Environmental journalist Amy Martin gave a presentation about her work on her podcast, Threshold, in science teacher Bradford Buck’s classroom as part of her three day trip to St. Louis visiting schools. She was brought in by gifted education specialist Christine Nobbe through the Civitas Institute.

Martin’s presentation focused on the eighteen months of research and reporting for her podcast’s second season, Cold Comfort, which covered the arctic to answer three questions in great detail: what is the arctic, how is it changing, and how does it matter for all of us. She discussed how she visited all eight arctic countries and interviewed the people who inhabit them.

“People [in the arctic] were so warm…it showed me the resilience of the human spirit,” Martin said.

Because of the podcast’s environmental angle, she talked about the effects of climate change on the region, and specifically its impact on its native wildlife, explained how the fossil fuel industry has exploited the ice melting, and the rising sea levels’ effects on human behavior.

“What is different [than natural climate change] right now is we’re changing the environment so, so quickly…what’s really tough for us is really quick change…we can, we’re probably going to have to, but it’s going to cause a lot of turmoil,” Martin said.

At the end of the speech, Martin encouraged the audience to take steps to take care of the environment.

“The thing that I think you need to understand is that a lot of forces are relying on you not caring…so what you can do is care,” Martin said.