As global attention turns to the FIFA World Cup taking place in the U.S., and international soccer reaches new heights of popularity, a Mississippi State University researcher is helping explain why the world’s most popular sport occupies a different place in American culture. Rachel Allison, associate professor in MSU’s Department of Sociology, studies women in elite sport, with a particular focus on professional women’s soccer, fandom and the changing landscape of women’s athletics.

Mississippi State Associate Professor Holli Seitz studies how health messages influence behavior, with research focused on campaigns promoting healthy eating, proper medication storage and vaccine-preventable diseases. A communication expert in MSU’s Department of Communication, Media and Theatre and a 2025 Grisham Master Teacher, Seitz collaborates widely across MSU as well as with researchers at institutions such as Oklahoma State University and Appalachian State University. Her work centers on health and science communication, message effects, and media effects—areas that have gained renewed attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing public health challenges.

From genetics lessons to environmental education, Mississippi State researcher Lourdes Cardozo Gaibisso is working to make science more accessible for multilingual students. An assistant professor of TESOL and linguistics in MSU’s Department of English, Cardozo Gaibisso studies how multilingual students learn science and how educators can create more effective learning experiences. Through a Design-Based Research and Implementation (DBRI) approach, she develops, tests and refines instructional strategies that help connect science concepts to students’ languages, cultures and communities.

A rare book in Mississippi State University’s archives is reshaping what historians know about the origins of Juneteenth. For years, the earliest widely recognized Juneteenth celebration was believed to be an 1866 observance in Galveston, Texas, marking the anniversary of freedom for enslaved people there. But research by MSU historian Susannah J. Ural and her colleagues points to an even earlier celebration of emancipation in New Orleans during the summer of 1864.

Two Mississippi State associate professors are the university’s latest selections as Fulbright U.S. Scholars, a prestigious honor among researchers, administrators and established professionals involved in scientific discovery around the world.

Mississippi State University chemist Colleen Scott has been selected for the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2026 American Innovator Award, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors given annually researchers whose federally funded work leads to real-world impact. Past honorees include developers of mRNA vaccine technology, once-a-day HIV treatments and vision-restoring glasses.

Mississippi State University biologist Jean-Francois Gout’s contributions to a study highlighting key advances in the complexity of aging now are published in Science Advances, a leading peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Exceptional faculty and staff are being honored at Mississippi State with annual awards for outstanding teaching, mentoring and advising.

Deep cracks in the ground tell the story of drought, where only about half the normal rainfall has fallen so far in 2026, making it the 10th driest in Mississippi history. Mike Brown, state climatologist with the Mississippi State University Department of Geosciences, said February was the driest on record for Mississippi and March was the third warmest and 11th driest.

Mississippi State University psychologist Mary E. Dozier recently joined Amy Juravich on All Sides, a public radio program produced by WOSU Public Media, where Dozier discussed the psychology of clutter, spring cleaning and hoarding disorder.

Mississippi State’s College of Arts and Sciences recently honored seven faculty members for accomplishments in teaching, research and distinguished service at its annual spring awards ceremony.

The war in the Middle East is disrupting helium supplies. That's bad news for more than party balloons.