Overview
Dr. Carla Easter is a community advocate with over 15 years of experience. She currently works as the Broh-Kahn Weil Director of Education at the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian Institution, where she oversees the museum’s educational and community programming. She has expertise in local and national partnerships and leads efforts to help diverse communities understand science.
Early Life and Education
Dr. Carla Easter earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of California at Los Angeles and a doctorate in biology, with an emphasis on molecular genetics, from the University of California at San Diego. After earning her doctorate, Dr. Easter completed postdoctoral research in the Department of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine.
Career
Dr. Easter served as the Director of Outreach at the Washington University School of Medicine Genome Center from 2003 to 2006. She started the Education and Community Involvement Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute in 2015 and served as its Chief. In this role, she helped develop educational and community engagement programs to help the National Institutes of Health public better understand genomics. She is also the National Museum of Natural History’s inaugural Broh-Kahn Weil Director of Education, leading the Department of Education, Outreach, and Visitor Experience. Her responsibilities include developing and delivering educational and community programming, engaging with visitors, and overseeing operations at the Insect Zoo, Butterfly Pavilion, and Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center.
Sources
American Society of Human Genetics. (2020, March 4). Public Education about Genetics with Carla Easter, NHGRI [Photo]. Retrieved November 2023 from https://www.ashg.org/publications-news/newsletter/202003-outside-voices/
Carla Easter. (n.d.). Home [LinkedIn page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved November 2023 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-easter-b121616/
National Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Carla Easter. Retrieved November 2023 from https://naturalhistory.si.edu/staff/carla-easter