Snow2School is an interdisciplinary citizen science research project about snow changes in Austria and Greenland. The project will involve school students from a school in Uummannaq (Greenland) and in Eisenerz (Austria) as junior researchers. Also involved are climate scientists from the University of Graz and social anthropologists from the University of Vienna. We have several goals with this project. From the natural science perspective, we want to better understand changes in snow cover in Austria and Greenland. From the social science perspective, we want to learn more about changing snow conditions and how it affects people’s lives. For the junior researchers, we want to create a meaningful exchange between the schools in Eisenerz and Uummannaq. Furthermore, we want to introduce several different ways of conducting science to young students from both countries.

At both locations, snow is an important part of people’s natural environment that is expected to change because of climate change. While there are similarities, there are also many differences between young people’s lives in Uummannaq and Eisenerz. Therefore a (digital) exchange between these groups would facilitate intercultural learning experiences and help connect local experiences with global topics.

This research project is funded through the Sparkling Science call of the OeAD Center for Citizen Science.

Interdisciplinary means that two or more scientific disciplines work together and integrate their methods and approaches to do research. In this case, snow climatology and social anthropology.

Citizen science is the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research.