National Academy of Sciences Selects the 2026 Frontiers of Science Fellows

The National Academy of Sciences announces the selection of eighty-one of the nation’s brightest young scientists from industry, academia, and government to take part in the National Academy of Sciences’ U.S. and international Frontiers of Science symposia for 2026. These three-day events bring together scientists who are 45 or younger and engaged in exceptional research in a variety of disciplines. A committee of NAS members selected the participants from among young researchers who have already made recognized contributions to science, including recipients of major fellowships and awards. Attendees at these symposia are designated Frontiers of Science (FoS) Fellows.

Beginning in 1989, the Frontiers of Science symposium series has provided a forum for the future leaders in U.S. science to share ideas across disciplines and to build contacts and networks that will prove useful as they advance in their careers. More than 7,000 young scientists have attended to date, 374 of whom have been elected to the NAS and twenty-two of whom have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

In 2026, the National Academy of Sciences will hold four Frontiers of Science symposia that will include the US national symposium, a trilateral symposium with Japan and Germany, a bilateral symposium with China and a bilateral symposium with Israel.

The U.S. symposium will take place on March 5-7 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering in Irvine, California. The meeting will cover a variety of topics in sessions focusing on are we Alone? the search for life among the stars, brain-computer-interfaces, heat stress and human health: tackling the world’s most dangerous hazard, invisible frontiers of life, PFAS microplastics and forever chemicals / unseen contaminants, psychedelics and the brain: mechanisms, mind and medicine, sea level and earth system transitions: past insights, future directions and star in a jar.  A complete symposium program with may be found here.

The following scientists were selected for the U.S. symposium:

• Christian Aganze, Stanford University
• Kate Alexander, University of Arizona
• Amber Alhadeff, Monell Chemical Senses Center
• Carlos Argüelles, Harvard University
• Jacqueline Austermann, Columbia University
• Roxanne Beltran, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Holly Bik, University of Georgia
• Doug Blackiston, Tufts University and Harvard Wyss Institute
• Roger Bryant, Purdue University
• Mariana Byndloss, Vanderbilt University Medical Center / HHMI
• Jessica Creveling, Oregon State University
• Valerie Darcey, National Institutes of Health
• Eduardo Dávila, Yale University
• Scott Dawson, Illinois Institute of Technology
• Valerie De Anda, University of Vienna
• Gül Dölen, University of California Berkeley
• Deniece Dortch, The George Washington University
• Anne Draelos, University of Michigan
• Orencio Duran Vinent, Texas A&M University
• Blake Dyer, University of Victoria, British Columbia
• Wei Gao, California Institute of Technology
• Albert Garcia-Romeu, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Robert Gaunt, University of Pittsburgh
• Amanda Gibson, The University of Virginia
• Jessica Goddard, SimpleLab, Inc.
• Tara Goddard, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
• Eileen Gonzales, San Francisco State University
• Theanne Griffith, University of California, Davis
• Nicola Grissom, University of Minnesota
• Sara Hamideh, Stony Brook University
• Kelsey Hatzell, Princeton University
• Rebecca Hersher, National Public Radio
• Anna Ho, Cornell University
• Sarah Hu, Texas A&M University
• Xiongyi Huang, Johns Hopkins University
• Hodari-Sadiki Hubbard-James, Agnes Scott College
• Justus Kebschull, John Hopkins University
• Ladd Keith, University of Arizona
• Alia Khan, University of Colorado – Boulder
• Lydia Kisley, Case Western Reserve University
• Saili Kulkarni, San Jose State University
• Carolyn Kuranz, University of Michigan
• Natasha Latouf, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Stephania Libreros, Yale University
• Hans Louis-Charles, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Mason Marks, Florida State University College of Law
• Jeffrey Marlow, Boston University
• Tushar Mittal, Pennsylvania State University
• Saskia Mordijck, College of William and Mary
• Gregory Mosby, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Carey Nadell, Dartmouth College
• Abdoulaye Ndao, University of California, San Diego
• Stephanie Olson, Purdue University
• Amy Orsburn, University of Washington
• Pieter Peers, College of William and MarySierra Petersen, University of Michigan
• Alexander Philippov, University of Maryland
• Carsten Prasse, Johns Hopkins University
• Carlee Purdum, University of Houston
• Andrea Quattrini, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
• Jessica Reiner, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Malini Roy, University of Texas at Arlington
• Maryam Salehi, University of Missouri
• Derek Schaeffer, University of California, Los Angeles
• Jim Schroeder, Wheaton College
• Allyson Sgro, HHMI Janelia Research Campus
• Marien Simeni, University of Minnesota
• Emily Smith, Johns Hopkins University
• Chris Stark, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Dakota Tyler, Pomona College
• Nathan Upham, Arizona State University
• Jennifer Vanos, Arizona State University
• Julia Varshavsky, Northeastern University
• Rashmi Vinayak, Carnegie Mellon University
• Jonathon Viventi, Duke University
• Maurice Wilson, NCAR High Altitude Observatory
• Grier Wilt, NASA Johnson Space Center / Harvard Kennedy School
• Benjamin Wolfe, Tufts University
• Yang Yang, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Nilay Yapici, Cornell University
• Meg Younger, Boston University

The Frontiers of Science symposium series is sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences. Major support is provided by the Philip and Sima Needleman Family Legacy Fund. Additional funding is also provided from the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.

Meeting programs and more information about Frontiers of Science are available here.