Samantha Carter received the 2025 CAFNR William R. Lamberson Distinguished Dissertation Award for her dissertation, “Natural Resource Justice as an Anticolonial Practice: Policies of Sovereignty.” Carter earned her Ph.D. in Natural Resources in summer 2024 and now serves as a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University. 

Her research explores Indigenous rights and natural resource law through an anticolonial lens, blending legal and social science methods. Her dissertation includes three manuscripts: one analyzing mining jurisdiction post-McGirt v. Oklahoma (Montana Law Review), another examining cannabis regulation in Indian Country (Mercer Law Review) and a third comparing Indigenous resource governance in New Zealand and Hawaii. 

Carter has published multiple peer-reviewed articles, received over $40,000 in competitive external research funding—including an NSF Dissertation Research Improvement Grant—and earned prestigious awards such as the MU Graduate Student of Distinction and CAFNR Outstanding Graduate Student. She has presented her work at top academic venues, including the Association of American Geographers and the Association of American Law Schools. 

“Samantha Carter’s dissertation exemplifies the criteria for the William R. Lamberson Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award,” said Sonja Wilhelm Stanis, professor and associate director of the School of Natural Resources. “Her work is clear, methodologically sound, and deeply impactful, offering significant contributions to the fields of natural resources and Indigenous rights.” 

 
“Sam’s research is at the intersection of natural resources law and indigenous peoples’ rights,” said Robin Rotman, assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources, and Carter’s PhD advisor. “Her pathbreaking work showcases her novel approach, quality of scholarship and excellent writing. It has been received eagerly in both academic and law and policy practitioner circles.”