Emily Graslie
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Emily Graslie (born 1989) is an American science communicator and
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
educator. She started volunteering at the
Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum The Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum (UMZM) is a natural history facility and zoological collection located on the second floor of the Health Sciences building on the Missoula, Montana campus of the University of Montana. The UMZM is the largest ...
at the
University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...
in 2011. After appearing in a VlogBrothers video by
Hank Green William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...
in 2012, she was asked to join the
Nerdfighter Nerdfighteria is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated on YouTube in 2007, when the VlogBrothers (John and Hank Green) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, w ...
network. She presented the educational YouTube channel called "The Brain Scoop" until 2021 and also hosted portions of the ''Big History'' series featured on the ''
Crash Course A crash course is an educational or research course conducted over a very short period of time. These rapid learning programs may also be described by the ambiguous term crash program. Crash Course may also refer to: Television and movies * ''Cr ...
'' YouTube channel. Graslie was employed by the
Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...
as their first-ever Chief Curiosity Correspondent.


Early life and education

Graslie earned her bachelor's degree in
Studio Art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...
from the
University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...
in 2011. As a part of that program, she interned at the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum in her senior year. Graslie became a full-time curatorial volunteer after she graduated, while working on her master's degree in museum studies. She cleaned new specimens, gave tours, trained new interns, and acted as a
teaching assistant A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate school ...
for a class at the University of Montana.


Career

In June 2013, Graslie was hired by Chicago's
Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...
to become their 'Chief Curiosity Correspondent'. She continued to host "The Brain Scoop" from this new location. She was the keynote speaker at the Chicago March for Science on April 22, 2017. In 2019, the Graslie Curiosity Internship was named in her honor. In 2021, she received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Allegheny College.


YouTube

Graslie first appeared on YouTube in
Hank Green William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...
's December 7, 2012 VlogBrothers video. In the video, she showed Green a wide variety of the specimens in the lab. Because of her ease in front of the camera, enthusiasm, and fan comments, Graslie was asked to create her own YouTube channel, "The Brain Scoop", as a part of the
Nerdfighter Nerdfighteria is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated on YouTube in 2007, when the VlogBrothers (John and Hank Green) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, w ...
family. The series debuted in January 2013. Her work on the series has been described by journalists as "articulate and hilarious" as well as enthusiastic. Her November 27, 2013 video, which addressed the situation of women in STEM fields and inappropriate comments she received on her own postings, received a high level of media attention. In January 2014, Amy Wallace, another science journalist, wrote an article about how science journalists can find themselves the target of ugly personal attacks, and the attacks on female journalists include criticisms of their sexual attractiveness, and their sexual morality. Wallace included Graslie when she listed half a dozen fellow female science journalists whose reasonable, science-based articles on controversial topics had triggered crude abusive backlashes. In 2014, her channel "The Brain Scoop" was listed on
New Media Rockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' (''NMR'') is an online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covers YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed because of lack of fund ...
Top 100 Channels, ranked at #96. In 2016, she documented the efforts to help the recovery of the
Kankakee mallow ''Iliamna remota'', commonly known as the Kankakee mallow, is an endangered species of flowering plant in the mallow family. It is endemic to a single location, the Langham Island in Kankakee River State Park, in the US state of Illinois. Des ...
, an endangered species that is endemic to Illinois. As the only floral species that is found exclusively in that state, she has started an effort to make it the official Illinois
state flower This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory flowers. See also *List of U.S. state trees * Lists of U.S. state insignia References External linksList of state flowers {{USStateLists * U.S. state flowers Flowers ...
, proposing that it replace the more generic Violet. She left the channel and the Field Museum in early 2021. She then started her own channel and began releasing a series titled "Art Lab", focusing on the intersection between science and art.


''Prehistoric Road Trip''

In May 2019, Graslie announced that she would be producing and hosting a 3-hour series, on paleontology in the American Midwest, for PBS and
WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...
; filming took place throughout 2019. Its title, ''Prehistoric Road Trip'', and a summer 2020 airdate were announced in July 2019. The episodes aired June 17-July 1, 2020.


Species named in Graslie's honor

In recognition of her science education efforts, a butterfly species, ''
Wahydra graslieae ''Wahydra graslieae'' is a butterfly species in the family Hesperiidae. It is known from a single holotype specimen found in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador. The specific epithet honors Emily Graslie Emily Graslie (born 1989) is an American sci ...
'', was named in her honor. The species is a grass skipper discovered in Ecuador. Andy Warren, senior collections manager of the
Florida Museum of Natural History The Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) is Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural-history museum. Its main facilities are located at 3215 Hull Road on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. The main pub ...
's
McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity The Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) is Florida's official state-sponsored and chartered natural-history museum. Its main facilities are located at 3215 Hull Road on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. The main pub ...
, said "We thought that after spending years explaining why specimens are important and bringing natural history collections to the attention of the public, Emily was definitely someone who should have a bug named after her."


References


Further reading

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Bibliography

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External links


"Emily & The Brain Scoop's Tumblr"

The Brain Scoop's YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graslie, Emily American YouTubers Johns Hopkins University alumni Living people People associated with the Field Museum of Natural History People from Rapid City, South Dakota University of Montana alumni Educational and science YouTubers 1989 births