Adam Reinhardt

Digital Communications Manager Adam Reinhardt’s passion for environmentalism was solidified while the Illinois native was attending college at the University of Minnesota Duluth and got the chance to experience Lake Superior’s “magic.” 

“That’s the only word I can think of to describe that body of water and what it means to people and has meant to people for hundreds and thousands of years,” Reinhardt said. 

He pursued a degree in environmental studies while working to produce a show on local environmental issues for his college radio station, KUMD.

He recalls a professor who offered powerful classes on the anthropocene that left a lasting impression. 

“It’s fascinating to think about how human history is nestled into the bigger history of the planet and how there are all sorts of rippling impacts of the decisions that humans have made since the industrial revolution,” Reinhardt said.

To witness conversations among world leaders about how to address those impacts on a global stage as part of MCEA’s COP26 delegation is both a huge opportunity and a tremendous honor and responsibility, Reinhardt said.  

As a member of our communications team, he aims to help people at home feel connected to what’s happening on the ground in Glasgow both inside and outside the conference, and elevate the voices of Minnesotans sharing experiences about the impacts of the climate crisis within our state and the innovative ideas that have surfaced on how to address them. 

“Minnesota is one of the fastest warming states. We are the state where the Mississippi River is born. We are on the coast of Lake Superior where 10 percent of the world’s freshwater is. As a people in this state, we have a lot to lose,” Reinhardt said. “It’s really cool to be at this conference where I can help to connect the dots of what’s happening and what’s at stake here in Minnesota to global conversations.”