About National Treasure Hunt
College Roommates
National Treasure Hunters
National Treasure Hunters
Our story begins where so many do: in a college dorm room. Aubrey Paris and Emily Black were friends-turned-roommates at Ursinus College, where they lived together from sophomore through senior year. The science majors had little in common, with two significant exceptions: they were both profoundly impacted by Ursinus' interdisciplinary curriculum, and they both loved the National Treasure movies.
Over three years, Aubrey and Emily partook in various National Treasure-themed exploits, such as visiting the nearby Valley Forge National Historical Park and hunting down all the hidden statues on their college campus. In the summer of 2015, to celebrate their graduation, they traveled to Washington, D.C., to visit National Treasure filming sites in an adventure they dubbed their "National Treasure Hunt."
National Treasure Hunters
National Treasure Hunters
National Treasure Hunters
In the years that followed, Aubrey and Emily lost touch during the height of their respective graduate school programs. But in 2020, thanks to lockdown orders, the pair decided to reconnect over their first shared love, National Treasure. The National Treasure Hunt (NTH) podcast was born as a way to bring their interdisciplinary education to life through their favorite films.
Today, NTH's news-breaking interviews have been covered in Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. The duo published their first book in 2023 and released a second in 2026. Inspired by their original "National Treasure Hunt" in 2015, they hosted their first National Treasure-themed walking tour of Washington, D.C., in 2022, an event they now convene semi-annually in both the nation's capital and Philadelphia. Through HEIST NIGHTs and other live events, they regularly engage with fans across the country.
Meet the Hosts
Aubrey Paris, Ph.D.
Aubrey is a former foreign policy advisor for the U.S. Department of State and the current director of the Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good at Ursinus College. Her work has historically focused on community-differentiated impacts of climate change and environmental insecurity. Previously, Aubrey was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Energy and Climate Scholar at Princeton University, where she designed catalysts capable of transforming carbon dioxide into useful and marketable products. Her first National Treasure memories involve seeing both films with her parents in theaters on Christmas Day.
National Treasure Hunt is Aubrey's passion project, though it is not her first podcasting experience. From 2015-2020, she co-hosted, wrote, and executive produced "ISGP’s The Forum," a scripted series contextualizing scientific topics for international audiences. Since 2022, she has taken on additional podcast and multimedia projects.
Aubrey received her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Materials Science from Princeton University (2019), M.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University (2017), and B.S. in Chemistry and Biology, with a minor in French, from Ursinus College (2015).
Instagram: @BelleTucker11
Favorite National Treasure Hunt Episode: The Secret Lies with Turteltaub
Emily Black, Ph.D.
Emily is an adjunct professor at Kutztown University and at Drexel University College of Medicine in Pennsylvania. Her neuroscience research focuses on the comorbidity between stress and oxycodone use. Prior to her current positions, Emily was a visiting assistant professor at Haverford University, a postdoctoral fellow at Temple University, and Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellow at Drexel University. Her first National Treasure memories include joining friends to see the films almost immediately after they premiered.
National Treasure Hunt as a project represented a step into the unknown for Emily, as this is the first podcast she has hosted and produced. However, the show allows her to showcase some of her music and sound skills. Emily wrote the intro and the outro segments for the podcast and is responsible for editing the audio of each episode.
Emily received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine (2021), B.S. in Neuroscience, and B.A. in Music from Ursinus College (2015).
Instagram: @Em_Black14
Favorite National Treasure Hunt Episode: Hunt for Hypotheses