
Emily Graslie
natural sciences curiousity correspondent
Emily Graslie seems an unlikely candidate to be a public face of science. A violinist who majored in art history, her interest in the natural world wasn't piqued until she volunteered at a zoological museum to meet a grad requirement ~ and discovered a passion for dead animals. Amidst cleaning and dissecting specimens, Emily started a vlog The Brain Scoop wherein she's tackled everything from how to use flesh-eating beetles to clean bear bones to how sexism deters women from science careers.
Today, The Brain Scoop has more than 250,000 subscribers. And, it's now produced by the Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, which hired Emily to use her hands-on approach to make science more compelling + fun for everyone.
making science fun | hands on, accessible approach of The Brain Scoop
witty ~ but pointed ~ feminism | took some of her viewers to task for sexist comments on her appearance ~ wants to lure more women to science
high tolerance for gross | skinned + gutted a wolf on video; also dissected a two-faced calf
2012 | discovered by YouTube producer Hank Green who helped her launch The Brain Scoop a month later
2013 | episode of The Brain Scoop on wolves went viral
July 2013 | hired by the Field Museum to be first ever "chief curiosity correspondent"
from | to
aspiring artist and museum volunteer | YouTube star with a full-time gig doing science programs at the Field Museum
born on
June 14, 1989
born in
Rapid City, South Dakota
birth name
Emily Graslie
citizen of
The United States of America
daughter of
Tom Graslie
~ attorney + rancher ~
Dr. Carol Zielike
~ family physician ~
sister of
3 sisters
grew up spending summer on
her family's ranch near Faith, South Dakota
lives in
Chicago, Illinois
educated at
University of Montana
~ BA Studio Art | 2011 ~
loved studying
not science
inspired by
her mother
Jane Goodall
David Attenborough
advocate for
women in STEM
in her spare time
draws + paints + blogs + bakes + plays violin
working on a Master's degree in Museum Science at Johns Hopkins
tweets
@Ehmee
image credit
collapse bio bits"You should probably be warned: if there's ever a grossometer—be wary."
Ask Emily #2 | february 2013
"When I was in high school I felt as though science was a bit over my head. I don’t know if that’s because I was a girl, or just because I didn’t believe in myself, but whatever the case I really wish I had followed my gut and gone into the field early."
Stem YouTube and Museums: An Interview with Emily Graslie | april 2013
"Never let anyone make you feel as though you need to fulfill an alternate agenda if what you really want is an education."
STEM YouTube + Museums: An Interview with Emily Graslie | april 2013
"I feel like people get way too constricted in what their degree is and they feel like they have to do what their degree says that they are. To be honest, I feel way more like a scientist or a biologist than I ever felt like an artist."
Emily Graslie and The Brain Scoop | june 2013
"[My mission is] to get as many people as possible excited about the incredible unlikelihood of our collective existence."
Ask Emily #5 | september 2013
"The cocoon and the chrysalis serve the same function—puberty! To make the transition into adulthood, the body inside of the encasing has to liquify and literally rebuild itself before it's ready to emerge as the beautiful adult that it is. In comparison, acne doesn't seem that bad."
Moths vs Butterflies | october 2013
"We need to make sure we're making it possible for people of all genders to feel acknowledged for their contributions and not feel held back by something as arbitrary as their genetics or appearance."
Where My Ladies At? | november 2013
"There's a pressure to be the whole package. Not only do you have to be intelligent and articulate, but you have to be 'attractive.'"
Where My Ladies At? | november 2013
"Young women who have always had an interest in science and are starting to wonder if they should take it more seriously. If I was that age . . . I would want that reassurance—that what I was interested in was cool, that people would still like me and think I'm funny even if I'm into weird gross stuff that nobody else was talking about."
How Emily Graslie Went from You-Tube Science Star to Full-time at the Field Museum | january 2014
"I just thought, 'I'm going to clean three bighorn sheep heads today—I think that's kind of remarkable. Maybe I'll start a blog.'"
How Emily Graslie went from YouTube science star to full-time at the Field Museum | january 2014
"I was afraid people were gonna think I was disgusting, or . . . a sociopath. I didn't think any scientists would like it. I was afraid [they] would see the show and say, 'She doesn't know what she's talking about, she's making this sh!t up.'"
How Emily Graslie went from YouTube science star to full-time at the Field Museum | january 2014
"I've only ever sold two works of art which I personally received the payment for: one to an aunt, the other to my dad. I needed help paying rent."
Interview with Emily Graslie | february 2014
"Museums need more money, period. We've all got big ideas on how we can improve things but the budget is always the underlying factor in being unable to execute plans and making dreams unactionable."
The Emily Graslie Interview | february 2014
"Art is very physical, it's very emotional, it's a lot of personal self-expression and I didn't see any of that in science. I thought you had to be a certain kind of analytical, left-brained type of person to be a scientist."
Get That Life: How Emily Graslie Became a Museum's Chief Curiosity Correspondent | july 2014
"I always encourage girls to pursue what interests them. I didn't get to be where I am because of how I look. It's not like somebody said I should be doing this position. I'm not an actress playing a role. I'm playing myself, the person who was studying art and who didn't realize I could be good at science."
Get That Life: How I became a Museum's Chief Curiosity Correspondent | july 2014
"You've spent too much time at work when Netflix suggests 'Mixology' and you think it says 'Mycology', a romantic movie about fungus lovers."
twitter | august 2014
"The challenge is that children grow up being told by the media and their peers that being sexy and popular are far more appealing and important traits than being inquisitive, smart, independent, creative thinkers."
Ask Emily #10 | january 2015
"Roses are red, Violets are blue, Spiders are adorable: they'll mate with and then eat you!"
Tweet | february 2015
for further reading about Emily Graslie:
curated with care by Kathleen Murray & Alicia Williamson {september 2014}
Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum
Emily discovered her secret passion for science through an internship at the University of Montana's Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum. She was so unexpectedly excited by the work she did there, she decided to start a blog, which turned into a vlog, which launched her career as a professional Curiosity Correspondent.
The Brain Scoop | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fw5CkO2HPM
The Brain Scoop | Grossometer
Graphic designer Karen Kavett helped bring Emily's show about dead things to life when it got its own YouTube channel. Every episode opens with this charming warning ~ The Grossometer ~ which gives viewers a heads up about how much blood, gore or other stomach-turning spectacles they can anticipate.
Karen Kavett
The Accidental Scientist
Chicago's leading alternative newspaper helped share Emily's fascinating story ~ of how she "went from YouTube science star to full-time at the Field Museum."
Chicago Reader