Samantha is a second-year graduate student working under the advisory of Dr. Michael Childers and Dr. Jared Orsi. Her research has focused on wildfires, the CSU Mountain Campus, and the examination of concepts like wilderness and the Anthropocene.

She graduated from CSU in 2020 with a B.A. in Sociology and minors in Environmental Studies and History. She has interned at the CSU Public and Environmental History Center under the supervision of Dr. Jared Orsi, at CSU Extension under the supervision of Dr. Michael Childers, as a research assistant for Dr. Sarah Payne, and with the U. S. Forest Service.