Jets serve as an important tool to probe QCD both in the vacuum and in the hot and dense medium. The STAR experiment at RHIC plays a key role in studying QCD phenomena across different collision systems ($p$+$p$, $p$+A, A+A), offering access to a kinematic regime that complements that of the LHC. Building on recent jet and event activity studies at STAR, we present recent measurements on charged-particle jets at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}~=~200$ GeV. In $p$+Au collisions, we explore event activity (EA) measured in the Au-going direction and its correlation with particle production at mid-rapidity. While soft particle production increases with EA, high-$p_{\mathrm{T}}$ jets are found to be inversely related to EA. Ratios of $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ imbalance and azimuthal dijet separation between high- and low-EA events show no significant differences, suggesting no strong evidence of jet quenching in high-EA $p$+Au collisions. In Au+Au collisions, we report semi-inclusive measurements of jets recoiling from $γ$ and $π^0$ triggers, using mixed-event techniques to subtract background and study jet suppression, intra-jet broadening, and acoplanarity. Additionally, we present inclusive charged-particle jet spectra corrected for background fluctuations, extending the kinematic reach of previous measurements. These results provide crucial insight into the modification of jets in the medium and contribute to a deeper understanding of QCD in heavy-ion collisions.

8 pages, 5 figures, proceedings from 24th Zimanyi School Winter Workshop On Heavy Ion Physics