Sam was born in Alicante, Spain. After graduating in Logistics in France he joined Doctors without Borders working in Africa in different contexts, from conflict to natural disasters, forced migrations and medical emergencies. In 2012 he relocated to Canada to join an organization (CAWST) that provides essential services to local organizations working in the water and sanitation sectors in Haiti, Ethiopia, and Zambia.

After 20 years working in international development, collaborating with, and learning from, local organizations how to achieve better water quality and sanitation in rural communities, Sam´s interest is expanding towards water scarcity. Sam has seen chronic drought and overdraft at its extreme in rural dry regions of Africa, and how devastating it can be on the environment and on community wellbeing. Similarly, his own region of origin, South-eastern Spain, is experiencing water scarcity and drought to the point where tensions are increasing among water users. This is why his research focuses on water scarcity in the Spanish Southeast to determine how emotions influence water use and management decision making. Sam’s research – through Royal Roads’ Master of Environment and Management program, is partially funded by SSHRC’s Insight Development Grant (Wolfe).

Sam has always been fascinated by natural and cultural landscapes, especially mountains, and spends as much time as possible in nature running, hiking, camping, struggling to learn wildlife photography, or walking his dog Sunny, a terrier who’s a little nutter.