Wikipedia has a bias problem. Join the efforts to change the narrative about who belongs in the outdoors by helping create pages for these 18 people.
My friend Allison Cusick is an Antarctic Oceanographer. She spends a lot of time in the lab and about three months a year aboard various ships in Antarctica. There, she uses citizen science to engage passengers in polar research in support of her work to understand and combat climate change. To keep things interesting, she sometimes wears a banana costume.
You probably haven’t heard of Allison, or the dozens of BIPOC and/or female explorers like her, because our social systems are designed to keep their work out of our field of vision.
To combat this visibility problem, Allison participated in a WikiBomb event for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) a few years ago. Their goal: add more biographies about influential Antarctic female scientists to Wikipedia. By reading her posts on social media about those efforts, I became acutely aware of the ‘Wikipedia Bias Problem’.
The Wikipedia Representation Problem
Wikipedia has an estimated 1.5 million biographies, yet only 17% are about women. That’s not a remotely fair representation of the 50:50 female:male ratio that governs the human population. It’s even worse for – and speaks volumes to – the underrepresentation of BIPOC. The racial and gender biases on Wikipedia are so well documented, in fact, that you can find articles dedicated to these biases on Wikipedia itself.
Efforts like the one Allison participated in happen across the globe on a regular basis. This June, Strike4BlackLives stopped all academic work for the day to combat anti-Black bias. Their team of volunteers created 59 new articles and edited/improved 491 pages about Black academics and social justice. Their efforts mean that these Black academics will rise to visibility for today’s internet searchers, and hopefully serve as role models and game changers to future generations.
You Can Help Change the Narrative
I am not nearly as organized as Strike4BlackLives, and I will not pretend to be on their level, but I have been working to create more Wikipedia pages to highlight underrepresented voices. In two years, and with a small team of a helpers, we’ve managed to publish only three pages: Charlie Crenchaw, Claire Smallwood, and Mirna Vilereo. Wikipedia rejected four other submissions due to lack of “credible sources”*, a vague reason at best. I want your help so we can do more.
Follow Strike4BlackLives‘s excellent instructions to learn how to create a new page or edit existing ones. You’ll need a few hours to set up a profile and review Wikipedia trainings and best practices, then you can get on your way!
Below is a non-exhaustive list of 18 outdoor people who need Wikipedia pages, in alphabetical order. I will update the list as I learn of page completions or of folx who need to be added to the list. Let me know if you’ve joined this effort, and be sure to check out Brad Hefta-Gaub’s tips** at the bottom for ways to have more clout as a contributor. And, if you want to take this list for an official organized takeover, please do! We all need to do our part to change the narrative about who belongs in the outdoors.
Hopefully this can be just one step of many more to come.
WikiTakeover Subjects and Sources
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of 18 outdoor people who need Wikipedia pages, in alphabetical order. I will update the list as I learn of page completions or of folx who need to be added to the list (see next section below for “completed”). And, if you want to take this list for an official organized takeover, please do! We all need to do our part to change the narrative about who belongs in the outdoors.
Brooklyn Bell
Brooklyn is an athlete and artist from the Pacific Northwest. Never seeing herself reflected in outdoor media, Bell created her own role model, Ruby J, to look up to. She’s featured in a film by Patagonia, and on She Explores, Diversify Outdoors, Bikeworks, and Teton Gravity Research.
Jenny Bruso
Jenny is a self-identified fat, femme, queer, writer and hiker on a trajectory of healing, self-care and adventure in the outdoors. She’s alo the founder of Unlikely Hikers. Jenny is featured in Outside online, Outdoor Project, Diversify Outdoors, and in the She Explores podcast. Note: We tried to set up a page for Jenny but were denied***. You may find be able to find a draft of her page if such things are saved.
Rachel Burks
Rachel is a pro skier featured in the film Pretty Faces. She’s profiled in Warren Miller, Men’s Journal, and Ski Mag.
Tasheon Chillous
Tasheon is a fat personal trainer and group fitness coach with a weight-inclusive and Health At Every Size (HAES) approach. She has a passion for helping people find what joyful movement and strength means to them. Shape magazine, SuperFit Hero, and the Unlikely Hikers podcast have featured Tasheon.
Caroline Gleich
Caroline is a pro ski mountaineer, adventure athlete, writer, and activist for people and the planet. She’s taken a strong stance against mysogyny and sexism in the outdoors. She’s featured in many places, including Outside, REI, Adventure Journal, and Patagonia.
Pattie Gonia (Wyn Wiley)
Pattie Gonia, is a backcountry queen bringing drag and advocacy into the outdoors. Created by photographer Wyn Wiley (he/him), Pattie (she/her) became known for exploring the backcountry in heels and now uses her platform to raise awareness for social justice. She’s featured in multiple places, including Outside, REI, and the Guardian. Note: Wyn also does not have a wikipedia page.
J. R. Harris
J.R. is a hiker, backpacker, and proud New Yorker. A collection of stories from his wilderness exploits is published in Way Out There. He’s featured by the WTA, Trail Posse, and The Mountaineers.
Errol “The Rocket” Jones
Errol “The Rocket” is a 65 year old ultra runner dedicated to the sport and exploring the Bay Area Ridge Trail. He’s featured in What We See, the Runners Trip, Trail Runner mag, and in the Ultrarunner podcast and “The Pleasure and the Pain” film by REI.
James Edward Mills
James is a freelance journalist who specializes in telling stories about outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, acts of charitable giving, and practices of sustainable living. He’s the author of The Adventure Gap. He’s been featured by Outside online, Alpinist, Snews, Sierra Club, and WTA.
Georgina Miranda
Georgina is a social entrepreneur, adventurer, transformation coach, motivational speaker, storyteller, consultant, and activist. She’s the founder of Altitude Seven and She Ventures. She’s been featured by SheJumps, Tough Girl Challenges, Outdoor Project, and in Huffington Post.
Sam Ortiz
Sam has gone from a beginner to a hiker to a climber to a mountaineer to a plus-size outdoor model in under five years. The SheExplores podcast, REI’s blog, and Outside online featured Sam. She’s also written numermous articles for The Mountaineers.
Chevon Powell
Chevon is the founder of Refuge Outdoor Festival (which also does not have a Wiki page), an outdoor festival geared toward people of color but welcome to all. She’s featured in Crosscut and Snews.
Adina Scott
Adina is a climber, NOLS graduate, and bioengineer. She participated in Expedition Denali, featured in The Adventure Gap, and she’s featured by the NPCA, University of Washington, Trail Posse, and NOLS.
NEW: Ambreen Tariq
Ambreen is the founder of @BrownPeopleCamping, a social media initiative that utilizes personal narratives and digital storytelling to promote greater diversity in our public lands and outdoors community. She’s featured by REI, Diversify Outdoors, Outside online, and she’s spoken at the Shift Conference.
Nicole Tsong
Nicole is a twice-published author on yoga, and brings a joy and creativity to her classes that make you feel welcome and excited to move. She’s featured in the Seattle Times and on OmPractice. Nicole also published two books: Yoga for Climbers and Yoga for Hikers.
Completed Profiles!
Tyrhee Moore – now on Wikipedia!
Tyrhee is a mountaineer and outdoor education advocate born and raised in S.E. Washington, D.C. Moore is a highly regarded outdoorsman whose climbs include Grand Teton, Mount Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and the first all African-American climb of Denali featured in The Adventure Gap. He’s been featured by Diversify Outdoors, Outside online, the DC Environmental Film Festival, The Mountaineers, and Gear Junkie. A big thanks to Brad Hefta-Gaub for getting Tyrhee’s page live!
Don Nguyen – now on Wikipedia!
Don is the first-generation Vietnamese-American cofounder of Climbers of Color, a nonprofit that provides mountaineering workshops for diverse outdoor leaders. He’s been highlighted by Melanin Basecamp, The Mountaineers, Colorado Mountain College, Outside, and on the Discovery Channel show Naked and Afraid. A big thanks to Brad Hefta-Gaub for getting Don’s page live!
Hilaree Nelson O’Neill – now on Wikipedia!
Hilaree is one of the world’s best ski mountaineers and the first woman ]to have summited both Everest and Lhotse in 24 hours. She skied from Lhotse’s summit. She’s featured in many places, including National Geographic, Teton Gravity Research, Outside online, Powder, and Black Diamond. A big thanks to Daryl Greaser for getting Hilaree’s page live!
Rosemary Saal – now on Wikipedia!
Rosemary is a climber and graduate of NOLS and the GOLD (Girls Outdoor Leadership Development) program. She participated in Expedition Denali, featured in The Adventure Gap, and participated in the first all-Black U.S. expedition team to Kilimanjaro. She’s featured by the BBC, Brown Girls Climb, Sierra Club, The Mountaineers, and the Seattle Times. A big thanks to Brad Hefta-Gaub for getting Rosemary’s page live!
Notes
*The way Wikipedia defines noteworthiness is a gatekeeping process, regardless of efforts to create pages. Someone could be celebrated and respected for what they or their org does, but if it doesn’t get coverage from traditional news institutions, it probably won’t pass the noteworthiness test. In the words of my teammate, “It’s kind of like their noteworthiness test only asks, “Are wealthier, whiter communities paying attention? If not, then it must not be worthy of a Wikipedia page.””
** Brad’s tips to get more clout as a contributor (these are not hard and fast rules, and we’ll change them as he learns more):
- Make sure you create an account before doing any editing. Although you can edit pages anonymously on Wikipedia, having an account is a critical step for editors being seen as credible.
- Create a user page for your account. This is considered customary for editors who want to seriously contribute to Wikipedia. You can have whatever you want on your user page, you can fill it out with your actual real identity or if you want to remain pseudo-anonymous you can craft a user page that keeps your real life identity secret. Your user page is found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:yourusernamehere. An example is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ZappoMan
- Start out with small, non-controversial edits to existing pages. For example, let’s say you have a favorite band, and you notice that the Wikipedia page for that band is missing an album from the bands discography. Adding the album to the discography is a small non-controversial edit that will establish that you’re here with the goal of contributing to the accuracy of Wikipedia. Try to do several of these types of small edits over a couple days or weeks before diving into bigger projects like creating a new page for a person.
- When you start working on a new page, first create a draft of that page in your “sandbox”. You can get to your sandbox at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:[your username]/sandbox – and just like any Wikipedia page, you can create and edit that sandbox to have your own content on it. You can create subpages within your sandbox. Using a sandbox to create your drafts provides a couple of benefits: first, you’ll have a copy of your work in case it is ever removed by an eager admin; second, because your sandbox is public, it will show that you are willing to transparently work on your ideas and content you plan to add. Transparency is a big deal with the Wikipedia community, so the more you are transparent in your work the more likely your content will be accepted.
- Use existing templates in the content you create. Use the format and sections from existing similar articles so that your content “fits in” with the existing content on the topic. For example for biographies, grab an existing biography on wikipedia, and use the same sections and formatting. For biographies, have sections on “Biography” that includes info about when and where the person was born and grew up, what life events led them into the accomplishments that make them noteworthy. Include sections on “Notable accomplishments”, “Accolades”, “Filmography” (films they were part of), “Bibliography” (books they authored or are a subject of), “Advocacy” for any groups or organizations they are actively participating in to advocate for causes they are part of.
***At the time of our attempt to create a page for Jenny Bruso (roughly 4-months ago), she had been featured in a number of publications, but generally in a “round-up” style article. For example, she was listed with other social media influencers you should follow, and since Jenny didn’t have a specific article dedicated to her, the submission was declined.
Learn more about what it feels like to not belong in the outdoors, or anywhere, in this blog post about Imposter Syndrome.
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