Emily Graslie is an artist, science communicator and writer, video host, and educational media producer.
From 2013 - 2020 she worked as the first-ever ‘Chief Curiosity Correspondent’ for the Field Museum in Chicago, creating more than 200 episodes for The Brain Scoop, a natural history-themed YouTube channel whose videos have been viewed tens of millions of times. Her media productions and storytelling adventures have taken her and her viewers through both space and time, from deep into the bat caves of Kenya, to the remote Peruvian Amazon jungle — and from the Cambrian through the Cenozoic by means of geologic and fossil formations across the United States.
In 2020 she made her broadcast television debut on PBS in Prehistoric Road Trip, an original three-part series exploring the paleontology and natural history of the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming — and in PBS Digital Studios’ limited program In Our Nature the following year. Today, she continues to create videos for The Brain Scoop as an independent producer, in partnership with scientists and museums around the country.
Graslie has received numerous accolades for her work, including the American Alliance of Museum’s Nancy Hanks Award for Professional Excellence. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Allegheny College, and in 2018 researchers at the Universities of Florida and Paraná named a new species of butterfly in recognition of her outreach efforts: Wahydra graslieae.
PRESS + mentions
Highlighted Stories
‘In Our Nature’ delves into animal life from the Serengeti to US — Inhabitat, Aug. 2021
‘Prehistoric Road Trip’ review: Traveling Through Deep Time’ — Wall Street Journal, June 2020
‘For ‘Prehistoric Road Trip’ TV series, Field Museum’s Emily Graslie roamed through time and her native west’ — Chicago Tribune, June 2020
‘Emily Graslie Believes Science Should Make You Cry’ — Chicago Magazine, June 2020
‘Field Museum Joins Youth Climate Strike in Chicago’ — WTTW, Sept. 2019
‘Meet the YouTuber who became a chief curiosity correspondent at Chicago’s Field Museum’ — CBS, Aug. 2018
‘Mysterious new butterfly named after YouTuber Emily Graslie’ — Mongabay, March 2018
‘Take a dive into Smithsonian’s massive and amazing ‘whale warehouses’ — Washington Post, Dec. 2018
‘Odyssey of the Stars’ to Honor YouTube Science Communicator, UM Alumna’ — University of Montana, Jan. 2019
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. Allegheny College, PA, 2021
John A. Moore Lectureship — Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2020
‘Grizzly of the Last Decade’ Award — University of Montana Alumni Association, 2020
Nancy Hanks Award for Professional Excellence — American Alliance of Museums, 2017
6-time Webby Awards Nominee/Honoree in best ‘Web Personality/Host’ and ‘Science & Education’ Categories
Forbes 30 under 30 in Education, 2018
Chicagoan of the Year in the Arts — Chicago Tribune, 2017
Grist 50 — The 50 people you’ll be talking about, 2016
Awards + Honors
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