In commemorating Women’s History Month, we reflect on the significant contributions and achievements of women in all aspects of life. Among these inspiring individuals stands Olivia Newton ’13 ’17MS ’22PhD, a postdoctoral fellow and head of the Cognitive Science Laboratory within UCF’s School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training. Recently honored as one of six people to earn the prestigious Better Scientific Software (BSSw) Fellowship, Newton, who is a first-generation graduate student, embodies what it means to be a pioneer in her field.
Fellows are selected annually and receive up to $25,000 to support their proposals that outline activities that promote better scientific software by improving developer productivity and software sustainability. Newton’s proposal is aimed at conducting a workshop to identify best practices for learning within scientific software projects. In these types of projects, the work is done by groups of people with different types of expertise, from scientists to engineers and managers, among others.
“Funding agencies such as the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, sponsors of the BSSw grant, have recognized learning as critical to the effectiveness of these types of collaborative work teams,” says Newton, a second-generation Mexican-American and three-time UCF graduate. . Through the workshop, Newton will coordinate the development of guidelines that can be used to facilitate and enhance such learning in such teams.
Reflecting on his academic journey, Newton emphasizes the importance of mentoring and support “for members of underrepresented and marginalized groups as they progress through their educational and professional careers in STEM, including students at UCF.”
After completing her PhD and MS in modeling and simulation at UCF in 2022, she continues to contribute to research and talent development in the School of Modeling, Simulation and Training.
Newton’s work is aligned with the program of the Laboratory for Cognitive Sciences, which conducts interdisciplinary research on individuals and teams to understand cognition. This includes previous and ongoing work aimed at understanding and supporting learning in scientific teams.
“[The fellowship] it also provides an opportunity to develop mentoring and training research programs, which expands the impact they can have in STEM and higher education more broadly,” says Newton.
Newton also earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCF. While studying, she won the University’s Outstanding Dissertation Award 2022-23 Modeling the Effects of Diversity and Corporations on the Dynamics of Participation in Free/Libre and Open Source Software Ecosystems.
Newton’s journey is an inspiring example of perseverance and excellence, not only for women but for all individuals who strive to change the world regardless of gender or ethnicity.