“The Art of Natural History Communication”

Emily Graslie was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. After moving to Missoula, Montana, to pursue an undergraduate degree in fine art painting, she fell in love with the campus vertebrate research collection as a place of artistic inspiration. What started off as a passionate volunteer position within a small museum eventually transformed into a full-time career as an advocate for these underappreciated repositories. Now Graslie lives in Chicago, and works as The Field Museum’s “chief curiosity correspondent,” where she uses a variety of new media to communicate the importance of natural history museums with the world. As the creator, host and writer for The Field Museum’s educational YouTube series, “The Brain Scoop,” Graslie and her team have created more than 170 videos, which have been viewed 18 million times by passionate learners from all over the world. Join Graslie as she shares the story of her unconventional path from artist to science communicator.