Marjee Chmiel,
Hyattsville, MD

Marjee works with Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Tangled Bank Studios and BioInteractive on evaluation efforts, organizational learning, and effective philanthropy across a variety of programs and initiatives. Her work spans international efforts at the intersection of science and culture looking at everything from training scientists to become storytellers and filmmakers to using stories to encourage educating girls in the border zones of national parks in Africa.  

She is a social science researcher with expertise in media and cultural change. Prior to joining HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Chmiel directed development of award-winning, multimedia science education content, with the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic, and PBS. She has published and spoken extensively on the topic of science education media.  

Fellowship Project: The Stuff You Can’t Find Anywhere. Popular media is filled with images of the conventionally beautiful, able-bodied, wealthy, straight, & white. It is no wonder that independent comics have been growing in popularity over the past few decades. Here, individual artists provide readers with intimate experiences through stories of anxiety, police brutality, racial tension, sexuality, motherhood, & more. This short documentary looks at the artists of the indie comics community & the narratives they introduce into popular culture.