For years, Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Ph.D., has studied wetlands and the complex ways they filter water, store carbon and support ecosystems across Ohio. Along the way, she found herself asking a different kind of question: how do you tell the story of science in a way that helps people feel connected to it?This summer, she will have a dedicated week to explore that question alongside several other researchers, including Christabel Devadoss, Ph.D., a two-time Kent State alumna whose work focuses on environmental decision-making and community narratives in rural Rust Belt communities. Kinsm...

The Kent State University Museum and the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board announce “Ohioans in Space: The Carl E. Walz Spacesuit from the Kent State University Museum,” a special installation opening on May 19 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, celebrating Ohio’s legacy of excellence in aviation and space exploration. The installation will be on view through Nov. 3.The Kent State University Museum, which holds one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of fashion, textiles and decorative arts, is bringing a spacesuit from its collection into the heart of Ohio’s Capitol, undersc...

When Kent State University President Todd Diacon took the stage at Spring 2026 Commencement, he didn't open with statistics or institutional milestones. He opened with a potato peeler.Drawing on his own work history, from a Kansas restaurant at age 14 to a college career mastering the Hobart commercial dishwasher, Diacon delivered an address built around a thesis he clearly believes deeply. Kent State students are, in his words, "proudly not pampered." They work. They balance. They earn their way through college while building the skills, grit, fortitude and experience that make them...