Hey everyone, I have a huge announcement to make.
Since 2017 I've been working on a project that's been a big deal for me.
And now after two years of planning and pitching I can finally tell you that I am heading to TV.
[APPLAUSE]
I feel like I should stand up and, like, throw my chair.
It's like, it's like. Flip the desk!
I'm so excited to be partnering with PBS and local member station WTTW,
here in Chicago, to create a three part three hour series on something I am truly passionate about:
paleontology, nature, history! Generally, really old, really dead stuff.
So what's the idea? Well, I grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota,
in the heart of an environment bursting with fossils and complex geology.
But since living in Chicago, I've really missed my home including the long drives I'd take with my family,
our road trips punctuated with visits to state national parks museums and cultural centers.
So I'm heading back to the northern plains with a whole production team,
traveling through five states and visiting dozens of locations
to tell a story about this region as it developed over a period of 2.5 billion years.
Thankfully, I've got a lot of help with this one. My co-producer Ally and I
headed out last September on a week-long Scouting trip and here are some highlights from that.
Today's the day that Ally Gimbel, my co-producer, and I
are visiting our first university and our first museum.
Yeah, no, I'm not getting teary eyed. We're not even gonna be filming for another year.
Oh my god. There'll be so many happy tears between now and then.
Oh I'm so excited. I'm so excited. Today's the day. Here we go.
[GUITAR MUSIC]
You know, it's not really a road trip until you get pulled over.
Oops.
Where's its head?
If this is how I die my mom's gonna be so upset.
[GUITAR MUSIC CONTINUES]
And we found everything here from fossil turtle bones to fossil
mollusks and there was a mammal jawbone that was found here recently. It's like a one-stop shop.
Can't get anything better than this.
Why, do you found poop?
She found poop, modern poop. I found fossil poop.
There's also the K-T boundary there
which is the boundary of the extinction line where you can actually see
radium layer deposits from where the asteroid landed and then all the dinosaurs got wiped out,
so you can see this physical line where there are dinosaurs below the boundary
and then no dinosaur fossils ever found above the boundary.
[GUITAR MUSIC CONTINUES]
ALLY: Dinosaur foot? EMILY: It's a dinosaur foot! My hand is where a dinosaur was
167 million years ago.
Well, despite our car troubles in
Glasgow, Montana, we managed to hitch a ride and still made it to the Port Peck interpretive center.
But they got some dinosaurs. Pretty neat!
That – that hadrosaur's having a bad time.
[GUITAR MUSIC CONTINUES]
[GUITAR MUSIC FADES]
Here we go.
Wow, I'm really picking up speed now.
Oh boy, this is the closest I'll ever get to riding a dinosaur in the Mesozoic.
I'm really glad there are no other people out here right now.
[DRUMMING HANDS]
We're still working on a title and I'm taking off to start filming in a few weeks.
So while I'm away, you may see less of me here,
but follow me on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes peeks.
Okay, that's all for now. Byeee.
[UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES]
EMILY: It still has brains on it.