ESP Biography



SAMANTHA WEBSTER, MIT Biology Grad




Major: Biology

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Samantha Webster

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I work in a structural biology lab here at MIT, using electron microscopy and mass spectrometry to study autophagy and ribosome biogenesis in cells. In my free time, I love to wander the streets of Cambridge and Boston by foot and by bike. I’m also writing a historical fiction novel!



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

Z14663: (Virtual) Walking Tours of the Greater Boston Area in Splash 2021 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2021)
Boston is an awesome city, and I'll take you on a (virtual) walking tour to some of my favorite buildings and sights. You'll get quirky fun facts, fascinating history, and spooky cemetery stories. Buckle up, because we can cover a lot more ground on Zoom than if we were actually walking! (For those prone to motion sickness, please rest assured there will be minimal hand-held camera work.)


X14203: (Virtual) Walking Tours of the Greater Boston Area in Splash 2020 (Nov. 14 - 15, 2020)
Boston is an awesome city, and I'll take you on a (virtual) walking tour to some of my favorite buildings and sights. You'll get quirky fun facts, fascinating history, and spooky cemetery stories. Buckle up, because we can cover a lot more ground on Zoom than if we were actually walking! (For those prone to motion sickness, please rest assured there will be minimal hand-held camera work.)


X14023: (Virtual) Walking Tours of the Greater Boston Area in HSSP Summer 2020 (Jul. 11, 2020)
Boston is an awesome city, and I'll take you on six (virtual) walking tours to some of my favorite buildings and sights. You'll get some quirky fun facts, some fascinating history, and some cemetery recommendations. Buckle up, because we can cover a lot more ground on Zoom than if we were actually walking! (For those prone to motion sickness, rest assured there will be minimal hand-held camerawork.)


S12613: The Chemistry of Cooking in Splash 2018 (Nov. 17 - 18, 2018)
You have denatured proteins, crystallized compounds, cultured microbes, experimented with enzymes, and separated phases of matter, all within the tastiest of laboratories - your own kitchen! Come learn about the chemistry of cooking, and maybe observe some informative (and delicious) demonstrations.


S12282: The Extremes of Life in HSSP Summer 2018 (Jun. 30, 2018)
Can life survive on an alien world? The answer may be lurking on our own planet! In this course, we will learn about organisms that thrive in extreme environments: hot and cold, high salt, crushing pressure, and absolute darkness. These case studies illustrate a unifying principle of biology: life evolves biochemical solutions to match the challenges of the environment – past, present, and possibly future. As a part of this course, we will develop a working definition of life; learn how scientists use classic and modern “omics” techniques to study extremophiles and how to interpret the results; and design a plan for studying microbes in a new extreme environment.