Sampson was born in the neighborhood of
Dunbar-Southlands in Vancouver,
British Columbia. He attended
Point Grey Secondary School.[8] Sampson studied for a Ph.D. in
Zoology from the
University of Toronto. For his doctorate he produced a thesis on two newly found species of
ceratopsids, dated to the
Late Cretaceous period in
Montana and the growth and function of ceratopsid horns and frills.[9] Sampson graduated from the University of Toronto in 1993 and worked for a year at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Then he worked for five years as an assistant professor of anatomy at the
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine on
Long Island.[9] In 1999 he accepted positions as assistant professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the
Utah Museum of Natural History (nowadays called the Natural History Museum of Utah and relocated in the new Rio Tinto Center as of 2011). Sampson resided in California at this time, but continued his research with the Utah museum as a research curator.[9] In February 2013, Sampson took a position as Vice President of Research and Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.[10]
Utah Museum of Natural History where Sampson has been a curator since 1999. As seen in the photograph these former exhibits were dismantled in 2011 when the museum moved to the new Rio Tinto Center and changed name to Natural History Museum of Utah.
Sampson is featured as "Dr. Scott the paleontologist" on the
PBS television series, Dinosaur Train. In this television series he mentions he gave Masiakasaurus its name and also mentions on a separate episode of The Dinosaur Train that he participated in naming Kosmoceratops. In 2003 he hosted Dinosaur Planet, a series of four animated nature documentaries which aired on the
Discovery Channel.[11] The series was narrated by
Christian Slater. His first book, Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life was published by
University of California Press in 2009.[12] The book, aimed at the general public reconstructs the odyssey of the dinosaurs from their origins on the supercontinent of
Pangaea, and explores the way in which dinosaurs ecologically interacted in an expansive web of relationships with other organisms and their natural environment, underscoring "paradigm shifts", which conceptualize the nature of the dinosaurian world.[13][14]
Research
Aside from his research conducted in museums, Sampson has undertaken paleontological fieldwork in countries such as
Zimbabwe, South Africa and
Madagascar as well as the United States and Canada.[9] His specialist fields of research include
phylogenetics, functional morphology, and evolution of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs.[9] Sampson is particularly notable for his work on the carnivorous
theropod dinosaur Majungasaurus and his studies into the paleobiogeography of
Gondwana.[15][16][17][18][19] In 1995 he made a phylogenetic analysis of the
Centrosaurinae and
Ceratopsidae in the state of
Montana and produced two papers on these horned dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous. Sampson also published a paper documenting the discovery of the first Tyrannosaurus specimen found in Utah, as well as the first evidence of coexistence between Tyrannosaurus and sauropods.[20]
In 1998 he conducted thorough paleontological studies into the Cretaceous period in Madagascar and published several papers on it. These include Predatory dinosaur remains from Madagascar: Implications for the Cretaceous biogeography of Gondwana. and The theropodan ancestry of birds: New evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar, both published in 1998. In 2001 he returned to Madagascar and conducted some important research into the evolution of Gondwanan theropods, publishing a paper on it, entitled A bizarre predatory dinosaur from Madagascar: implications for the evolution of Gondwanan theropods. In 2007 he published Dental morphology and variation in Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar.[15]
Sampson stresses the importance of evolution in understanding the dynamics of ecology in everyday life and that is underplayed in modern society:
"The web of life is composed of two distinctly different kinds of threads‹those that link organisms at any given moment in time through the flow of energy (ecology), and those that link all lifeforms through deep time via genetic information and shared common ancestry (evolution). Seen from this dual and complementary perspective, the two themes are inseparable. Without evolution, our vision is severely limited to the present day and we cannot begin to fathom the blossoming of life's diversity from single-celled forebears. Without ecology, the intricate interconnections we share with the current panoply of lifeforms cannot truly be envisioned. United in a single theme, evolution and ecology provide a powerful lens through which to view life's web, forming the foundation of an integrated and underutilized perspective on nature. In short, we need dramatic increases in levels of both ecological literacy, or "ecoliteracy," and evolutionary literacy, or "evoliteracy," with this dynamic pair of concepts reinforcing each other."[11]
Sampson, S. D. 1995. Two new horned dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of Montana; with a phylogenetic analysis of the Centrosaurinae (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 15(4): 743–760.
Sampson, S. D. (1995). "Horns, herds, and hierarchies". Natural History. 104 (6): 36–40.
Sampson, S. D.; Krause, D. W.; Dodson, P.; Forster, C. A. (1996). "The premaxilla of Majungasaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda), with implications for Gondwanan paleobiogeography". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (4): 601–605.
Bibcode:
1996JVPal..16..601S.
doi:
10.1080/02724634.1996.10011350.
JSTOR4523759.
Sampson, S. D. (1999). "Sex and destiny: the role of mating signals in speciation and macroevolution". Historical Biology. 13 (2–3): 173–197.
doi:
10.1080/08912969909386580.
Carrano, M. T.; Sampson, S. D.; Forster, C. A. (2002). "The osteology of Masiakasaurus knopfleri, a small abelisauroid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (3): 510–534.
doi:
10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0510:TOOMKA]2.0.CO;2.
S2CID85655323.
^Krause, David W.; Sampson, Scott D.; Carrano, Matthew T.; O'Connor, Patrick M. (2007). "Overview of the history of discovery, taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". In Sampson, Scott D.; Krause, David W. (eds.). Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 8. Vol. 27. pp. 1–20.
doi:
10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[1:OOTHOD]2.0.CO;2.
S2CID13274054. {{
cite book}}: |journal= ignored (
help)
^Sampson, Scott D.; Witmer, Lawrence M. (2007). "Cranofacial anatomy of Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". In Sampson, Scott D.; Krause, David W. (eds.). Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. He gave Masiakasaurus its name and also mentions on an episode of The Dinosaur Train that he participated in naming Kosmoceratops. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 8. Vol. 27. pp. 32–102.
doi:
10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[32:CAOMCT]2.0.CO;2.
S2CID129240095. {{
cite book}}: |journal= ignored (
help)
^
abSmith, Joshua B. (2007). "Dental morphology and variation in Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". In Sampson, Scott D.; Krause, David W. (eds.). Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 8. Vol. 27. pp. 103–126.
doi:
10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[103:DMAVIM]2.0.CO;2.
S2CID85729335. {{
cite book}}: |journal= ignored (
help)
^Sampson, Scott D.; Krause, David W. (2007). "Craniofacial anatomy of Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (supplement 2): 32–102.
doi:
10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[32:CAOMCT]2.0.CO;2.
S2CID129240095.
^Sampson, Scott D., and Mark A. Loewen. “Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) North Horn Formation of Utah: Biogeographic and Paleoecologic Implications.” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 25, no. 2, 2005, pp. 469–472. www.jstor.org/stable/4524461.