Sam was born in Marshalltown, IA. She received a BA in Philosophy at Cornell College before earning her BS in Biology from the University of Southern Maine.

Sam previously worked in the Transgenic Core at the Maine Health Institute of Research where she helped develop novel mouse models for biomedical research. Sam is passionate about STEM education and has been teaching chemistry at Southern Maine Community college since 2017. 

Sam joined the QC2 Lab in 2020. Sam enjoys spending as much time outdoors as possible, ideally in the company of her dog, Douro, who is the best boy.