Carrie Eaton

Professional Summary

I have served as Museum Curator for the UW Geology museum since 2009. During my tenure, I have curated and installed multiple permanent and travelling exhibits, secured external funding strictly dedicated to collections support, directed graduate and undergraduate students using and working in the collection, and managed a permanent collection that includes approximately 250,000 historical, geological and paleontological specimens. Each semester I mentor undergraduate and graduate student employees, museum interns, and students enrolled in Directed Studies courses with me which focus on the management of geological and paleontological collections.

Museum Projects

• University of Wisconsin-Madison Instructional Laboratory Modernization grant, Project Director, $82,000, 2020-2021
• Institute of Museum and Library Services, Museums for America, Project Director, $250,000 for collections rehousing, 2020
• UW2020 Research Grant, Co-Investigator; $297,000 for collections digitization, 2017-2019
• Conservation Assessment Program Grant; Project Director, $7,400 for a collections conservation assessment, 2017
• The American Girl Fund for Children; Project Director; $10,000 for public educational programs at Dane County libraries, 2015
• Brittingham Trust; Project Director; $12,000 for exhibit work and outreach programs for The Wisconsin Mastodon Project, 2014
• National Endowment for the Humanities; Project Director; $6,000 for Improving the Storage Environment of the UWGM Historical Collections, 2013-2014
• GLNF CESU; Principal Investigator; $32,074 for Cataloging of NPS Geological Specimens at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Geoscience, UW Geology Museum, 2010-2014

Service

• Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections – Federal Collections Committee Co-Chair and Best Practices Committee
• Departent of Geoscience Department Council – Staff Advisor
• University of Wisconsin Natural History Museums Council

In the News

A portal into underwater, prehistoric Wisconsin found in the heart of Waukesha County

Researcher names newly discovered trilobite from 430-million-year-old collection after the UW curator who’s devoted 15 years to preserving it.

Exceptional meteorite, plowed up from a Dane County field, finds new home in UW Geology Museum

For a Peek Inside Wisconsin’s Watery Past, Thank the Microbes

Mastodon mystery: Researcher unravels century-old woolly tale to find truth behind legendary massive bones

WPT University Place: Mastodons of the UW Geology Museum

Visiting journalist gets close-up look at Geology Museum’s treasures