Samantha Orchard is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona, where she teaches courses about Biotechnology. She got a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Washington Seattle) a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin Madison) and post-doctoral experience in bacterial genetics from San Diego State University California) After her postdoctoral training, she transitioned to working in the biotechnology industry, first at a small Biofuels start-utype company and then at a larger company that makes and sells enzymes for industrial applications. After more than 8 years in industry, she returned to academia in 2018 to bring her real-world biotechnology experience to the classroom.