Samuel Burton was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. After serving a two-year mission in New York City and earning his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University, Sam moved to Austin to attend graduate school at the University of Texas, where he is currently a PhD candidate in media studies. His research focuses primarily on storytelling and community-building in grassroots media industries and subcultures. Outside of academia, Sam also collaborates with friends on projects in the creative industries he studies. Broadly, his work aims to foster community and collaborative creativity through media and the arts, especially for queer and otherwise marginalized people.