Such a beautiful and diverse podcast about all things California. The host brings such a genuine, deep curiosity to every episode (even eps that don’t initially intrigue me are brought to life in ways that keep me sticking around). I’m so glad pods like this exist in the world.

I started listening to this podcast while flying over California from LA to Seattle and it was like looking at my home with completely new eyes. Thanks, Michelle!

Michelle is not only an engaging and fantastic host but also an insightful interviewer ! Such great topics and guests that share knowledge nuggets on things you might see in your every day. A great balanced view also and gives you things to consider or how to ‘do’ in even the smallest ways if something inspires you. I love how it makes me appreciate CA on the next level!

The perfect mix of education, curiosity, exploration, fascination, bewilderment, and discovery. I adore this podcast so much — and even love listening to it with my nature-loving 4-year-old! 🫶🏼

Just started listening a couple of weeks ago and after two episodes I decided to become a patron. I’m enrolled in a California naturalist course and this podcast has been an essential companion in this time of discovery and curiosity.

One of my favorite podcasts! Michelle is an excellent interviewer and paints beautiful pictures with her words. I’m always entertained and learning something new.

This is hands down my favorite podcast! I’ve learned so much from Michelle and her guests. I love California and I love learning about our state’s history, especially including the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land, and the beautiful biodiversity of the state!

I really love how Michelle makes learning about our local ecologies human, joyful, and informative. The info shared is relationship building and hopeful, tools for the repair needed today!

I’m really enjoying this podcast and the variety of speakers and topics. Definitely recommend.

A popular mountain lion in my region (Orange County) named UNO was recently hit by a car and tragically passed away. Prior to this, I've never been one to actively spend my time learning about the creatures that inhabit the parks and mountains in my area. I was devastated to see a helpless, beautiful creature suffering and did some research. I had no idea the negative impacts we are currently leaving on our precious mountain lions and many other species. This led me to learn about LA's mountain lion, P-22, and eventually the incredible Miguel Ordeñana. As a podcast lover, I wanted to see if there were any shows that focused on this area of interest and this was one of the first I found. Absolutely loved and learned a wealth of information after listening to the urban ecology episode with Miguel! Will continue checking out the other episodes... thank you for giving these people and animals a spotlight in a world that often drowns their voices!

If you are interested in California nature, this podcast is the one!!

This podcast with Justin Garwood reaffirmed my belief in walking slowly along the trail and letting Nature reveal itself; sometimes slowly, sometimes in the blink of an eye, sometimes like a smack in the face, but always awe-inspiring! Being a naturalist is having a deep and profound understanding that all things are connected, including ourselves . Thank you Michelle, for opening the amazing natural world of California to your listeners and introducing us to some passionate and compassionate people in the pursuit of knowledge sharing and conservation of California’s natural treasures.

Informative! You can totally feel the intentional heart and love in each episode. Recommended for anyone that picks up cool rocks.

Highly recommend for anyone who likes nature, the outdoors, science, or needs a dose of joy and optimism. You can tell Michelle has a background as an educator, and trained as a naturalist. She’s curious, infectiously enthusiastic, and sensitive to both social justice issues and human impact/climate change. Love that she pops in during the interviews with clarifications/explanations; hope more interviewers follow her lead!

This podcast is a tonic for environmental despair. While comunicating the urgency of the many environmental crises that we face in California, Michelle gives us space to mourn what we’ve lost but also consistently presents ways we can promote positive change and shares with us her causes for hope. The interviews are well done with fascinating subjects. I was sad to get caught up on all the episodes. Now I have to wait for more.

The guests on this podcast are great! They are interesting people with interesting jobs. I love how the host will inject extra information throughout the interview. It’s the perfect podcast for people who want to learn more about the nature right outside our homes.

Quality content, engaging delivery. Got wind of GSN via california native plant facebook group. As a Ca native plant nerd and advocate, a podcast about Ca ecology was just what I was looking for. Michelle Fullner has an Alie Ward like quality, which, I mean as a sincere compliment because Ologies is suuper rad. The Urban Ecology episode w/ Miguel Ordenana has inspired me to do what I can for our bats.

Just listened to the episode with Jane Kim and my heart is full. It was such a joy hear this conversation with these two intelligent, authentic, and caring women. Childcraft encyclopedias! A huge part of my childhood reading time too.

Love Michelle's enthusiasm and breadth of topics.

I have only listened to the first few episodes so far, but I’m hooked! As a nature lover, and a born and raised Californian, this podcast speaks to my soul. There’s so much diversity here in California, from plants to animals to geology to ecosystems- there is enough material to fill decades of episodes!

Easiest five stars I could give a podcast! Well produced, interesting, local, and engaging. Just listened to the first salmon episode, and as a Sacramentan, it was so wonderful to learn more about our beautiful river and it’s residents.

This is a gem of a podcast. Michelle, the host is incredibly lively and engaging no matter what topic she has chosen to take on she will make you curious, and then provide enticing, answers to pressing questions about ecology after listening to these I feel so much more informed and ready to interpret what I see on the trail.

I happened upon this podcast in search of info on native gardening in California. I have since devoured every episode! Michelle is a wonderful speaker, and her excitement and interest in every topic shines through each episode. Everyone she speaks to is so so passionate and eager to share their knowledge, it’s hard not to be intrigued with every topic. I have since joined the local chapter of California Native Plant Society, foraged stinging nettle, and am in search of a nature-journaling group.

Just finished the episode about northern California’s wetlands and the Delta country. Super informative and tremendously interesting. Again—thank you!

Not even a tiny bit boring! My attention span can be short, conditioned by the comedy podcasts I mostly listen to. But this podcast lines up with my interest in California, in native plants & nature in general. Love it!

Naomi Fraga brought me here and I’m now binging episodes. Learning a TON! Michelle’s work on this podcast is hugely appreciated. Format, editing, production, audio quality, interviewees, relevant educational content — all top flight! A+++

I have been listening to this series as I drive over to volunteer at Elkhorn Slough off of Monterey Bay. Michelle’s research and interviews both inform and inspire, and I often find myself inserting tidbits I learn into my conversations with visitors, staff and other volunteers in the area. I can’t count the number of times I’ve said, “Oh, you’d like this most recent episode!” to someone who shares an interest in the wonders of California’s ecology in all its many forms. I particularly appreciate how Michelle brings attention to both the micro and the macro, past and present, inner city and distant mountains. She speaks directly to the climate challenges while highlighting the positive steps people and organizations are doing to honor and protect our state’s creatures, lands and waterways. Listeners are bound to come away feeling ready to learn more and get involved.

I also went through UCANR’s California Naturalist certification program which was a life defining and trajectory setting experience for me. Michelle represents the best of that program, and most importantly, the best of what happens when people care enough about their world to learn about it, love it deeply, and share it with others. I have learned so much from this and am blown away by the caliber of these interviews. The science alone is fascinating, but it is always presented in a way that preserves the sense of awe and humility that is present in the very best nature writers. This blend of science and the experiential is in my view, the essence of what it is to be a naturalist. Golden State Naturalist is a love letter to California and is a powerful counter narrative to our state’s extensive legacy of environmental degradation and the horrific treatment of its indigenous peoples (who are still here and still carry traditional knowledge of the land).

such a great podcast for all curious nature-lovers!

I have listened to different podcasts for several years, and I just discovered this one. I love it! She goes in depth and explains everything. I am learning so much! Keep it up!

Michelle does an excellent job and truly has a passion for the natural world, great interviews with awesome people, I really like her focus on native plants!

I grew up in Sonoma county and have lived all over the world over the past 8 years, stuck in New England for the past 6. I’ve still never found the connection I have to California’s magical ecology despite my efforts to root wherever I find myself. I think that’s something that only comes from being a baby on Sonoma’s coast, in the redwoods and inland black oak forests. Despite my efforts I still havent been able to relocate back to Northern California (somehow I’ve found myself in just the right nook of academia that makes that hard!), and this podcast has been like curling up with the most nurturing blanket from home. It assuages my homesickness and brings me closer to that deep connection to California ecology in a way that nothing else has, and taught me about a million things I didn’t know before. Would give 10 stars if I could- this pod is a treasure.

Michelle’s podcasts are informative and charming. Anyone living in California should absolutely *not* sleep on this opportunity to learn more about this place we call home. For me though, even more than the details of the specific learning in each pod—which I am here for!—each episode expresses desire for intimacy with the natural word: the stars, the butterflies, the trees, the living earth we stand on. I share this desire and curiosity, and this podcast helps me feel connected to a part of our shared humanity that is often suppressed by the daily grind. I quit my Audible subscription so I could contribute to her Patreon. It’s that good!

Super fun and entertaining! But above all, informative in the best way possible. A must listen for anyone interested in native plants, botany, or the environment.

I love learning new things about the natural world, and Michelle’s interviews deliver this in spades, but even more, I love being invited into another person’s learning process. The best thing about the structure of each podcast is the way Michelle takes you along with her on her investigation. She selects fascinating topics and dives into them with gusto, interviewing engaging guests and then adding the results of her own investigations. She is open-minded and always questioning her assumptions, doubling back to add new insights and new avenues of exploration. Michelle is also deeply respectful and clearly puts a lot of thought and energy into the topics she chooses and the people whose voices are represented on the show. I can’t wait for all of the new discussions ahead!

The Golden State Naturalist wins my vote for podcast of the year, 2022. It is the podcast California needs and deserves. Michelle Fullner's compelling exploration of California's natural world is adventurous, invested, and respectful and her vibe is as unique as it is refreshing. In the 18 well-produced and entertaining episodes of the podcast's first year, the throughline of the story being told is indicative of a California-in-the-making that is hopeful, curious, and compassionate. With style and science, equitable representation, and a kind of joyous ease, the Golden State Naturalist is poised to only get bigger as the word spreads and I, for one, can't wait to tune in for what is next.

Michelle has very well researched, clearly explained, and entertaining interviews with various scientists, educators, and enthusiasts who are experts in the natural sciences and resources of our beautiful state! My only gripe is that she didn’t start it 2 years ago so I could find it last week and binge it for the next 6 months. 🤣🤣it’s basically everything I wanted in a podcast about California. And Michelle does such a great job with it. I’m in the truck like 4 hours a day so I listen to a lot of podcasts, and there’s a lot that are great for information, and a lot that are entertaining, and a lot that are easy to follow, but she hits that sweet spot for all of it! Go check it out, give her a listen, maybe you’ll learn something! I know I am.

I love it

Simply wonderful, each episode dives into interesting topics on what makes California unique, what the cool interviewee is doing to promote them, and how we all can learn to connect to our homes by understanding them more!

Can’t say enough to encourage others with an interest in the natural history of CA to listen. The interviews, the editorial asides, the show notes, the subjects, Michelle’s optimistic tone all contribute to what make this show both a real pleasure and a source of excellent information. Please keep it going!

This podcast is a gem! It’s so amazing to finally have a great podcast that talks about ecology and nature. Thank you for making this podcast 💚

She takes you on a fulfilled adventure though the state of California with knowledge you can’t pass up knowing. Highly recommend taking a listen.

Michelle’s voice is brimming with genuine curiosity and wonder! If you thought you knew a lot about California, wait till you find out how much more there is to discover in every one of these episodes.

Michelle’s experience in education, combined with her contagious energy and curiosity, is the perfect backdrop for this fun and informative podcast. Each episode is a unique, expert-guided adventure that makes you fall more in love with the golden state, and our home planet for that matter. Highly recommend for west coasters as well as those from out of state looking to learn more about the region.

Every episode is incredible and full of info. Follow, listen and learn. 💛💙💚❤️

If you love Nature, this show is for you! Everyone who calls themselves a Californian should listen to this show!

Michelle is such a great host, enthusiastic listener and fabulous teacher this podcast has helped me refocus my interests and really get back to nature. I have recommended this podcast to many and shall continue to do so! Such great work. Thanks!

If you are anything like me, it’s important to feed your brain while doing the mundane tasks regular life is filled with. Michelle has built a rad podcast for just that! She interviews interesting people and asks insightful questions about the bountiful diversity of California’s natural world. Even better, she has a great podcasting voice and her pure joy and infectious curiosity come across loud and clear. I can’t wait to hear what interviews she has cooked up for season 2.

We just listened to the episode about the Sutter Butte’s. It was informative and respectful and very well done. The quality of this podcast is outstanding!

After listening to several episodes of this show, I’ve learned so much about California’s creatures and ecosystems. Michelle’s measured but enthusiastic tone is perfect for taking us through the nuances of the world around us, and placing us firmly in the mountains, wetlands, deserts and forests where each episode takes place. Add in the excellent roster of knowledgeable guests, and the show is like a field guide for your ears!