Samantha was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She attended the University of California Berkeley where she earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Astrophysics. Throughout her time as an undergraduate, Samantha conducted astrophysics research concerning supernovae under Dr. Alex Filippenko, and explored the growth and use of organic superconductors in the new lab of Dr. Kwabena Bediako. After graduating, Samantha spent 18 months at Argonne National Lab synthesizing and characterizing new actinide compounds under the direction of Dr. Richard Wilson. She then came to Madison to begin her Ph.D. studies in the fall of 2020 in the Berry research group. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys watching Star Trek, playing the drums, and hanging out with her cats, Ferrocene and Phthalimide.