The Wikipedia warriorPhysicist and activist Dr Jess Wade, 30, is
a research associate at Imperial College
London and an advocate for women in
science and engineering. After rising to
prominence for editing the Wikipedia profiles
of unknown female scientists and bringing
their achievements to the masses, Dr Wade
has spent the past two years trying to
improve representation of women, people of
colour and LGBTQ+ scientists via WikipediaLift others as you climb.I love celebrating the
achievements of others, both online and offline.
If you see someone doing something outstanding,
nominate them for an award, or tell them they’re
fantastic. Don’t be afraid of asking for help, either.
Find a mentor who will advocate for your brilliance.
Make time for what’s important.Working
in research means you’re always on your toes.
There’s lots of lab time, meetings and data
analysis and because of this, I do my Wiki profile
work out of hours. There are so many outstanding
people doing wonderful things in science but not
getting the recognition they deserve – it is an
immense privilege to document their stories.
Never stop reading.A life-changing event for
me was reading Angela Saini’s book,Inferior: How
Science Got Women Wrong – And The New Research
That’s Rewriting The Story. It looks at how biased
researchers have used bad science to make claims
about women’s inferiority. Angela’s book taught me
how wrong they were, but also about the women
who, throughout history, have called them
out. This inspired my Wikipedia
editing, and I took it all over the
world to give to scientists
I met, before starting
my campaign.SCIENCE &
INNOVATION AWARDTHIS PAGE: DRESS, SELF-PORTRAIT; SHOES, KURT GEIGER.OPPOSITE PAGE: JUMPSUIT, ASOS; JEWELLERY, AKIWOWO’S OWN