Welcome to Dispatches from ASCUS #2! My name is Iona Walker PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh and anthropologist in residence at ASCUS for the summer of 2022 I first discovered the ASCUS lab in 2018.

Satellite images provide data about the coldest regions on Earth. These are calibrated by measurements taken by snow scientists on the ground. These measurements are known as “ground truth”. But is there room for creativity when searching for truth? And how objective can any one perspective be?

We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have helped keep ASCUS going through these difficult times, we really wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we did without you. Whether through membership subscriptions to use the lab facilities, making a donation after we launched our fundraising campaign in autumn, sharing our social media content, or collaborating with us in your project, we truly appreciate everyone’s contributions and we hope you enjoy reading about all the things that kept us busy this year!