2026 Spring Symposium: Day 3 | Session 9

The Metal-Poor Frontier: Understanding Low-Metallicity Stars and Galaxies Across Cosmic Time --------------------- Longstanding uncertainties regarding the nature of the low-metallicity (≲20% Solar) Universe pose significant barriers to our interpretation of the chemical and physical properties of the near-pristine stars and galaxies observed with JWST. The STScI 2026 Spring Symposium aims to advance our understanding of the low-metallicity Universe by bringing together researchers from the stellar, local galaxy, and high-redshift communities to examine the role of low metallicity from nearby stars and galaxies, through cosmic noon, to the epoch of reionization and cosmic dawn. The 2026 STScI Spring Symposium will focus on recent studies in these fields and potential future prospects and synergies among them. During this meeting, we will discuss: -How are low-metallicity environments, including both local and high-redshift galaxies, different from their metal-rich counterparts? -How does low-metallicity impact stellar and/or AGN feedback? -What are the sources producing high-ionization nebular emission? -How well do models describe chemical evolution in low-metallicity environments through cosmic time? -How can nearby galaxies like the LMC/SMC help us better constrain the properties of more metal-poor systems? -What are the key questions to better understand star formation and evolution in metal-poor conditions through observations and modeling, and paths forward with future observatories?