Samantha joined the Solid Waste industry in 2006 when she started her career at a small privately owned composting facility in rural Thurston County. After graduating from The Evergreen State College with a BA in Natural Resource Management and a BS in Biological Sciences she knew she had to be involved in an industry that took her full circle.
In 2007 she took WORC’s CFOT and then in 2008 she became a board member. Since being on the board Samantha’s career has taken many twists and turns. The “small” composting facility was acquired by a larger company (Waste Connections) and became an integral part of a huge networking of composting facilities that process materials generated in Pierce, Thurston and Lewis counties.
During her career she has focused on bridging the gap in Western Washington between Compost and Agriculture, she served 3 years with the Thurston Conservation District in hopes to close that loop. She is also focused on educating the general public on composting, recycling and municipal solid waste. In the last two years she has relocated and expanded her knowledge of solid waste as a whole. As Site Manager of LRI’s Purdy Site she now oversees a transfer station, composting facility, recycling center and a drop box site out on the Key Peninsula. Though her roots will always be in the compost pile she’s enjoyed expanding her knowledge and seeing how the entire solid waste system functions as a whole.
Aside from her passion with being “the garbage/compost lady” she enjoys hiking,fly fishing and going on wild adventures with her fiancé and their doodle Charlie.
