Samantha covered the statehouse, environment, and agriculture at The Frederick News-Post in Maryland. Her work has been recognized by the Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia Press Association, including First Place for breaking news; First and Second Place for her pieces on growth and land use; First and Second Place for her environmental reporting. She is a former Washington Post intern, where she worked for the investigative and metro desks, and she is a graduate of American University, where she earned an M.A. in investigative reporting.
Beat: Statehouse and education coverage in Maine
Samantha covers state politics and education throughout Maine. For state politics, she is developing a statehouse beat for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. This includes day-to-day coverage of important issues in Augusta, as well as a year-long enterprise series looking at divisiveness in Maine, in particular, how the state transitions from eight years of leadership under Gov. Paul LePage. Her education coverage focuses on scouring the state and examining how education leadership failures are impacting individual towns and schools. This beat will also have a data focus, examining why Maine is below national averages in reading and mathematics.