Dogwood Alliance is pleased to welcome Sam Davis as our new Research Manager!

Sam grew up in Brockport, NY and spent most of summers playing in the woods or biking/hiking along the Erie Canal trail. When she was 12, Samantha and her friends made an enclave out of stones and sticks at the bottom of a ravine. This is her favorite memory of the woods.

Sam then attended Daemen College in Buffalo, NY, majoring in Biology. She jumped right into a Ph.D. program at Wright State University. There she investigated the ecology of a rare butterfly, the West Virginia White. Dogwood Alliance’s Research Manager job posting stood out to her because she wants to ensure that forests are there for future generations. She explains,

“I want to reconnect society with the natural world. I want to help translate science into action.”

Sam and her husband have two dogs, Buddy and Desmond, and a “few too many cats and a bearded dragon, Wiggles.”

Sam says of Dogwood Alliance,

“People get along, people matter and people work well together towards a common cause.”

Sam’s hobbies include: hiking, cycling, playing soccer, programming, writing, crocheting/knitting and playing guitar. “Not all at once, and not in that order,” she clarifies.

A firm believer in finishing things, Sam often finds herself going taking on big tasks…like cycling 400 miles (8 days) from Buffalo to Albany — twice. She wrote a song a week for a year and completed National Novel Writing Month several times. She even built a program that can generate short fiction e-books and their covers. Wow!

For her favorite places in the world, Sam remains loyal to her home state:

• A hidden grassy knoll on the Erie Canal in Adam’s Basin, NY — it’s a great picnic spot, and a good place to watch the wildlife.
• Hamlin Beach State Park, Hamlin, NY — the sunsets and sunrises are awesome.
• Lake Eaton, in the Adirondacks (NY) — no street lights, best star gazing you’ll ever have