08/10/2022
Diana Rashash
Naturally Florida is a podcast teaching about Florida’s natural areas and the wild things that live
there. Lara Milligan and Shannon Carnevale with UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas and Polk Counties,
respectively co-host the podcast…
It seems podcasting is slowly creeping its way into Extension as another tool to increase our
reach. As we celebrate one year since the launch of our podcast,
Naturally Florida, we
thought it would be appropriate to share our reflections on the experience, and perhaps inspire
you to start your own.
From 2015-2020, we offered a
Wildlife of Florida webinar series as another way to reach our
clientele. When the pandemic struck, we were already well versed with webinar productions
and decided to jump at the opportunity to try something new and different for extension:
podcasting.
After talking with other podcasters around the state, the same general advice kept coming up,
“Just start!”. A little easier said than done, but after a lengthy amount of research on
equipment, platforms, and process, we followed the advice we received. On June 21, 2021,
Naturally Florida was launched. It was a nerve-wracking, but exciting experience.
Naturally Florida launched with three-episodes and a commitment to publish one new
episode every month. We have stuck with this goal and now have 17 episodes published with
over 11,665 plays. The last three podcast episodes have an average download rate of 74 within
seven days of release indicating performance among the 25% of podcasts on the
market . It has
proven to be an amazing outreach tool, far surpassing our reach with webinars. Not only have
we expanded our reach in terms of number, but we are reaching new clientele not previously
reached with more traditional extension programming.
Recently, we saw a switch in our demographics from a female dominated listening audience to
a male dominated listening audience. The latest data shows the listening audience is 46% male,
37% female, 13% not specified and 4% non-binary. We have also been able to reach a
significantly younger clientele base than traditional extension programs. The age data shows
97% of the listening audience is under the age of 60 with 54% under the age of 34.
Due to the difficult nature in which to evaluate the success of a podcast, we trialed the
publication of a short episode asking listeners to complete a brief survey. This episode had 272
plays, and faculty received 22 responses for an 8% response rate. Results showed 82% reduced
the amount of pesticides used in yard care, 64% installed native vegetation to improve wildlife
habitat, and 50% removed an invasive species from their landscape. These results highlighted
the potential impact of
Naturally Florida.
Naturally Florida was designed to reach Florida residents and visitors who are dependent on
natural resources but may be unfamiliar with the state’s ecology and ecosystems. We research,
plan, record, edit, publish, and promote each episode. Topics covered to date include native
and invasive species, stormwater, urban forestry, and fire ecology.
Please consider sharing
Naturally Florida with family, friends, and colleagues to help us reach
more people with critical natural resource information. And you can consider starting a podcast
of your own!
Naturally Florida is available on all major podcasting platforms. More information,
including a media kit with downloadable flyers is available at
www.naturallyfloridapodcast.com.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us:
Lara Milligan,
lara317@ufl.edu or Shannon Carnevale,
scarnevale@ufl.edu.
