A wide-angle landscape of a salt marsh at dusk. Tall, golden marsh grasses frame the foreground, leading to a still body of water that perfectly mirrors a line of dark trees and a vibrant orange sunset glowing through the clouds.

Sam Christenson

Photo of Sam smiling in front of the IMET lobby stairs

Sam Christenson

Graduate Research Assistant
schristenson@umces.edu

Research Interests

Omics, natural products, microbial genetics

Sam Christenson is a Ph.D student working with Drs. Allen Place and Tsvetan Bachvaroff at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology. He graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UMBC in 2023, then spent two years as a lab technician in a next-generation sequencing core. His current research utilizes omics and other biochemical tools to investigate toxin biosynthesis in dinoflagellates. Sam received the University of Maryland Dean’s Fellowship for the 2025-2026 school year and is an UMCES Centennial Presidential Fellow.