If there’s one thing a career in meteorology and atmospheric science taught Penn State alumna Cheryl Nelson, it’s that things can change in the blink of an eye. She graduated in 2002 and since then has been navigating through storms and sunny days in a career that’s shifted more than a Central Pennsylvania season.

This summer was a time for travel, research, internships and expanding classroom lessons for many students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Penn State has selected 16 faculty members for its 2026-27 AI-Aware Faculty Leaders program, a co-sponsored initiative of the AI Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. The faculty-driven program is designed to help departments, colleges and campuses respond thoughtfully and effectively to the opportunities and challenges artificial intelligence presents for teaching and learning.

Penn State is the newest member of the LearningWell Coalition, a national network of colleges and universities that promote flourishing in and beyond college.

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 21 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.

For Sierra Hill, a recent trip to Indiana helped bring the next phase of a climate science career into focus. Hill, a master’s degree student in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State, spent two weeks at FluxCourse, an intensive training program focused on measurement, synthesis and modeling of land-atmosphere carbon, water and energy fluxes.

After years of near misses, Penn State’s meteorology team has reclaimed the top spot in WxChallenge, the national collegiate forecasting competition that rewards precision, consistency and a deep understanding of the weather.

Twenty-one years ago, long before federal agencies began requiring researchers to openly share data, Penn State faculty were voluntarily making their data publicly available.

From discovering planets beyond our solar system and analyzing samples returned from asteroids, to understanding the large-scale structure and evolution of the cosmos, Penn State researchers are helping to address fundamental questions about the universe — How did life begin? What is humanity’s future in space? What are the origins and fate of the universe? — while also leading some of today’s key advancements in space-related innovation and instrumentation.

Jenni Evans, a world-renowned meteorologist whose research transformed the scientific understanding of tropical cyclones and strengthened storm forecasting worldwide, earned a slew of accolades in her decadeslong career. But, colleagues said, the late Penn State faculty member considered her students’ success her proudest accomplishment.