At a time when fake news and misinformation is showing up more frequently on social media feeds, Care Wiki, a non-profit organization founded by senior Stephanie Chung, is seeking to explain and debunk different scientific topics. 

“There was an overabundance of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, and all those misconceptions and misinformation were floating around social media,” Chung said. “I decided to make Care Wiki non-profit organization where we aim to disseminate accurate information and digest book chunks to the public.”

Trying to provide the truth to the public about numerous topics while explaining and disproving misconceptions became her mission.

“A lot of the scientific journals, they use very esoteric languages. It’s very hard to comprehend for the general public,” Chung said. “So, I decided to make a non-profit organization that involves the youth, the students, so we can help break down those scientific journals, and to disseminate the right information to the public.

Chung believes scientific journals can be difficult to understand. She wants Care Wiki to be a place where people can digest the new scientific information introduced to our society.

“Students who volunteer, they can volunteer to write articles to be uploaded to our website. And obviously, before we upload them, we always check their plagiarism and if they used credible sources,” Chung said. “What they’re basically doing is they’re trying to make the scientific journal something compact so people can understand it well. And also explain scientific terminologies, things like that.” 

According to the mission and values of Care Wiki, members study and research issues and topics in the healthcare industry and share tips with the community to help them stay healthy. 

“Our goal is more like trying to spread awareness about different scientific topics,” Secretary of Treasury for Care Wiki, senior Meera Rajagopal said. “For me, Care Wiki is just another place that you can talk about science and learn more from the people around you.”

Being involved in Care Wiki and working with Chung and the other members is a passion for Rajagopal. She wishes to share the knowledge she learns with those who are just as interested to learn more information.    

“We create posters, so like visual aids, and we also write articles so that the public has more awareness,” Rajagopal said. “We can spread that information in a much more easier way to understand.”

Members of the organization do their best to make understandable content accessible to the public. 

“It’s so that not only does our name spread, but also we are able to give back to the community,” Rajagopal said. “It’s a casual discussion, and you bring up facts. It’s really fun doing that because you get to learn a lot of new stuff about science, and it’s not just a specific science field.”

The organization is not specific to one type of science. For Care Wiki, it is about expanding their knowledge to different types of sciences or topics they themselves could be more educated on.

“Since Care Wiki is all about science journalism, I hope to see it, basically, helping those around us become more educated about topics, like real-world topics,” Secretary of Care Wiki, sophomore Sophie Yang. “Like recently, we talked about Hurricane Ida and its effects on the different states and the devastation it brought to people.”

Under Chung’s guidance, new ideas are considered and presented. The members then write out articles or carry out tasks. 

“As I researched for my podcast, Bitesize Science, and cover current issues on my YouTube channel, Steph04UK, I naturally become more aware of what is happening around the world, and acknowledged the specific needs of different communities,” Chung said. 

For Chung, turning thoughts into actions is a reality as she strives to address as many issues with solutions as possible. 

“As I researched more and more, I was motivated to do something to help those in need,” Chung said. “My passion to implement solutions and fill the void of the community grew day by day.”