Mind the Gaps: Wikipedia as a Tool to Connect Scientists and the Public

The Wikipedia Year of Science 2016 was an unprecedented initiative designed to improve Wikipedia’s potential for communicating science to the public. Kicked off at the 2016 AAAS Annual Meeting, this multifaceted program trained scientists from nearly every discipline and delivered an innovative new education platform to hundreds of science classrooms across the U.S. and Canada. The initiative was developed by the nonprofit Wiki Education Foundation, in partnership with the Simons Foundation, scientific societies, and hundreds of universities, and with support from Google. This workshop explores the project's impacts and lessons learned, and provides concrete ways attendees can apply this model to various outreach, educational, and professional endeavors.