Claire Samson is a Canadian professional engineer with an undergraduate degree in engineering physics from Laval University, a M.Sc. in geological sciences from McGill University and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Toronto.

From 1991 to 1992, Claire was a Research Associate at Cambridge University, and from 1993 to 1999, she worked for the Shell Oil group in the Netherlands. Upon relocating to Canada in 2000, she joined Neptec Design Group, a company specializing in vision systems for space applications. In 2003, she was appointed as Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University, where she served as departmental Chair and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs. From 2018 to 2019, Claire was Dean of Research at École de technologie supérieure in Montréal. In addition to her academic leadership activities, Claire continued to be active in research in the fields of laser imaging of earth materials, unmanned aircraft systems, and planetary geology.  

In 2020, Claire was appointed Vice-President, Programs and Planning, of the Canada Foundation for Innovation. In this role, Claire oversees the planning and general management of all the CFI’s program areas, including program development, delivery, budget setting, and knowledge management.

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