Women in Planetary Science and Astronomy Booklet
Europlanet’s Diversity Committee has led the production of a new outreach resource. This booklet presents the results of six years of activity of the Planetary Wiki edit-a-thon. It is the outcome of the participation of enthusiastic participants from diverse countries and linguistic backgrounds, all sharing a common passion for planetary science – whether as researchers or coming from a wide range of other backgrounds – united by a common goal: to highlight diversity within the international planetary science community.
This project was a collaboration between:
- Europlanet Diversity Committee
- University of Kent
- Ernest Solvay Fund
- King Baudouin Foundation
- WikiMujeres
- Women in Red
- Wikimedia Belgium
- Europlanet Executive Office
The Planetary Wiki edit-a-thon is an ongoing initiative aimed at improving systemic gender bias on Wikipedia. By improving the representation of women and other underrepresented groups, the project also seeks to inspire future generations and promote greater inclusivity within planetary science.
The Planetary Wiki edit-a-thon was first organized by the Diversity Committee of Europlanet, in collaboration with Women in Red, WikiDonne, WikiMujeres and Wikimedia Belgium. From the very beginning, the initiative has been entirely volunteer-driven. In 2025, the project received support from the Ernest Solvay Fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation, enabling its further development, including the involvement of a professional Wikipedia trainer and the production of this booklet.
At the start of the initiative in June 2020, only 189 biographies of planetary scientists were available on the English Wikipedia, of which 48 (25%) were women. Since then, across six editions, the project has contributed to the creation, improvement, and translation of dozens of articles into more than ten languages, including Arabic, Basque, Azerbaijani, and Greek.
This booklet brings together only a small selection of the stories of women who have dedicated their lives with passion, perseverance and commitment to planetary science and astronomy. Many of them had their lives cut short, and were not always given the recognition they deserved for their discoveries. We hope their stories will inspire you, as they have inspired us.
