Samuel Chuks Japhets is a Ph.D. Public Policy – Foreign Policy doctoral candidate at the Helms School of Government, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. He completed and successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on September 13, 2023. Dr. Sam specializes in U.S. and international space mining law & policy. In his landmark doctoral dissertation titled "Res Communis Omnium v. Res Nullius in U.S. Space Mining Law & Policy," Dr. Sam employed a multidisciplinary analytic framework to design a novel academic approach to the study of contemporary theories of space mining. Additionally, in a first, Dr. Sam advanced a novel approach to comparative international space law analysis aimed at harmonizing and reconcile critical dueling principles of multilevel space mining law and policy. With this foundational contribution to the study of space mining law and policy, Dr. Sam plans to expand his research study of contemporary space mining to encompass related issues of outer space geopolitics, ethics, justice and equity, ecological, theological, and environmental concerns.

Prior to this PhD studies, Dr. Sam earned a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from Purdue University Global (formerly Kaplan University), Chicago, Illinois, and the juris doctor law degree, with specialization in the research-intensive Executive Track from William Howard Taft Law School, Santa Ana, CA. Subsequently, he earned the master of divinity (MDiv.) in Christian Apologetics from the Rawlings School of Divinity, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. Following the award of the PhD., Dr. Samuel will continue the academic research study of the evolving space mining domain, while fulfilling his calling as an international Christian Apologist / Pastor. Additionally, he plans a career pivot to policymaking, national politics, writing, and teaching in Academia.