Clemson Extension launches live call-in program to answer viewer questions
The first episode of Clemson Extension Live will air at noon April 5 on Facebook Live, offering viewers an opportunity to ask questions on everything from home gardening to birding.
The weekly, hour-long program runs each Wednesday on Clemson Cooperative Extension’s Facebook page and features Clemson University experts in horticulture, entomology, wildlife and more.
“Clemson Extension Live enhances and expands our efforts to extend university knowledge to all the people of South Carolina,” said Clemson Extension Director Thomas Dobbins. “With Clemson Extension Live, our doors are open to a large online community who frequently use our social media channels, including the Extension Facebook page, to reach our experts.
“Our hope is that every Wednesday during lunchtime folks will reach out to us with their questions about birding and gardening.”
The first show features award-winning Extension horticulturalist Bob Polomski, author of numerous gardening books, including his latest, “Month by Month Gardening in the Carolinas.” Polomski has been published by numerous scientific journals, as well as newspapers and magazines, and has appeared regularly on radio. Polomski will host a monthly horticulture and gardening edition of Clemson Extension Live.
Subsequent episodes of Clemson Extension Live feature numerous experts from Clemson Cooperative Extension, The S.C. Botanical Garden and the Home and Garden Information Center, which provides research-based information on landscaping; gardening; plant health; household pests; food safety and preservation; and nutrition, physical activity and health.
South Carolina Botanical Garden Director Patrick McMillan and J. Drew Lanham, alumni distinguished professor of wildlife ecology, will host a monthly edition of Clemson Extension Live that focuses on birding. McMillan is well-known as host of the Emmy Award-winning ETV show “Expeditions with Patrick McMillan.” A conservationist, master teacher and certified wildlife biologist, Lanham is author of the recently published book “The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature,” which explores the connections between humans and nature.
Home and Garden Information Center Director and consumer horticulture expert Millie Davenport; Extension horticulturalist George Dickert; and S. Corey Tanner, the urban horticulture program team leader for Clemson Extension, plan to host a monthly edition of Clemson Extension Live, as well. Davenport is co-creator of Extension’s Sustainable Small Farms and Backyard Program and is the curator of the SC Crop Improvement Heirloom Seed Collection. Dickert is a former greenhouse manager and a regular contributor to Carolina Gardener magazine. Tanner also worked in the nursery industry and previously authored a monthly column for SC Living Magazine called SC Gardener. Tanner and Davenport frequently appear as expert panelists on SCETV’s award-winning gardening program “Making It Grow.”
South Carolina Botanical Garden manager John Bodiford and landscape manager Kathy Bridges will appear regularly on Clemson Extension Live as well.
