Samuel (goes by Sam) is a current PhD Candidate at Indiana University-Bloomington in English Literature, a temporarily lapsed science fiction writer, and a former biophyicist. His dissertation research focuses on the role of magic in Weird Fiction, particularly that influenced by H.P. Lovecraft. As part of this work, Sam utilizes computational text analysis methods such as topic modelling and document classification. Before coming to IU, Sam received a B.A. in Biophysics from The John Hopkins University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The University of Colorado Boulder.