Mary M. Dawson, PhD, is the Curator Emerita of the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology. One of the most esteemed researchers in her field, she has also served as the Interim Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Her area of expertise is the study of fossil mammals, and specifically the evolution of rodents and rabbits. Mary’s expeditions have led her to the northernmost location of any Carnegie Museum research trip: the Ellesmere Islands in the Arctic Circle. Mary’s research has provided evidence of such events as a greenhouse effect in North America 55 million years ago, and the migration of land animals between North America and Europe. Mary led four expeditions to Ellesmere Island from 1973 to 1979.