Gabriel Mugar

Gabriel is an activist and researcher in the field of participatory media and open online collaborative platforms.  

As a PhD candidate at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies, Gabriel’s research looks at how newcomers learn to participate in online collaborative knowledge production projects like Wikipedia and citizen science projects at Zooniverse.org. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies and Computer Support Cooperative Work research, Gabriel examines how a newcomer’s broader interests factor into their learning, how newcomers negotiate the social and technical landscape of a project, and how project managers and designers negotiate the tension of welcoming newcomers while maintaining standards of knowledge production.  

Gabriel’s applied research endeavors include the development of the Co-op, a newcomer mentoring platform on Wikipedia and piloting CampusNeighbor.org, an asset based community development platform designed to facilitate bartering between college students and residents in Syracuse NY.

Gabriel is the founder of Press Pass TV, a Boston based non profit that provides with hands on experience and training in video journalism and media literacy. From 2005-2008, Gabriel was a field producer for Current TV and a television production instructor in the Boston Public Schools. 

As a Berkman affiliate, Gabriel will continue his research on newcomer learning, focusing on youth participation in collaborative knowledge production as well as how platforms like Wikipedia are formalizing the experience of new participants.