Heidi Meudt | Stitchbird2
Kia ora, I’m Heidi Meudt, User:Stitchbird2 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Stitchbird2) and I am both a Wikimedian and a botany curator. I am originally from the United States but I live in Wellington, New Zealand. I am an active member of Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Aotearoa_New_Zealand), regularly attending the Wikipedians in Wellington Meetup and other Wiki events in New Zealand. I’m interested in New Zealand's natural history and biodiversity, and I am an active editor on the following projects: Wikipedia (mostly English and some Spanish), Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. I am also Curator Botany at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/Museum_of_New_Zealand_Te_Papa_Tongarewa). I have a PhD in Botany and have published about 50 scientific research papers (see my ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2433-9071) and over 50 blog posts (https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/author/heidim/). I am also an active botanical collector (https://bionomia.net/0000-0002-2433-9071) and iNaturalist user and curator (https://inaturalist.nz/people/heidimeudt). As a Wikimedian, I edit on topics related to biodiversity, botany, taxonomy, plant species, specimens, scientists (especially botanists and women scientists) and scientific papers.
Session
This presentation will summarise how the collaborative Wikidata WikiProject International Botanical Congress 2024 (the IBC Project) was conceived and created. It will highlight how the organisers were successful in engaging and collaborating with the botanical and Wiki communities. We intend to outline the challenges faced and successes achieved, including how the project has led to further opportunities for engagement by the organisers, participants and the wider botanical community. This collaborative IBC Project has improved the amount and quality of openly shared data on botanists and their research in Wikidata, and provided training to participants to continue Wikidata editing.