The iSchool proudly announces PhD student Shawn Walker's selection for a Wikimedia Foundation Summer Fellowship.

He will be participating in an interdisciplinary team seeking to gain a deeper understanding of why the active editor base on Wikipedia is not replenishing itself at the same rate it used to -- and what to do about it.

"The fellowship, as part the Wikimedia Foundation's 'Summer of Research', is an opportunity to work with a large dataset and a stellar group of researchers to understand the gradual decline in the active Wikipedia editor base," said Walker. "The tools that we build and data sets we produce will be released to the community, therefore making the study of Wikipedia more accessible. One of my roles will be to act as a bridge between the quantitative and qualitative teams, which will allow me to use a range of interdisciplinary skills that I've developed at the iSchool."

Walker's research at the iSchool has focused on public engagement, viral information flows, and digital government. He has been involved with diverse projects including the retroV research group, led by associate professor Karine Nahon. More information about Walker and his research can be found on his personal website.