Mississippi State public relations students are proving their skills on a regional stage, earning first place in a competitive challenge and several top awards at the recent Southern Public Relations Federation, or SPRF, Annual Conference in Bossier City, Louisiana.

Imagine an epic video game with your favorite hero as a character. Another character is a mirror-image twin who shows up occasionally, exploding everything they touch. And, to add an extra level of difficulty, the game includes a mysterious hive of minions hiding at every corner, changing the rules of the game, but never showing themselves. If you think of these characters as types of matter, this video game is basically how our universe works.

Mississippi State Professor Renée M. Clary is the 2025 recipient of the Geological Society of America’s Mary C. Rabbitt Award, honoring her distinguished scholarship and contributions to advancing the history of the geological sciences.

Mississippi State forensic anthropologist Jesse R. Goliath is the 2026 recipient of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Community Connections Mosaic Award, a national honor recognizing those who advance advocacy and positive change in the forensic sciences.

Karyn Brown, a longtime Mississippi State educator and assistant dean for communication and media in the College of Arts and Sciences, now is serving a prestigious second term on the Board of Directors for the national Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. CCAS board members are elected by the full membership during their annual meeting held this fall in St. Louis, Missouri.

.— Mississippi State faculty member Joseph M. Thompson has added another honor to his growing list of accolades with a certificate of merit from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, recognizing his influential research on the intersection of music and military history in his acclaimed book “Cold War Country: How Nashville’s Music Row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism.”

Theatre MSU debuts its holiday-themed children’s radio play, “Snowing in Mississippi” on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m., marking the final installment in a new storytelling collaboration with Mississippi State’s campus radio station, 91.1 FM The Junction.

Mississippi State’s Jada Johnson is this year’s Mississippi Field Educator of the Year, earning the recognition at the 53rd annual Alabama-Mississippi Social Work Education Conference at Auburn University.

A Mississippi State University faculty member has made a celestial discovery in Starkville: the first asteroid identified from the state of Mississippi.

Mississippi State University’s College of Arts and Sciences is recognizing four faculty members for exemplary achievements in teaching, research and service, honoring their lasting impact on students, colleagues and the university community.

Mississippi State biologist Matthew W. Brown, the university’s Donald L. Hall Professor of Biology, is part of an international research team whose groundbreaking discovery is featured today [Nov. 19] in Nature—one of the world’s most prestigious scientific journals. The published research unearths a new organism and phylum, reshaping the tree of life.

Mississippi State University’s Department of English recently welcomed high school students from across the state to campus for the inaugural “English Expo: Mississippi in the World,” an interactive event celebrating Mississippi’s literary heritage and showcasing the versatility of English studies.