Mike Dickison
Mike Dickison | |
|---|---|
 Dickison in 2018 | |
| Born | 1968/1969 (age 56–57)[1] Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Education | Duke University (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Museum curator, zoologist, Wikipedian at Large |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | The allometry of giant flightless birds (2007) |
| Doctoral advisor | Louise Roth |
Michael R. Dickison[2] (born 1968/1969) is a museum curator, a zoologist, and an editor for Wikipedia. He is famous for being New Zealand's first Wikipedian at Large. This was a special job he had from 2018 to 2019, where he got grant from Wikimedia Foundation to help make Wikipedia better with information about New Zealand.
His work includes teaching people how to edit Wikipedia and helping museums share their collections with the public. He has a PhD in zoology and studied giant birds that cannot fly.[2][3][4] He grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand.[1]
In 2018, Dickison was given a grant of $61,000 to become New Zealand's first Wikipedian-at-Large.[3] This money paid for his salary, travel, and conference fees.[5] The goal of the project was to improve Wikipedia articles about New Zealand, because there were not enough articles about Māori people and women.[6] He also hoped to get more women to edit Wikipedia to help with the gender bias.[4] In 2018, he traveled all over New Zealand in his 4-wheel-drive car, which he used as a mobile office.[6] He went to 16 different towns and cities, working with people at different places.[4] He recorded how to say Māori words to add to Wikipedia and asked local people to share their stories.[7]
References
[change | change source]- 1 2 Graham-McLay, Charlotte (16 November 2018). "From Encyclopedic Collector to 'Wikipedian-at-Large'". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
- 1 2 Dickison, Michael R. (2007). "The Allometry of Giant Flightless Birds". Duke Dissertations. Duke University. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- 1 2 Easther, Elizabeth (18 September 2018). "Mr Wiki: Mike Dickison is NZ's first Wikipedian at large". North & South. Noted. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- 1 2 3 Macdonald, Nikki (20 October 2018). "National Portrait: Mike Dickison, conservationist and Wikipedian". Stuff. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ↑ Wilson, Zaryd (22 May 2018). "Mike Dickison gets grant to become travelling Wikipedian". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- 1 2 "Wikipedian in Residence: Mike Dickison". Auckland Museum. 25 July 2018.
- ↑ "Wikipedia wants to hear your Northland stories". The New Zealand Herald. 2 October 2018. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 20 October 2018.