Samuel Trachtman is a PhD candidate in the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley. He studies the politics of public policy in the U.S., focusing on issues related to decarbonization. He is particularly interested in how U.S. federalism affects climate change mitigation, with much of his work investigating how policies enacted at different sites and levels of government affect the politics of decarbonization in the broader federal system. He is also interested in organized group politics of climate change both at the professionalized and grassroots levels. His articles have appeared in outlets including the American Political Science Review, Energy Policy, and Health Affairs. Sam also has experience working in energy policy at Southern California Edison, a large electric utility. Sam graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College in 2012.

Samuel is involved in a project entitled, "Low carbon economic transitions in Canada", under the supervision of Matto Mildenberger and in collaboration with  Kathryn Harrison, and Leah Stokes.