Emily Graslie

{{short description|American science communicator and YouTube educator}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Emily Graslie

| image = Emily Graslie.jpg

| caption = Emily Graslie in April 2013

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1989}}

| birth_place = Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S.

| education = Bachelor's Degree in Studio Art from University of Montana

| occupation = Chief Curiosity Correspondent at the Field Museum (former)

}}

Emily Graslie (born 1989) is an American science communicator and YouTube educator. She started volunteering at the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana in 2011. After appearing in a VlogBrothers video by Hank Green in 2012, she was asked to join the Nerdfighter 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 YouTube channel. Graslie was employed by the Field Museum as their first-ever Chief Curiosity Correspondent.

Early life and education

Graslie earned her bachelor's degree in Studio Art from the University of Montana in 2011. As a part of that program, she interned at the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum in her senior year.{{cite web |last=Waters|first=Hannah |title=A Hilarious Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Montana's Natural History Museum |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/culturing-science/2013/01/15/brain-scoop-ep-1/|work=Scientific American |access-date=February 12, 2013 |year=2013}} 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 for a class at the University of Montana.{{cite web |last=Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum |title=Staff |url=http://zoologicalmuseum.dbs.umt.edu/staff.htm |publisher=University of Montana |access-date=February 12, 2013 |year=2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201142147/http://zoologicalmuseum.dbs.umt.edu/staff.htm |archive-date=December 1, 2012}}

Career

In June 2013, Graslie was hired by Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History to become their 'Chief Curiosity Correspondent'.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/news/a29534/get-that-life-emily-graslie-science/|title=How I Became a Museum's Curiosity Correspondent|date=July 28, 2014|work=Cosmopolitan|access-date=February 27, 2018|language=en-US}} She continued to host "The Brain Scoop" from this new location.{{cite web|title=Field Museum Hires Popular YouTube Personality|url=http://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/press/field-museum-hires-popular-youtube-personality|website=The Field Museum|access-date=October 17, 2014|date=June 3, 2013}} She was the keynote speaker at the Chicago March for Science on April 22, 2017.{{cite web|title=March for Science Chicago Announces Keynote Speaker: Emily Graslie|url=https://medium.com/@sciencemarchchi/march-for-science-chicago-announces-keynote-speaker-emily-graslie-522a2dfb85d9|website=March for Science Chicago|date=April 13, 2017|publisher=Medium|access-date=April 14, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Emily Graslie Speaks at March for Science Chicago|url=https://medium.com/@sciencemarchchi/emily-graslie-speaks-at-march-for-science-chicago-d9bc93f182f4|website=March for Science Chicago|date=April 22, 2017|publisher=Medium|access-date=April 24, 2017}} In 2019, the Graslie Curiosity Internship was named in her honor.{{Cite web|url=http://hs.umt.edu/umzm/umzm/opportunities/graslie.php|title=Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum|website=hs.umt.edu|language=en|access-date=2019-11-06}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 2021, she received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Allegheny College.{{cite web |last1=Graslie |first1=Emily |title=SOOO… Today I accepted the award of an honorary degree |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CPLWJ3Bl3GF/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/egraslie/2579252646180778373_2579252643043264613 |archive-date=December 25, 2021 |url-access=registration|publisher=Instagram |access-date=23 May 2021}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|title=Commencement Ceremonies at Allegheny College Celebrate 317 Graduates, Three Distinguished Leaders {{!}} News Center {{!}} Allegheny College|url=https://sites.allegheny.edu/news/2021/05/22/commencement-ceremonies-at-allegheny-college-celebrate-317-graduates-three-distinguished-leaders/|access-date=2021-05-25|website=Allegheny.edu|language=en-US}}

=YouTube=

Graslie first appeared on YouTube in Hank Green's December 7, 2012 VlogBrothers video.{{cite web |last=Green |first=Hank | author-link=Hank Green |title=Thoughts from Dead Animals |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxauNFLyu08|publisher=VlogBrothers |access-date=February 13, 2013 |year=2012a}} 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 family.{{cite web|last=Green|first=Hank |author-link=Hank Green |title=Meet the Team: The Missoula Office (And P4A and TheBrainScoop) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhVxNo-HA8g |publisher=VlogBrothers|access-date=February 14, 2013|year=2012b}} The series debuted in January 2013. Her work on the series has been described by journalists as "articulate and hilarious" as well as enthusiastic.{{cite web |last=Polo |first=Susana |year=2013 |title=New Webseries Alert: The Brain Scoop |url=http://www.themarysue.com/museum-animals-youtube/|publisher=The Mary Sue |access-date=February 12, 2013}}

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.{{cite web |last=Krulwich |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Krulwich |year=2013a |title=Science Reporter Emily Graslie Reads Her Mail — And It's Not So Nice |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/11/30/247842138/science-reporter-emily-graslie-reads-her-mail-and-it-s-not-so-nice |work=Krulwich Wonders |publisher=NPR |access-date=December 8, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Esposito |first=Stefano |title=Field Museum science show host airs her frustration about sexist comments |url=http://www.suntimes.com/24169911-761/field-museum-science-show-host-airs-her-frustration-about-sexist-comments.html#.VOvoDq05C00 |access-date=December 8, 2013 |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |date=December 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006200415/http://www.suntimes.com/24169911-761/field-museum-science-show-host-airs-her-frustration-about-sexist-comments.html#.VOvoDq05C00 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 }} 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.

{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/20/opinion/life-as-a-female-journalist-hot-or-not.html?_r=1

|title=Life as a Female Journalist: Hot or Not |work=The New York Times |author=Amy Wallace |date= January 19, 2014 |page= A17 |access-date=January 20, 2014 |quote=She wondered whether this kind of sexualized feedback could explain why there weren't more women doing what she does: reporting on the so-called STEM topics of science, technology, engineering and math.}}

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 Top 100 Channels, ranked at #96.{{cite web|title=The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 100 – 76!|url=http://newmediarockstars.com/2014/12/the-nmr-top-100-youtube-channels-100-76/|website=New Media Rockstars}}

In 2016, she documented the efforts to help the recovery of the Kankakee mallow, an endangered species that is endemic to Illinois.{{cite web|last1=Graslie|first1=Emily|title=This flower only grows in the wild on a single tiny island... in Illinois.|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hItzksDHfxQ|website=The Brain Scoop|publisher=YouTube|access-date=October 11, 2016}} 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, proposing that it replace the more generic Viola sororia.{{cite web|last1=Graslie|first1=Emily|title=Campaigning for CHANGE! Don't be Shallow - Vote for Mallow|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxAPapIKTXc|website=The Brain Scoop|publisher=YouTube|access-date=October 11, 2016}}

She left the channel and the Field Museum at the end of 2020.{{cite web |last1=Graslie |first1=Emily |title=Why I left The Brain Scoop |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG0R9gVcGSQ |publisher=YouTube |access-date=8 January 2021}} She then started her own channel and began releasing a series titled "Art Lab", focusing on the intersection between science and art.{{cite web |title=Emily Graslie - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/emilygraslie |website=www.youtube.com}}

In June of 2023, Graslie revealed that she had been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder in late 2020, around the same time she left the Field Museum. She clarified that she was "not ashamed of this" and that "part of the reason I'm sharing now is that I'm personally ready to start publicly educating and fighting the stigma against this often debilitating disorder."{{cite web |last1=Graslie |first1=Emily |title=I’m 34 today and it’s been a wild year |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cteecm5OzgO/?img_index=1 |website=Instagram |access-date=25 July 2024}} In July of 2024, when musician Rob Scallon revealed his own Bipolar 1 disorder diagnosis, he credited Graslie as a support during his struggles.{{cite web |title=I have Bipolar 1 disorder (mania, psychosis and my mental health struggles of 2023) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpMN2Rbfn2A |website=www.youtube.com}}

In November 2023, Graslie announced that she had brought the rights to The Brain Scoop under her personal control, and would soon be relaunching the channel as an independent production.{{cite web |last1=Graslie |first1=Emily |title=I'm relaunching The Brain Scoop! |url=https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzZLvTdu7I_/ |website=Instagram |access-date=9 November 2023}}

=''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; filming took place throughout 2019.{{cite web |last1=Graslie |first1=Emily |title=I'm Making a TV Show!! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2MBUc_uNE |website=The Brain Scoop |publisher=YouTube |access-date=May 22, 2019}} Its title, Prehistoric Road Trip, and a summer 2020 airdate were announced in July 2019.{{cite web |last1=Hautzinger |first1=Daniel |title=PBS Announces a New, National WTTW Series, 'Prehistoric Road Trip' |url=https://interactive.wttw.com/playlist/2019/07/29/prehistoric-road-trip |website=WTTW.com |date=July 29, 2019 |access-date=29 July 2019}} The episodes aired June 17-July 1, 2020.

Species named in Graslie's honor

File:Wahydra graslieae Carneiro et al 2018 Fig 1.png, named in Graslie's honor]]

In recognition of her science education efforts, a butterfly species, Wahydra graslieae, was named in her honor.{{cite web|last1=van Hoose|first1=Natalie|title=New butterfly species named for Field Museum's Emily Graslie|url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/new-butterfly-species-named-for-emily-graslie/|url-status=live|website=Florida Museum|date=March 8, 2018|publisher=Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida|access-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309054853/https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/new-butterfly-species-named-for-emily-graslie/|archive-date=March 9, 2018}} The species is a grass skipper discovered in Ecuador.

Andy Warren, senior collections manager of the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, 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

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=Bibliography=

{{cite web|last=Browning|first=Skylar|title=Moldy monkeys, brain removal and the best orgy on campus: A fantastic tour of UM's Zoological Museum|url=http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/IndyBlog/archives/2013/01/16/moldy-monkeys-brain-removal-and-the-best-orgy-on-campus-a-fantastic-tour-of-ums-zoological-museum|work=Missoula Independent|access-date=February 12, 2013|year=2013|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006114250/http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/IndyBlog/archives/2013/01/16/moldy-monkeys-brain-removal-and-the-best-orgy-on-campus-a-fantastic-tour-of-ums-zoological-museum|url-status=dead}}
{{cite web|last=Kapos|first=Shia|year=2013|title=Field Museum hires famed YouTube science geek|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130603/BLOGS03/130609979/field-museum-hires-famed-youtube-science-geek|publisher=Crain's Chicago Business|access-date=June 19, 2013}}
{{cite web|last=Krulwich|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Krulwich|title=What Is It About Emily?|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/02/11/171734095/what-is-it-about-emily|work=National Public Radio|access-date=February 12, 2013|year=2013}}