Interviewee of the Week: Amy Fowler

Hey out there, Big Idea friends!

We went back to Mimi's Garden yesterday! The last time we were there was late summer, and the unusually high temperatures had taken a toll on some of her plants.

Amy with one of her foster dogs

On thismia americana

We thought we'd take a break from working on our rockin' Kickstarter video to tell you guys about one of our favorite stories here at the Big Idea, a story that partially inspired the show and is going to open the series. It's the first story we tell when we pitch the show, and it's a wonder it's not a more well-known tale.
We filmed part of an historical reenactment on it last month, which is why it's on our minds.

The story behind the unique plant Thismia americana, discovered by the equally fascinating Norma Pfeiffer.

Big Idea Interview: Amy Fowler

Hello all!
So, check out where we went today the other day last week a few weeks ago:

That adorable little cottage is the location for Mimi's Garden, a small business that is run by the lovely Amy Fowler. Amy was nice enough to let us into her home and take us on a late-summer tour of her grounds, guarded by the fierce pup Jessie.

Big Idea Interviewee: Dave Dolak

Today was our first shoot day, and it went very well! We interviewed the awesome Dave Dolak, and I couldn't be happier to be starting off this webseries with filming him. A super guy, I met Dave back at Columbia when I signed up for his absolutely fabulous class Dinosaurs and More: Geology Explored. There was a little more about rocks than I wished to learn, but it was worth it to learn everything I ever wanted to know about dinosaurs. And Dave even mentioned in his interview that most geologists got their  start with dinosaurs, because let's be honest, who doesn't like them?