Agriculture Applied Podcast highlights grassroots approaches to conservation across North Dakota
Story by Hannah Nordby
When it comes to creating effective and meaningful educational programming Hannah Nordby has two core principles. First and foremost, consider the audience. Don’t expect people to come to you, meet them where they’re at. Secondly, cultivate engaging learning environments that inspire participants. If we aren’t having fun, why are we doing it? With these two principles in mind, she facilitates conservation leadership and planning programming for Soil Conservation District supervisors and employees across North Dakota.
These principles were born out of Hannah’s time as the NDSU Adams County Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent and were guiding principles when formulating the podcast Agriculture Applied. That podcast has followed Nordby’s change in role from a County Extension Agent to a Program Coordinator for Conservation Leadership and Planning. Evolving into Agriculture Applied: More than Dirt, which takes a grassroots approach towards cultivating conservation in one’s local community.
The podcasts mirrors the many hats Soil Conservation District (SCD) employees and supervisors wear by covering a wide gamete of topics from the history of SCDs in North Dakota, current conservation trends, leadership skills, urban conservation, and partnership highlights. Hannah shares, “It’s always interesting to see which episodes take off and which fall a bit flatter with folks.” Regardless of the number of listens, Hannah notes she learns something interesting and new every time a new episode gets recorded. “The stories and perspectives shared are second to none. I end each episode with a huge grin on my face and a new relationship developed!”
From start to finish Hannah is responsible for all aspects of podcast production including concept creation, episode logistics, recording, editing, publishing, and marketing. A perfectionist by nature, editing the audio can be tedious, while topic generation and episode recording bring her true joy. The most impactful episodes she’s recorded involve highlighting agricultural producers or SCD supervisors who go above and beyond the call of duty to locally implement and promote conservation. They are the boots on the ground, putting in extra time to volunteer at events, planting trees, supporting staff, and doing whatever leg work needs to be done. “I’m honored to highlight the amazing work folks are doing to conserve our natural resources for generations to come!”
You can find episodes of Agriculture Applied: More than Dirt on Spotify, ITunes or wherever podcasts can be heard. Grab a cup of joe and settle in as we converse about serving, preserving and conserving across the Great Plains, you don’t want to miss out!
preserving and conserving across the Great Plains, you don’t want to miss out!
Hannah Nordby, North Dakota State University Extension
Hannah Nordby is a Program Coordinator for Conservation Leadership and Planning with North Dakota State University Extension. In this role she supports Soil Conservation Districts in SW North Dakota in their mission to preserve our natural resources. Hannah’s background is in Agricultural Education, graduating from the University of Wyoming, and was an Agriculture and Natural Resources County Extension Agent before stepping into the Program Coordinator role. She creatively provides soil and water conservation training through webinars, podcasts, and in-person events. Hannah believes in meeting people where they are at and going the extra mile to create an engaging learning environment!