diff --git a/_includes/post-excerpt.html b/_includes/post-excerpt.html
index 5b7d811..a824517 100644
--- a/_includes/post-excerpt.html
+++ b/_includes/post-excerpt.html
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
   {%
     include post-info.html
     author=post.author
+    people=post.people
     published=post.date
     updated=post.last_modified_at
     tags=post.tags
diff --git a/_includes/post-info.html b/_includes/post-info.html
index c0585d7..762d462 100644
--- a/_includes/post-info.html
+++ b/_includes/post-info.html
@@ -32,6 +32,26 @@
   {% endif %}
 </div>
 
+{% assign tagged_people = include.people | default: empty %}
+{% assign tagged_people = tagged_people | join: "," | split: "," | array_filter %}
+
+{% if tagged_people.size > 0 %}
+  <p class="center">
+    Mentioned:
+    {% for person in tagged_people %}
+      {% assign member = site.members
+        | where_exp: "member", "member.slug == person"
+        | first
+      %}
+      {% if member %}
+        <a href="{{ member.url | relative_url }}">{{ member.name }}</a>{% unless forloop.last %}, {% endunless %}
+      {% else %}
+        {{ person }}{% unless forloop.last %}, {% endunless %}
+      {% endif %}
+    {% endfor %}
+  </p>
+{% endif %}
+
 {% if include.tags %}
-  {% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="blog" %}
+  {% include tags.html tags=include.tags link="news" %}
 {% endif %}
diff --git a/_layouts/member.html b/_layouts/member.html
index 034b5d0..9eefb50 100644
--- a/_layouts/member.html
+++ b/_layouts/member.html
@@ -20,6 +20,20 @@
 
 {{ content }}
 
+{% assign related_posts = site.posts
+  | where_exp: "post", "post.author == page.slug or post.people contains page.slug"
+%}
+
+{% if related_posts.size > 0 %}
+{% include section.html %}
+
+## News
+
+{% for post in related_posts %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% endif %}
+
 {% assign aliases = page.aliases
   | default: page.name
   | default: page.title
@@ -39,13 +53,17 @@
 </p>
 
 {% capture search -%}
-  blog/?search={{ page.name }}
+  news/?search={{ page.name }}
 {%- endcapture %}
 
-<!--
+{% assign authored_posts = site.posts
+  | where_exp: "post", "post.author == page.slug"
+%}
+
+{% if authored_posts.size > 0 %}
 <p class="center">
   <a href="{{ search | relative_url }}">
-    See {{ page.name | default: page.title }}'s posts on the Blog page
+    See {{ page.name | default: page.title }}'s news posts on the News page
   </a>
 </p>
--->
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/_layouts/post.html b/_layouts/post.html
index 9b1641a..3b742a4 100644
--- a/_layouts/post.html
+++ b/_layouts/post.html
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ <h1 class="center">{{ page.title }}</h1>
 {%
   include post-info.html
   author=page.author
+  people=page.people
   member=page.member
   published=page.date
   updated=page.last_modified_at
diff --git a/_posts/.gitkeep b/_posts/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b13789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/.gitkeep
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+
diff --git a/_posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md b/_posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab9a5da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2024-04-28-hildana-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+title: Hildana Shiferaw Selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+  - hildana_shiferaw
+tags:
+  - announcement
+  - honors
+---
+
+<!-- excerpt start -->
+Hildana Shiferaw has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+<!-- excerpt end -->
+
+We are excited to share that Hildana Shiferaw has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+
+The fellowship will support Hildana's honors thesis work in the VBIL. More information about Smith's AEMES programs is available [here](https://www.smith.edu/academics/departments-programs-courses/aemes).
diff --git a/_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md b/_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7b47f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2025-04-28-hildana-thesis-presentation.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+title: Hildana Shiferaw Presents Honors Thesis
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+  - hildana_shiferaw
+tags:
+  - announcement
+  - honors
+  - thesis
+---
+
+<!-- excerpt start -->
+Hildana Shiferaw gave an excellent presentation of her honors thesis on a urine-based screening approach for ovarian cancer.
+<!-- excerpt end -->
+
+On Monday, April 28, 2025, Hildana Shiferaw gave an excellent presentation of her honors thesis, "System Design of a Urine-Based Screening Approach for Ovarian Cancer Informed by Computational Identification of miRNAs as Biomarkers."
diff --git a/_posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md b/_posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3657c2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/_posts/2025-04-29-alina-mckinley-honors-fellowship.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+title: Alina Yildirim Selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program
+author: halie_rando
+people:
+  - alina_yildirim
+tags:
+  - announcement
+  - honors
+---
+
+<!-- excerpt start -->
+Alina Yildirim has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+<!-- excerpt end -->
+
+We are excited to share that Alina Yildirim has been selected for the McKinley Honors Fellowship Program.
+
+The fellowship will support Alina's honors thesis work in the VBIL. More information about Smith's AEMES programs is available [here](https://www.smith.edu/academics/departments-programs-courses/aemes).
diff --git a/index.md b/index.md
index 175f172..b78dbda 100644
--- a/index.md
+++ b/index.md
@@ -7,6 +7,27 @@ Here in the VBIL within the Computer Science Department at Smith, we are interes
 
 {% include section.html %}
 
+## Latest News
+
+{% if site.posts.size > 0 %}
+{% for post in site.posts limit: 3 %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html lookup=post.slug %}
+{% endfor %}
+{% else %}
+Future lab announcements, milestones, publications, and event updates will appear here.
+{% endif %}
+
+{%
+  include button.html
+  link="news"
+  text="View all news"
+  icon="fa-solid fa-arrow-right"
+  flip=true
+  style="bare"
+%}
+
+{% include section.html %}
+
 ## Highlights
 
 {% capture text %}
diff --git a/news/index.md b/news/index.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c91697
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+---
+title: News
+nav:
+  order: 4
+  tooltip: Lab updates and announcements
+redirect_from:
+  - /blog
+  - /blog/
+---
+
+# {% include icon.html icon="fa-regular fa-newspaper" %}News
+
+Use this page for lab updates, student milestones, publications, talks, and other announcements from the VBIL.
+
+{% if site.posts.size > 0 %}
+
+{% include search-box.html %}
+
+{% include search-info.html %}
+
+{% assign posts_by_year = site.posts
+  | group_by_exp: "post", "post.date | date: '%Y'"
+%}
+
+{% for year in posts_by_year %}
+## {{ year.name }}
+
+{% for post in year.items %}
+{% include post-excerpt.html
+  title=post.title
+  url=post.url
+  author=post.author
+  people=post.people
+  date=post.date
+  last_modified_at=post.last_modified_at
+  tags=post.tags
+  content=post.content
+  excerpt=post.excerpt
+%}
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% endfor %}
+
+{% else %}
+
+No news posts have been published yet.
+
+To publish one, add a Markdown file to `_posts/` using the filename format `YYYY-MM-DD-title.md`.
+
+{% endif %}