Golden State Naturalist

Latest Episodes:

Catalina Foxes with Lauren Dennhardt and Katie Elder Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

In 1999, the once-healthy population of Catalina foxes plummeted suddenly and without explanation. Over the next few years, scientists worked to find out what was wrong and to bring this tiny fox, found nowhere else on earth, back from the brink.

Join me and Lauren Dennhardt as we discuss Catalina fox's story, and then come with me into the field with Katie Elder to trap foxes for their annual population count and vaccinations.

Links:

Check out this mini doc on the Catalina fox's story.

NPS page on the island fox.

Get 15% off your order of California native seeds from the California Collection by Nature’s Seed by using the code Golden15 at checkout.

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

Episode cover photo by Michelle Fullner.

Island Biogeography with Kevin Alison and John Knapp Aug 14, 2026

Show notes

Humans have been fascinated by islands since the writing of the earliest works of literature, but the outsized role they play in our imaginations isn't limited to fiction. Islands make up only a tiny percentage of the land on earth, but they represent about a fifth of the planet's total biodiversity.

And things stranger than fiction happen on islands, from the evolution of miniature mammoths and enormous flightless birds with no fear of humans to the illumination of the theory of evolution itself.

Join me and two experts, Kevin Alison and John Knapp, as we trundle along island roads deep into the unique ecology of Santa Catalina Island and discuss giant buckwheats, tiny foxes, and what islands have to teach us about the living world back on the mainland.

Links:

Recommended reading:

Song of the Dodo by David Quammen

Fremontia issue on CA Islands

Ways to support the pod:

Get 15% off your order of California native seeds from the California Collection by Nature’s Seed by using the code Golden15 at checkout.

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.

Sources:

Penglai: https://www.npm.gov.tw/Exhibition-Content.aspx?sno=04010138&l=2

Island landmass: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1306309110

Island biodiversity: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8556160/

Plant endemism on islands: https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10565488

Global extinctions on islands and success of invasive species removal: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-14982-5

Bird extinctions: https://datazone.birdlife.org/articles/many-bird-species-have-already-gone-extinct

Island role in biological and linguistic diversity: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274380594_The_Importance_of_Islands_for_the_Protection_of_Biological_and_Linguistic_Diversity

House cat origins: https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/28/science/domestic-cats-origins-ancient-dna

Miscellany:

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

Episode cover photo by Michelle Fullner

Schedule Update Jul 31, 2026

Show notes

The pod is going stronger than ever, but it's also part of a larger picture than ever, which means a little shuffle is in order. Have a listen to find out the specifics. I'll see you on the next full episode soon!

Stay golden,

Michelle

California Grasslands with Justin Luong Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

The golden hills of California are hiding things.

At first glance, grasslands like these ones appear to be simple systems. And to some degree, they are simplified versions of their precolonial selves, but they’re also home to thousands of species of native plants that support an intricate ecology. Look a little closer, peer between the swishing blades, know what to look for, and you’ll see not only a mesmerizing web of life but also California’s history written in the grass.

Come with me and Dr. Justin Luong of UC Berkeley as we explore a California grassland and discuss the past, present, and future of an ecosystem vital to both biodiversity and human wellbeing.

Links:

Justin’s website

The Colonial Roots of Black Mustard

Get 15% off your order of California native seeds from the California Collection by Nature’s Seed by using the code Golden15 at checkout.

Speak up for California’s public lands with CalWild.

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

Production support by Laine Kaplan Levenson.

Episode cover photo by Michelle Fullner.

Seeds with Cheryl Birker Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

Seeds are far more present in our lives than most of us realize. They compose everything from our morning coffee to our favorite chocolates and have helped shape the world as we know it.

California native seeds are just as vital, and protecting them is a way of safeguarding our very future.

Join me and Cheryl Birker at the California Botanic Garden as we explore the hidden world of seeds. In this episode, we take a deeper look into the difference between spores and seeds, seeds that require fire to germinate, seeds that survived for 2,000 years in the Judean Desert, and how safeguarding seeds is a way of safeguarding life as we know it.

Links:

Get 15% off your order of California native seeds from the California Collection by Nature’s Seed when you use the code GOLDEN15 at checkout.

Speak up for California’s public lands with CalWild.

Cacao Seeds as Currency

California Plant Rescue

Seed Germination Data

Seed photos by John Macdonald

Seed Savers Exchange (the catalogue mentioned at the end of the episode)

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

Photo: Prickly poppy seeds by Michelle Fullner, taken at the California Botanic Garden.

Forgotten Lands with Josh Jackson Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

California is home to 15 million acres of a kind of land most people have never heard of. These lands span deserts, grasslands, oak woodlands, and coastal rainforests. They’re free or very inexpensive to visit, and they’re almost never crowded. But what are these mythical wonderlands?

These are the largely overlooked lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, and you can go and see them.

Josh Jackson, author of The Enduring Wild: A Journey Into California’s Public Lands, took me to see one of these places he refers to as Forgotten Lands. While we were there, we discussed the history of BLM lands, nature behind a velvet rope and not behind a velvet rope, current threats to the land, how we can find and access BLM lands, and how connecting with these places can change not only how we look at nature far from home, but also how we see the living world in our own backyards.

Links:

Get Josh’s book, The Enduring Wild.

Speak up for California’s public lands with CalWild.

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.

Tidy tips photo by Josh Jackson

Did someone say season 5? Jun 07, 2026

Show notes

What do California lizards and tiny foxes have in common? Check out this special announcement episode to find out.

More soon, friends!

Michelle

Kayleigh Shawn McCollum

Resolutions with Anders Reynolds and Bill Hodge Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

Are you making New Year's resolutions this year? Mine are a little unconventional. Find out what they are and get to know two incredible advocates for public land, Anders Reynolds and Bill Hodge of The Wild Idea Podcast, on this special bonus episode.

And of course remember to check out The Wild Idea Podcast as soon as you're done listening here.

Happy New Year, friends!

Critical Mast: Oak Trees with Zarah Wyly Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

We need every single species of native tree here in California, but our 20+ varieties of native oaks are the most crucial of all. In this episode, join me and my guest, Zarah Wyly, on a walk through a relatively new oak woodland in Folsom dotted with two ancient, magnificent oak trees. Learn the story of how this unusual woodland came to be, find out why oaks are my all-time favorite trees, and explore such questions as: What kinds of life are supported by oak trees? If I plant one, will it wreck my house? What do you have to do to acorns to make them edible? Why does it look like some oak trees are growing apples? How do oaks spread such heavy seeds? What kinds of variety is there among different oak species? What does any of this have to do with the Declaration of Independence?

And here's a handy list of the other podcasts participating in Critical Mast!

Future Ecologies
Jumpstart Nature
Nature's Archive
Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast
Outside/In

Ok, get ready for a lot of links. Here you goooooo!

The Declaration of Independence and the Hand of Time

The Nature of Oaks, by Douglas Tallamy

National Resources Conservation Service Resource on Grazing

Secrets of the Oak Woodlands, by Kate Marianchild

Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

City Nature Challenge

Sacramento Tree Foundation

Calscape (to help with planting natives!)

Daniel Airola's research on bird diversity in urban forests

The theme song is called "i dunno" by grapes, and it can be found here.

Follow me on Instagram @goldenstatenaturalist

My website is www.goldenstatenaturalist.com

You can find me on Patreon here.

Episode photo by Bendp

Symbiotic Cities with Kat Superfisky Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

Can cities be good for wildlife? Or at least not so bad? What changes would we need to make to welcome more life into our cities? How would those changes impact humans? What are other cities already trying?

Come with me and Kat Superfisky to the largest city in California, where we discuss all of this and so much more.

Note: This interview was recorded in September of 2024, so any references to the Federal government are references to the government during the Biden Administration.

Helpful Links:

Kat’s website

Content Creation for Nature

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month.

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠.

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠.

Get podcast Merch.
The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠.