Samantha Kristufek is an assistant professor at Texas Tech University. Her group began in 2021, where they work on employing the chemical toolbox to transform natural product-based starting materials into building blocks for the synthesis of modular, sustainable materials as well as upcycling commodity plastics. Prior to the start of her independent career, she completed postdoctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (chemistry, drug delivery) and the University of Melbourne, Australia (chemical engineering, nano-objects). She earned her PhD from Texas A&M University, where she worked on the synthesis and characterization of quercetin-based materials. She started her academic journey at Penn State Behrend where she earned her BS in chemistry.