Students from Dr. Sherry Seston’s Virology course at Alverno College are learning about the history of their science through Wikipedia assignments. And by creating biography articles for women virologists, they’re expanding the scope of science information on Wikipedia while helping to close a content gap in women’s biographies.
Articles students created include:
- Saswati Chatterjee, a researcher at the Los Angeles City of Hope National Medical Center.
- Christine L. Clouser, an HIV researcher at the University of Minnesota Institute for Molecular Virology.
- Polly Roy, Chair of Virology at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
- Sandra Quackenbush, a Gammaretrovirus (feline leukemia virus) researcher at Colorado State University.
- Anna-Lise Williamson, an HIV researcher in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Ann C. Palmenberg, a common-cold researcher who has invented several technologies for scientific research.
- Wendy Barclay, a British flu researcher who currently holds a Chair in Influenza Virology at the Imperial College London.
- Roselyn J. Eisenberg, a professor at The University of Pennsylvania, and a member of the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and School of Dental Medicine.
- Deborah Persaud, a researcher at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center working with AIDS and HIV in children.
- Akiko Iwasaki, a professor at Yale University.
- Mary K. Estes, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine researching rotaviruses and noroviruses.
- Janet S. Butel, the Chairman and Distinguished Service Professor in the molecular virology and microbiology department at Baylor College of Medicine.
- Eva Gottwein, Assistant Professor of Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.
We’re hoping to inspire more great content like this through the Wikipedia Year of Science initiative. One component of that campaign will be a focus on biographies of women scientists.
Thanks to Dr. Sherry Seston and her students for this wonderful contribution to Wikipedia!
Photo: “Symian virus” by Phoebus87 at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
