Other NM universities announcements

A team from the New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service has launched a new game, "Market Set Go!," to share food safety best practices with farmers market vendors and provide training materials in a fun way. 

The media production team from NMSU's Innovation Media Research and Extension and Learning Games Lab in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences has designed a tycoon-style game set in a farmers market, where players manage a farmers market and face various food safety challenges. The game was created in collaboration with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and University of Houston. 

The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, in partnership with New Mexico State University Global Campus, announced the launch of Career Building for a Sustainable Economy, a free online microlearning course designed to prepare New Mexicans for the rapidly expanding sustainability and energy sectors. 

The course is now available statewide and arrives at a pivotal moment as New Mexico experiences growth in renewable energy, environmental restoration, water resource management, and sustainable construction. Local, regional, and national investments in clean energy and sustainability-related industries continue to generate new career pathways, creating demand for workers with adaptable skills and foundational industry knowledge. 

With continuing drought and changing temperatures, wildfires have increasingly become a threat throughout the southwestern United States, especially in rural, mountainous and underserved communities.

Two professors in New Mexico State University's College of Engineering, however, have come up with a potential solution that would provide much-needed assistance to areas without dedicated wildfire lookout staff, advanced detection systems or robust grid operation centers.

Boris Kiefer, New Mexico State University physics professor, is a co-principal investigator on a project to turn fundamental quantum science into practical technologies that could potentially enable new kinds of computing for certain problems and reduce the high energy costs associated with other quantum hardware systems.

The project led by the University of New Mexico is called "Quantum Computing Applications of Photonics (QCAP)." It is among four selected by the National Science Foundation National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NSF NQVL) to receive a two-year, $4 million grant.

"The QCAP has tremendous potential," Kiefer said. "I'm happy we were selected and that I'm part of a team that wants to make these transformations. Hopefully we get to a place where New Mexico can make a real difference in the quantum field."

Numerous New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service Family and Consumer Science agents and specialists were honored for their work at the 2025 National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences annual session in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in October 2025. 

NMSU garnered a pair of national awards. Amber Benson, Bernalillo County Extension FCS agent, was presented the Greenwood Frysinger Award. She received the award in recognition of the mentorship provided by Dianne Christensen, Bernalillo County Extension FCS agent, and Cindy Schlenker-Davies, former Bernalillo County Extension program director. Benson also received the second-place national food safety award winner for "Fermentation for the Future."

New Mexico State University Global Campus has been recognized among the nation's top institutions in the newly released 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings, leading peer institutions in the region for best online bachelor's programs overall and earning national placements across undergraduate and graduate programs.

NMSU Global earned a place among the nation's top online undergraduate programs in psychology (19 tied) and programs for veterans (45 tied). The university also ranked among the best online bachelor's programs overall (69 tied) and undergraduate business programs (73 tied). Among peer institutions in the region, NMSU Global earned the highest placement for best online bachelor's programs overall. 

In honor of Black History Month, New Mexico State University's Black Programs and the Black Student Association invite the campus community to participate in a series of special events throughout February.

Aaliyah Walker, the president of the Black Student Association, said the 14 events aim to raise awareness about Black culture. While the activities are open to all Aggies, many are tailored toward student involvement, Walker added.

"We have planned and prepared many events for students by students, which will help educate, appreciate and support Black culture and traditions in many ways," Walker said. "From cultural food to art, it is important that all students have the opportunity to experience parts of Black culture."

Eight students from a solar physics research group led by Juie Shetye, New Mexico State University astronomy assistant professor, were selected to present their work at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) annual meeting last December in New Orleans, Louisiana.

"I believe this is a landmark moment for our department," Shetye said. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a team of undergraduate students from the Department of Astronomy have been selected to present their work at AGU."

With over 25,000 attendees from more than 100 countries, AGU is the largest conference for Earth and space science in the world. It brings together scientists, educators, students, policymakers, journalists and communicators to share their research and network. Every student in Shetye's group that submitted an abstract to the conference was selected, with seven students presenting a poster and one student giving an oral presentation.