UNH celebrated a lively Homecoming weekend Oct. 18-20, welcoming enthusiastic crowds to campus for a variety of entertaining events. Former friends and classmates reunited in style and crowds flocked to several athletics venues to watch the Wildcats compete. Whether you took part and want to relive the weekend already or you weren't able to make it and want a taste of the celebration, we were there to capture some of the highlights.

The University of New Hampshire has been awarded $24.3 million by NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to build sensors for a high-priority alert system that will monitor the effects of space weather and the solar wind — caused by explosions on the sun — for potential interruptions to key technology like satellite communications, electric power grids and GPS systems.

UNH researchers brought in $252 million in competitive external funding in fiscal year 2024, supporting projects that aim to solve problems and improve lives in New Hampshire and beyond.

New student enrollment at the University of New Hampshire held steady from last year, with 3,203 new students arriving on campus this fall. That number includes 2,605 first-year students on the Durham campus, as well as 135 students at the College of Professional Studies in Manchester and 420 transfer students in Durham.  

“Given the declining number of high school age students in our region, as well as the challenges presented by last cycle’s federal financial aid delays, we are extremely proud of this result,” UNH President Elizabeth Chilton says.  

The data is seemingly everywhere. On the front page of newspapers around the country. Slowly crawling along the ticker of cable news channels. Blasted out on social media at an increasingly rapid rate. As the 2024 presidential election draws closer, political poll information has become truly ubiquitous.

But prevalence and accuracy are two entirely different things, says UNH expert Andrew Smith. And he recommends employing a healthy dose of skepticism when viewing poll results ahead of the big day.

For two decades, the federal government has turned to UNH as its trusted research partner in managing and preventing oil spills and other disasters.

UNH Cooperative Extension recently held the first ever North Country Outdoor Industry Career Expo, welcoming more than 1,000 students in grades 7-12 to the Lancaster Fairgrounds on Sept. 17 for a showcase that highlighted career possibilities in the outdoor industry.

The University of New Hampshire held its signature annual celebration of service and philanthropy with the Evening of Distinction ceremony Oct. 17, doling out five awards to UNH graduates making a difference in the state and beyond.

Politics may not only influence your voting choices this November—it could also affect your holiday gift-giving. 

UNH researchers explore how synthetic microbiomes can help plants like duckweed adapt to climate change, boosting resilience and aiding in environmental sustainability.