Sam’s passion for nature and working with animals started as a teenage volunteer at the Duke Lemur Center, Durham, North Carolina, where she worked for over a decade while completing a degree in Zoology from North Carolina State University (2003) and a Masters of Science in Primate Conservation from Oxford Brookes University (2006) in the UK.

In 2009, while working at a primate rehabilitation facility in Nigeria, Sam also discovered her love for working as a professional photographer.

After years of juggling both her photography and wildlife conservation career, Sam moved to Costa Rica in 2013 and co-founded The Sloth Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the welfare and conservation of sloths through rescue, rehabilitation and release: www.theslothinstitute.org

Conservation and Photography expeditions have taken Sam to Madagascar, West Africa, South East Asia, Central America, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and throughout the Arctic Circle.

Sam’s work has been featured in numerous local and international publications but most notably her sloth photos have been featured in BBC Wildlife and National Geographic. She has published two photography books: ”Slothlove » (Inkshares, 2016) and « Destiny Finds Her Way » (National Geographic, 2023).

Sam was also a main contributor for the TV series “Natures Miracle Orphans » which aired on BBC and PBS.

At LFP, Sam is responsible for directing the creation of the first successful rehabilitation and release program for lemurs in Madagascar as well as build the photography library for storytelling and fundraising purposes.