Samara is a social-environmental scientist who works at the intersection of science and technology studies (STS), the anthropology of science, and food systems scholarship to understand contested food system futures. Her current USDA funded postdoctoral research focuses on farmers working to sequester carbon in agricultural soils, scientists working to create robust systems of measurement, and global experts who are working to set up, and some to oppose, carbon markets. She completed her PhD from the Yale School of the Environment in 2024 which focused on organizations working to transform the future of the global food system. Prior to her PhD she worked on sustainable food systems as a planner for the city of Vancouver, implementing agricultural projects in Cuba and Argentina, and as a program officer at the Tides Foundation in Vancouver funding organizations working on complex conservation, climate change, and food security initiatives.
