Samm Newton

Biography

In general, my work aims to pair marine humanities scholarship with creative practice. My doctoral dissertation investigates intersections among life, nonlife, and the more-than-human world, expertise in the earth sciences, and environmental values and decision making. My work is informed by archival research on industry science, analysis of science and expertise in federal marine policies, and observations made working on offshore jurisdiction for the U.S. Senate as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Before moving to Wisconsin, I earned an M.A. from Oregon State University (OSU) through the Environmental Arts and Humanities initiative. As an NSF fellow there, I also minored in Risk and Uncertainty Quantification and Communication in Marine Systems. My interdisciplinary thesis explored the role of marine science and technology in how humans think and and make decisions about the ocean in two areas: fisheries regulation and ocean acidification. During my time at OSU I also began a project through the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative with scientists from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and engineers from the University of South Florida. That work continues through NSF funding and I am excited to be working with them again on a children’s book about pteropods, interdisciplinarity, and how we ask questions about the ocean.

Education

M.A., Oregon State University
B.S., Texas State University

Field

• History of Science, Medicine, and Technology

Working Dissertation Title

• “Open Ocean: The Gulf of Mexico and the 20th Century Making of Deepwater Territory”

Selected Publications

• Mass, Amy, David Murphy, and Samm Newton. Mariposas Marinas / Sea Butterflies. Self-published with the Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination and the National Science Foundation. December 2024. (www.mariposasmarinas.com)

Selected Awards

• 2025 William Coleman Dissertation Fellowship, Institute for Research in the Humanities, UW-Madison
• 2024 Keith S. Thomson Research Fellowship, Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine
• 2024 Merle Curti Teaching Fellowship
• 2022 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship

Professional Affiliations

• Edge Effects Magazine, UW Center for Culture, History, and the Environment
• American Society for Environmental History
• History of Science Society
• American Association of Geographers
• International Commission of the History of Oceanography
• Consortium for History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
• Society for Social Studies of Science

Courses Taught as TA

• HIST 460 American Environmental History
• HIST/ENVIR ST/HIST SCI 125 – Green Screen: Environmental Perspectives Through Film

Courses Taught as Instructor

• HIST/ENVIR ST/HIST SCI 125 – Green Screen: Environmental Perspectives Through Film – Syllabus 2025 (pdf)
• HIST SCI 350 Mobile Minerals: Environmental History of Smart Phones