× Expand Photo courtesy of Sam and Mark Stork

I spot Isaac Stork through the glass door at Hartford Coffee and recognize him immediately. He wears a blue button-up shirt, neatly adorned with a black bow tie and comes into the coffee shop beaming.

I quickly stand up and introduce myself to his parents, Sam and Mark Stork, and then to Isaac.

“Hi, I’m Isaac,” he says nonchalantly, as he continues his way to the back section of Hartford Coffee where the toys are located.

His parents and I follow him to the back where we find an empty bench near the train table.

Sam and I sip our coffee, while Isaac investigates the toys. She tells me that Isaac’s love of science began when he was one. He was mesmerized by the documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

“He couldn’t fall asleep unless it was on,” Sam says.

Isaac still admires Tyson, but Bill Nye the Science Guy is his favorite scientist. “I like him because he knows science and does a lot of science,” Isaac tells me as he pulls a stretched-out orange slinky out of the toy box.

For Isaac, science and bow ties go hand-in-hand. He wears one everyday, much like his idol, Bill Nye.

“I like them a lot,” Isaac says. His mom says that he initially became “obsessed with bow ties” because of Bill Nye, but also because it was a way to diversify his otherwise boring school uniform. “He wears bow ties to have choice,” Sam says.

Perplexed by the tangled slinky, Isaac brings it over to his mom to inspect. I ask if the bow tie he's currently wearing—which has "science rules" written on it in small letters—is his favorite.

He shakes his head, still looking at the tangled slinky. “My favorite is a blue polka-dot one.”

“It’s a Bill Nye bow tie,” his mom adds.

The idea for raising money for science came to Isaac one day in the car. He was disappointed that he didn’t get to participate in the Women’s March on St. Louis in January, so his parents told him that he could participate in the March for Science, which is scheduled in St. Louis for April 22 (other details are TBD).

As soon as he knew about the march, Isaac wanted to raise money for science. He plans to collect bow ties and sell them at the march. Instead of a lemonade stand, he plans to have a bow tie stand.

Isaac’s dad, Mark, posted his son’s idea on Reddit, and there was such a great response that they created a Facebook page to better manage the interest. So far, Isaac has collected 50 bow ties.

“I want to collect 1,000 bow ties,” he tells me while still working to untangle the slinky.

He plans to donate the money to The Planetary Society. When I ask if he hopes to be a planetary scientist, he says, “No.” He wants to be an astrophysicist who also owns submarines.

He looks up at me with a convincing smile, and I think he just might be able to pull it off.

If you have any bow ties you’d like to donate, visit the Bow Ties for Science Facebook page.