Mississippi State University doctoral student Mayra Vazquez-Nunez was one of only 60 graduate students in North America selected to attend the 2025 National X-ray School at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, this summer, where she explored advanced X-ray techniques to address challenges in green chemistry.

For Mississippi State University graduate Alijah Jones, the road to a Fulbright Scholarship began in the stillness of the pandemic. Feeling a lack of connection, Jones said he “indulged” in internet browsing, happening upon a YouTube video––“Dinner with my Italian Host Family.” Stepping outside the loneliness of isolation, he found not just a glimpse into another culture, but a spark that would one day take him across the world.

Scientists with Mississippi State University are playing a key role in an exciting new fossil discovery that’s close to campus, a discovery that may represent the largest mosasaur ever found in the state.