PNNL

As a data scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Samantha Erwin is dedicated to advancing biosurveillance, threat assessment, and early warning for One Health Security. Erwin also has a passion for serving her community by contributing to scientific committees and boards—and was recently appointed to the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Membership Committee.

“My initial involvement with SIAM started when I was selected as an early career science policy fellow on the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Committee,” said Erwin. “It felt great to be part of such a huge organization that was and continues to drive change in the science community.”

The mission of the SIAM Membership Committee is to provide oversight and direction on the needs of individual members in the areas of membership recruitment, retention, member services, and value. “I put my name in the hat because I’ve always had a natural drive to make a difference and I find myself supporting everything this organization stands for,” said Erwin.

Erwin’s leadership at PNNL has resulted in the creation of cutting-edge data analysis pathways that seamlessly combine natural language processing, graphical models, machine learning, and statistical analysis. With a keen interest in multi-omics, multiscale modeling, and addressing biological threats, she is at the forefront of research in the field of One Health.

Erwin was impacted by the power of mentoring at an early stage in her data science career and remains committed to sharing that same guidance to aspiring professionals and early career scientists at PNNL. “I had a really great undergraduate mentor that helped me understand the ins and outs of college,” said Erwin. “We don’t know what we don’t know, so I think it’s important we all share our journeys to help others navigate their scientific careers.”