Dr. Saman's research focuses on the human, institutional, and policy dimensions of sustainability, international collaborations and community resilience, applying her doctoral training in international studies and organizational leadership to social science research design, stakeholder engagement, and policy analysis. She designs and implements mixed-method research including surveys, interviews, and focus groups and works to translate research findings into policy-relevant and programmatic outputs. She also contributes to CREST's international collaboration efforts by developing academic and institutional partnerships abroad and supports the Institute's education and workforce-development initiatives by mentoring graduate and undergraduate researchers.
Before joining CREST, Dr. Saman was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, where she coordinated large-scale research and program initiatives across multiple institutions. She previously served on the faculty at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak, where she taught courses linking social science theory to institutional and policy questions, and as a Junior Research Officer at India's National Institute of Disaster Management, where she conducted policy research on disaster preparedness and vulnerability.

Dr. Saman holds a Ph.D. in International Studies, with a research concentration in Organizational Leadership, from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her dissertation, "Gender-Quota in Norwegian Public Limited Companies, 2003–2015," examined corporate governance and organizational policy in a comparative international context. She also holds an M.Phil. in European Studies and an M.A. in Politics with a specialization in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from Patna University.