Whanganui's Wikipedian-at-Large Dr Mike Dickison wins Stout Research Grant

Former Whanganui Regional Museum curator of natural history Dr Mike Dickison has won the Stout Research Grant. Photo / File

Whanganui's Dr Mike Dickison has won a grant for a project to encourage young people to become "citizen scientists".

The $5000 Stout Research Grant from Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) was announced at the NZSA National Writers Forum in Auckland on Saturday.

Along with the grant, Dickison receives a six-week residential fellowship at the Stout Research Centre at Victoria University to work on his project The New Zealand Amateur Naturalist.

It will be a collection of practical activities for young people aged 9 to teens to encourage them to explore and observe the natural world and become citizen scientists.

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Dickison, who was formerly curator of natural history at Whanganui Regional Museum, is currently New Zealand Wikipedian-at-Large.

He did his PhD on the evolution of body size in giant flightless birds, has taught graphic design and typography at Whitireia Polytechnic and wrote and illustrated a book on how to play the ukulele.

As editor of website www.giantflightlessbirds.com Dickison co-ordinates the Wikipedia support for the Critter of the Week project with Department of Conservation and Radio New Zealand.

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