Ty Samo
October 23, 2025
What do you like about your job and/or about working at the Lab?
I enjoy working with and learning from colleagues who have incredible expertise and interests. They have taught me how to be a better scientist and have expanded my skill set considerably. I continue to learn how to use instruments that have been intimidating but are so powerful and unique.
What do your day-to-day work activities include?
Developing and conducting experiments, coordinating logistics and communicating with onsite and external colleagues, analyzing data, and writing reports, manuscripts, and proposals.
What is one project you’re really proud to have worked on?
I'm proud to have contributed to the numerous algal and bacterial projects that range from fundamental understanding of how microbes shape our world to leveraging their fast growth and unique metabolisms to generate sustainable bioproducts. There are several projects that have specifically looked at how bacterial communities (also known as microbiomes) contribute to algal health—whether they're helpful if they're attached or not, which bacterial species are helping, if they can protect algae from high light and temperature, and which are providing and/or regenerating algal nutrients. I am proud of these outputs and am grateful to have developed them with some amazing colleagues.
What is your educational/career background?
I have an associate’s degree from Solano Community College. Then, I transferred to UC San Diego for a B.S. in cell biology and biochemistry and stuck around for M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine biology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
What inspired you to go into science/your field of work?
I remember talking with my dad when I was 8 or 9 about what I wanted to be when I grew up. He threw out some ideas and one of them was "biologist," which prompted me to ask, "what's that?" One example he gave was understanding how and why gorillas walk on their knuckles. It was then that I learned a person's job could be to study how organisms worked, and it…Blew. My. Mind. I later learned that organisms impact their environment physically and chemically and that microbes do this constantly. I was, and continue to be, hooked.
What advice would you give to a new employee at the Lab?
Short advice: Learn, think out the box, and be merry.
Long advice: Attend talks and ask questions. Become indispensable. Think of new ways to answer old questions and vice versa. Try to make friends with fellow new employees that work on similar projects or have an office near you. Meet for drinks, coffee, tea, lunch, dinner, etc. This is the first step to creating a network that will last your entire career since those connections will snowball into more connections. Ask for introductions to other staff if you'd like to learn about their work and possibly drum up a collaboration.
What are your hobbies/what do you do in your free time?
You'll find me hanging out with my 7-year-old son, 5-year-old daughter, and wife. We do most things together, including growing vegetables, cultivating and maintaining our California native plants, hiking, and working on/maintaining our cars and my motorcycle (this is usually a solo hobby).
How many years have you worked at the Lab?
10
Where are you from?
Vacaville, CA
Do you support disciplines or programs outside PLS?
Global Security
