Eklund, Carl R. (Carl Robert), 1909-1962

Carl R. Eklund (1909-1962) was born on January 27, 1909, in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. He attended Wisconsin University for a year and then transferred to Carlton College where he received his bachelor's degree in 1932. For the next three years he served as a forestry foreman in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. As a graduate fellow of the Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit at Oregon State College, he received his master's degree in 1938, specializing in fish and wildlife management, botany, and animal husbandry. He returned to government service as a junior biologist at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan. From 1939-1941 he served as an ornithologist at the East Base of the U.S. Antarctic Service. This was the first modern U.S. government-sponsored expedition to Antarctica. Other than collecting animal life for the Department of Interior, Fish, and Wildlife Service, Eklund made long Antarctic dog sled journeys. From 1941-1943 he returned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as research biologist in charge of game conservation and education on Indian reservations in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During World War II, he served as a commissioned officer and then advanced to Major of the U.S. Army Air Force. He returned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after the war. From 1954-1956, he was appointed as Assistant Regional Director of the Atlanta, Georgia office. He died on November 3, 1962.

Carl Robert Eklund (b. Jan. 27, 1909, Tomahawk, Wis.-d. Nov. 4, 1962), American scientist and Antarctic explorer.