Text version of video - STEM Career:  Environmental Reporter

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Science Technology Engineering Mathematics

STEM Career Connections

(Environmental reporter narration)

An environmental reporter covers the news and provides the public with an understanding of environmental issues in their community. How the place where they live affects them and how the way they live affects the environment.

Covering the environment can be a fun experience. One reason I got into this, I thought I would be outdoors more. And I still get a chance to get out and into some neat places. In mountains, underground, in planes, and on boats and that can be fun.

My job as an environmental reporter affects the environment in that I let people know what's happening out there. I help them understand issues.

The big issues these days have to do with climate change. Here in Baltimore, in Maryland, we're dealing with the Chesapeake Bay -- with growth and development and their impacts on our water quality, our streams. And basically the impact that we have. The footprint that we leave on the land through just our existence, even population is an issue. How many people can a particular ecosystem take before it begins to change, before it begins to be altered.

And there are many things that individuals can do just by minor changes in how they live, what they consume and how they dispose of their waste or recycle are some things that people do.

If you think that you might want to be an environmental journalist, I'd recommend that you study hard in school. Take those science and math classes, they're good background. But also focus on your communication skills because that's what you need to apply. You can have all the technical knowledge in the world, but you need to make it understandable to others.