"Grossometer"

"The Brain Scoop" episodes begin with a “Grossometer” to caution those with weak stomachs. “The Two-Faced Calf,” a two-part series that aired in mid- and late March, warned viewers of coming attractions: “oceans of blood,” “dismemberment” and “visible organs.”

Viewers are sometimes mystified with Graslie’s fortitude in the face of so much blood and guts. This intrepid scientist can play it so cool because she’s truly enamored with the natural world — and it doesn’t hurt that she spent many a childhood summer immersed in it.

When one fan opined on her blog: “I would never use my hands … ever again after all the blood in that last episode,” Graslie assured the viewer she made sure her hands were squeaky clean after handling specimens.

Family support

Graslie also took a moment to put her work in perspective.

“I grew up spending my summers on my family’s ranch,” Graslie wrote. “I rolled around in the dirt, picked up and threw cow pies, pet wild animals and dogs that had never taken baths and feral cats with permanent kitty colds, swam in stock ponds and waded in drainage ditches and sat on dirty barn floors and climbed hay bales.”