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Snow is an important driver of ecosystem processes in cold biomes. Snow accumulation determines ground temperature, light conditions, and moisture availability during winter. It also affects the growing season’s start and end, and plant access to moisture and nutrients. Here, we review the current knowledge of the snow cover’s role for vegetation, plant-animal interactions, permafrost conditions, microbial processes, and biogeochemical cycling. We also compare studies of natural snow gradients with snow experimental manipulation studies to assess time scale difference of these approaches. The number of tundra snow studies has increased considerably in recent years, yet we still lack a comprehensive overview of how altered snow conditions will affect these ecosystems. Specifically, we found a mismatch in the timing of snowmelt when comparing studies of natural snow gradients with snow manipulations. We found that snowmelt timing achieved by snow addition and snow removal manipulations (average 7.9 days advance and 5.5 days delay, respectively) were substantially lower than the temporal variation over natural spatial gradients within a given year (mean range 56 days) or among years (mean range 32 days). Differences between snow study approaches need to be accounted for when projecting snow dynamics and their impact on ecosystems in future climates.

For more than five decades, research has been conducted at Ny-Ålesund, in Svalbard, Norway, to understand the structure and functioning of High-Arctic ecosystems and the profound impacts on them of environmental change. Terrestrial, freshwater, glacial and marine ecosystems are accessible year-round.

Citizen Science Projects: How to make a difference, is a massive open online course (MOOC). It was developed by the H2020 WeObserve project and ran on the FutureLearn platform from 2019. The course was designed to assist learners from all backgrounds and geographical locations to discover how to build their own citizen science project to address global challenges and create positive change. It also helped learners with interpreting the information they collected and using their findings to educate others about important local and global concerns. The main learning objectives for the course were: ∗ Discover what citizen science and citizen observatories are ∗ Engage with the general process of a citizen science project, the tools used and where they can be accessed ∗ Collect and analyse data on relevant issues such as environmental challenges and disaster management, and discuss the results of their findings ∗ Explore projects happening around the world, what the aims of these projects are and how learners could get involved ∗ Model the steps to create their own citizen science project ∗ Evaluate the potential of citizen science in bringing about change This course also provided five open-source, downloadable tools which have been tested in previous citizen science projects and created for the use of a wider range of projects. These tools are listed below and available in the research repository: ∗Empathy timeline tool ∗Community-level indicators tool ∗Data postcards tool ∗Future newspaper tool ∗Co-evaluation tool

This article reports on Citizen Observatories’ (COs) potential to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflecting on the experience of the GROW Observatory (GROW). The research aims to take the first steps in closing the gap in the literature on COs’ potential contributions to the SDG framework, beyond quantitative data contributions for indicator monitoring. Following an analysis of project activities and outcomes mapped against the SDG framework, the findings reveal GROW’s potential contributions across two dimensions: (i) Actions to advance the implementation of goals and targets through awareness raising and training; participatory methods; multi-stakeholder connections; and supporting citizens to move from data to action and (ii) Data contributions to SDG indicator monitoring through citizen-generated datasets. While earlier research has focused mostly on the latter (dimension ii), CO activities can impact numerous goals and targets, highlighting their potential to relate global SDGs to local level action, and vice versa. These findings align with the growing literature on COs’ ability to bring together policy makers, scientists and citizens, and support changes to environmental policy and practice. Furthermore, this research suggests groundwork activities that address the goal and target level can also enhance sustained data collection to contribute to indicator level monitoring. We conclude with future trends and recommendations for COs wishing to contribute to the SDGs.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the attitudes of direct care staff in residential aged care when interacting with, and responding to, residents exhibiting behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). METHOD(S): Cross-sectional survey (n = 70). RESULT(S): Participants favoured a person-centred approach to their management of residents with BPSD and were aware of the causes of BPSD. There were significant differences between personal care workers' (PCWs) and enrolled nurses' (ENs) perceptions of the impact of interpersonal relationships and the physical environment on aggressive behaviours, and between registered nurses and both PCWs and ENs regarding the use of medications for aggressive behaviour and a medical approach to care. CONCLUSION(S): The attitudes of participants reflected an awareness of BPSD and its causes. Participants recognised the benefits of a person-centred paradigm, but more education directed towards ENs and PCWs regarding appropriate administration and potential risks of psychotropic medication for BPSD may be beneficial.Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc.