fully searchable collection of articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and other approved[who?]

The articles are written in non-technical language and are intended to be useful to students, educators, scholars, and professionals, as well as to the general public.

Contributors are vetted by the Environmental Information Coalition (EIC) Stewardship Committee, the governing body of the Encyclopedia of Earth, before they are given access to the author's wiki.

Content Partners include organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, and American Meteorological Society.

EoE staff report that some college professors are beginning to write up their lecture notes to result in full courses within the Encyclopedia.

The EIC defines the roles and responsibilities for individuals and institutions involved in the Coalition, as well as the editorial guidelines for the Encyclopedia.

An EIC Stewardship Committee functions as the primary working group that develops and enforces policies and guidelines for the Encyclopedia, with input from Topic Editors and Authors.

NCSE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission "to improve the scientific basis for environmental decisionmaking" and "specializes in programs that foster collaboration between diverse institutions, communities and individuals.

The Stewardship Committee comprises: The International Advisory Board for the Encyclopedia is listed as Rita Colwell, Robert W. Corell, Robert Costanza, Mohamed H. A. Hassan, Thomas Homer-Dixon, Andrew J. Hoffman, Stephen P. Hubbell, Simon A. Levin, Bonnie J. McCay, David W. Orr, Rajendra K. Pachauri, Frank Sherwood Rowland, and B. L. Turner.