Samantha Walkow, an Informatics PhD student advised by Assistant Professor Matthew Turk, has been accepted into the Mozilla Open Leaders Program. The 14-week mentorship and project management program focuses on internet health and openness. Walkow is part of a cohort in the "culture track," in which participants learn how to design and build an open culture that promotes participation and inclusion.
"In addition to working with my cohort on designing and running projects, I will be completing leadership and project management training," Walkow said. "I have also been paired with a program mentor with whom I will develop my individual project—examining open source software to develop sustainability and contributor attributes."
Walkow received her bachelor's in psychology and sociology from Purdue University. Her areas of interest include how software is used across science domains, how different domains approach data analysis and visualization, and what motivates users to re-use and re-purpose software tools. She also has experience in data management and research software in a healthcare setting.
"I'm delighted that Sam has this opportunity to learn from other members of the cohort, and I am excited to see what she is able to accomplish during the course of the program," Turk said. "She has identified an important issue, and I am eager to see how her exploration of it can help us develop better, more equitable, and more inclusive communities."