As a member of Biology 4095, I can confidently say that I have gained both knowledge and skill that I will use throughout my life. One skill in particular that I have acquired, is the ability to edit or create Wikipedia pages. However, my journey to become a Wikipedian did not begin with great promise, as prior to this course, I had never practiced proper science communication.
Therefore, when I started my Wikipedia assignment, I was having difficulty choosing a particular Wikipedia page to edit. I knew I had to edit content related to Applied Plant Ecology; however, there are thousands of Wikipedia pages that exist which pertain to the Applied Plant Ecology field, making it all the more difficult to make a decision. Therefore, I had to think about my own interests within the very large field of Applied Plant Ecology. I then remembered my second-year ecology course, and thought about how I enjoyed learning about interspecific plant competition.
With this being said, I found the Wikipedia page for Applied Plant Ecology, and added a section for parasitism among plant interactions. I used information from my second-year ecology textbook, and really enjoyed writing this informative section. I then added citations to ensure the credibility of the information I had written. After this process was completed, I felt more confident in my science communication abilities. I have learned the importance of scientific communication, as scientific knowledge should be accessible and understandable to even those with the most basic scientific background.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 