Have you ever heard of a wikibomb? Wonder why one might be important? The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is hoping to make a big impact with its wikibomb event and Christine Siddoway, professor of geology, is right in the middle of it.<\/p>\n
By intentionally \u201cbombing\u201d Wikipedia with information about female researchers, Siddoway says the event helps to better capture the demographics that exist today in polar sciences. SCAR asked the Antarctic research community to\u00a0nominate women and write their online biographies for the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. So far, about 100 women from\u00a030 countries have been profiled, including Siddoway. About 75 Wikipedia biographies of Antarctic women researchers were launched during the wikibomb event at the annual SCAR conference this week. Siddoway\u2019s was one of the biographies posted, drafted by colleague Trista Vick-Majors \u201903, a microbiologist. This celebration of female Antarctic researchers, including Siddoway, aims to raise their profile to help provide more visible female role models for early career scientists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe contributions that women have made to Antarctic science are still under-represented on Wikipedia,\u201d says Vick-Majors. \u201cMany members of the public rely on Wikipedia as a source of information, and making sure that the wide breadth of Antarctic researchers are represented is key to furthering the public understanding of science.\u201d<\/p>\n
Siddoway traveled to Kuala Lumpur for the SCAR conference and coinciding wikibomb event Aug. 23. She says many more women are actively participating in \u2013 and leading \u2013 polar science research today than in what she calls the \u201cheroic age of Exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, my current Antarctic project, named ROSETTA-Ice, has five principal investigators from four academic or research institutions, and four of these are women. The women scientists all bring different expertise, and each has a strong funding and publication record that qualifies\u00a0them to collaborate on this work. Just a couple of decades ago, a typical research program did not have that proportion of women in the position of scientific leadership and discovery \u2013 not just in United States research programs but in those of nations around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vick-Majors, who was also featured in the wikibomb event, says Siddoway\u2019s dedication to not only grow the scientific understanding of Antarctica, but also to share her experiences with others, makes her stand out. \u201cIt is rare for such a successful Antarctic researcher to simultaneously be a such a successful teacher, and [Siddoway] deserves to be recognized for her commitment,\u201d says Vick-Majors.<\/p>\n
Siddoway explains that there are stories worth telling about\u00a0women students and women scientists, and plenty of achievements to be celebrated, though they\u2019re stories not often told. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0beneficial to illuminate these personalities and weave women\u2019s science into the fabric of human achievements now, when there is so much to celebrate,\u201d she says. \u201cChances are that some aspect will lodge in the imagination of a student and at some stage that will aid the student\u2019s ability to recognize a key question that provides direction or allows self-determination in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vick-Majors adds that while more women are working in Antarctica now than ever before, they are still often the minority in Antarctic research stations and that they must be prepared to meet a number of challenges \u2013 not just the scientific ones \u2013 in order to succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAntarctica is an amazing place to conduct scientific research. [But] field seasons are often long, with complicated logistics and less-than-desirable weather,\u201d she says, \u201cAntarctic scientists, especially the ones who choose to return year-after-year have to have a high level of dedication to their work, and an extraordinary amount of patience, in order to overcome the challenges of working on \u2018the Ice.\u2019”<\/p>\n