About

Dr. Carrie Diaz Eaton use a mixed methods approach to research in complex adaptive and co-evolving systems.  Their primary research area is in inclusive and interdisciplinary undergraduate STEM education. Diaz Eaton uses a mix of modeling, computation, data analysis, surveys, ethnography, digital narratives, online communication, and community-based approaches to explore ask how systems are changing and to leverage these insights into change through advocacy.  Student internships and research projects include STEM education research and evaluation, communications, and disease modeling using the tools of network analysis, complex systems, computational text analysis, and mathematical modeling with funded student positions available in inclusive STEM education research and social media communications.

Diaz Eaton’s degrees are in mathematics, and their research is grounded in approaches from complex adaptive systems in evolution and ecology. A long-time social justice advocate and community builder, Diaz Eaton has leveraged their work to create socio-cyber ecosystems which support interdisciplinary STEM education, including QUBES, SCORE and EDSIN, and now leads the Institute for a Racially-just, Inclusive and Open STEM education (RIOS Institute). During the 2022-2023 academic year, Diaz Eaton is on sabbatical as a visiting researcher and at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Mathematics at Brown University and the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation at the University of Chicago, where she is organizing programs for social justice research and data science.

In 2018, Dr. Diaz Eaton was selected as a SACNAS Leadership Institute Fellow and in 2020 was awarded the Society for Mathematical Biology John Jungck Excellence in Education Prize for interdisciplinary computational and mathematical biology education and mentorship. Dr. Diaz Eaton currently serves as the Chair for the Committee on Minority Participation in Mathematics for the Mathematical Association of America. Dr. Diaz Eaton is also a proud 1st generation Latinx. She is also a mother to two children. Dr. Diaz Eaton values the complex interplay at the intersection of her identities, professional activism in STEM education, research, and teaching.

Selected publications

• Jones Q, Vindas Meléndez AR, Mendible A, Aminian M, Brooks HZ, Alexander N, Diaz Eaton C and Chodrow P, (to appear in Notices of the American Mathematical Society 2023). Data science and social justice in the mathematics community. arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.09282.
• Diaz Eaton C. (2023) STEM as Culture: Exploring exclusion and inclusion in mathematics and biology. The Learning and Teaching of Calculus Across Disciplines. preprint
• Diaz Eaton C, Zhao Y, and Taylor R. (2023) Centering connections and collaborations in the evaluation of STEM education transformation. Research on Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME) XXV Conference Proceedings. preprint
• Alexander N, Diaz Eaton C, Shrout AH, Tsinnijinnie B, Tsosie K. (2022) Beyond Ethics: Considerations for Centering Equity-Minded Data Science. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. 12 (2): 254-300.
• Gesing S, Stirm C, Klimeck G, Zentner L, Wang S, Villegas Martinez BM, Diaz Eaton C, Donovan S, Zhao L , Song C, Kim IL, Strachan A, Zentner M and Kalyanam R (2022).  Open Science via HUBzero: Exploring Five Science Gateways Supporting and Growing their Open Science Communities.  Proceedings of HICSS-55 (55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences),  Open Science Practices in Information Systems Research, January 2022.
• Diaz Eaton C, Bonner K, Cangialosi K, Dewsbury B, Diamond-Stanic M, Douma J, Smith MK, Taylor R, Wilfong K, Wojdak J (2022) Sustainability Challenges for Open Resources to promote an Equitable Undergraduate Biology Education. CBE-Life Science Education. 21(3).
• Aikens M, Highlander HC, and Diaz Eaton C. 2021. The Case for Biocalculus: Improving student understanding of the utility value of mathematics to biology and affect toward mathematics. CBE-Life Science Education. 20(1): ar5-ar5. 
• Emery NC, Bledsoe EK, Hasley AO, and Diaz Eaton C. 2021. Cultivating inclusive instructional and research environments in ecology and evolutionary science. Ecology and Evolution. 11: 1480-1491. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7062  
• Akman O, Diaz Eaton C, Horenzick D, Jenkins K, and Thompson KV. 2020. Building community-based approaches to systemic reform in mathematical biology education. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 82(8), 1-21.
• Topaz CM, Cart J, Diaz Eaton C, Shrout AH, Higdon JA, İnce K, Katz B, Lewis D, Libertini J, and Smith CM.  2020. Comparing demographics of signatories to public letters on diversity in the mathematical sciences. PLoS ONE. April 28, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230811
• Diaz Eaton, C, Dahlquist, K, Highlander, H, LaMar, MD, Ledder, G., and Schugart, R. 2019. A “Rule of Five” Framework for Models and Modeling to Unify Mathematicians and Biologists and Improve Student Learning. Special Issue on Interdisciplinary Conversations for Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematical Undergraduate Studies [PRIMUS]. DOI: 10.1080/10511970.2018.1489318
• Diaz Eaton, C and Bailey, LM. 2018. Finding Luz: Illuminating our identities through duoethnography. Special Issue on Mathematics and Motherhood, Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. 8(2):60-89. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.201802.08.
• Diaz Eaton, C and Highlander, H. 2017. The Case for BioCalculus: Design, Retention, and Student Performance. CBE-Life Science Education. 16(2):ar25. Link
• Diaz Eaton, C, Anderson, LJ, Allen, D, Bowser, G, Pauley, MA, Williams, KS, and Uno, GE. 2016. Summit of the Research Coordination Networks for Undergraduate Biology Education. CBE-Life Science Education. 15(4):mr1. Link
• Donovan, S, Diaz Eaton, C, Gower, ST, Jenkins, K., LaMar, MD., Poli, DB., Sheehy, R., and Wojdak, JM.  2015. QUBES: A community focused on supporting teaching and learning in quantitative biology. Letters in Biomathematics. 2(1):46-55. Link