Samantha received her B.S. in environmental engineering in 2016 from the University of Florida. She then conducted her graduate work at Virginia Tech while working at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. She worked at HRSD’s 1-MGD demonstration-scale IPR facility optimizing advanced treatment processes including coagulation/flocculation/ sedimentation, ozone, BAF, and GAC operations. She also participated in extensive pilot testing to improve the ozone/BAF reuse process. Her Ph.D. research was broadly aimed at validating pathogen reduction in carbon-based water reuse applications. She completed her Ph.D. in 2023 and joined Trussell shortly after.