Episodes

Rebecca Masline, Ph.D., is a researcher at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She completed her Ph.D. at University of California San Diego in 2023. She took third place in the ORISE Postdoc Poster Session Showcase in 2024 for her poster on helium ash in the exhaust streams created by nuclear fusion. In this conversation, Masline explains that when atoms combine to make fusion happen, we get energy, which we like, but we also get one ash of helium ...

Alison Gerken, Ph.D., a research ecologist with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, was one of the recipients of a 2024 ORISE Mentor Award for her excellence in mentoring young scientists. In this conversation with ORISE Featurecast host Michael Holtz, Gerken discusses the importance of mentorship for herself and for young scientists. She says learning to use the tools of experimental design and biology to answer questions about behavior and ecology fuele...

Gene Peters is the chief of Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research at the FBI Laboratory in Virginia, where he leads research staff to develop new capabilities in, improve existing methods for, and strengthen the foundations and defensibility of science applied to forensic, counterterrorism, and intelligence challenges. His team's research spans forensic aspects of anthropology, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, genetics, geology, microbiology, statistics, toxicology, and physical...

Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows have a unique role in the nation's STEM education system. They represent educators from all over the country in policy discussions, and they help develop classroom and other educational resources that are accessible to educators and students everywhere. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz and guest co-host Zachary Proffitt-Minchow, himself an AEF Fellow, discuss how Fellows develop and can help amplify the availability of th...

ORISE is at the forefront of helping educate the U.S. scientific workforce of the future. Educators play a key role in this efforts. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz and special co-host Zachary Minchow-Proffitt have a conversation with two Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows about the role of educators in helping their students see themselves pursuing STEM careers. Victoria Thomson, an AEF Fellow at USGS, and Jessica Fries-Gaither, an AEF Fellow at the Libr...

Meagan Roberts, MPH, took a leap of faith to move from Middle Tennessee to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Nuclear Security Agency Minority Serving Institution Internship Program. Roberts talk to ORISE Featurecast host Matthew Underwood about the decision to pursue an ORISE appointment, managing imposter syndrome, leaning into her passion for health and public health, and being open to new opportunities. Roberts also talks about what it is in life that brings her joy. To learn m...

Technology plays a crucial role in classrooms today. From assisting students with learning, helping teachers stay organized, keeping classrooms secure and so much, technology is essential. In this conversation, hosts Michael Holtz and Zachary Minchow-Proffit talk to Charles Wang and Nancy Penchev, two members of the 2024-25 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educators Fellowship Program cohort, about the impact of technology in its various forms. They also share tips and tricks and some of their favo...

The ORISE Ignite Off! competition showcases the talents of interns from participating federal agencies and offices as they share their research through Ignite Talks. Each competitor has five minutes to present their project, using 20 picture-centric slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz talks to the winners of the 2024 ORISE Ignite Off! Featured are Jonathan Blutinger, Ph.D., U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center; Erik Head, Oa...

Zachary Minchow-Proffitt is a member of the 2025 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship cohort. He is also the guest co-host for this cohort's series of ORISE Featurecast episodes focused on the AEF program. In this episode, Zak introduces himself and talks with host Michael Holtz about his career, how he became interested in teaching, what he hopes to gain from his AEF experience, and what he hopes to bring to the table as podcast co-host. Zachary Minchow-Proffitt is a 2024-2025 Eins...

ORISE annually announces the recipients of the Future of Science Awards, which celebrate excellence performed by ORISE participants in the areas of scientific achievement, professional growth, project contributions and leadership. Reese Tierney received the Graduate Student and Post-Master's Degree Award in 2023. Tierney is an epidemiologist in the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During her tenure in CDC’s ORISE Research Participation Progr...

In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz and guest co-host Amy Szczepanski talk to Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows who spent their fellowship time on Capitol Hill. They talk about what it's like to work behind the scenes in the nation's seat of power, the people they met, and what they will take back to their communities from their experiences. Steve Robinson was a 2005 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow in the office of Senator Barack Obama. During ...

Have you ever felt like you don't belong in the job you have, or that if people really knew you they wouldn't like you, or that you would be unmasked as a fraud? Imposter syndrome happens to all of us at some point in our lives. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz talks with Beth White, Ph.D., ORISE senior program manager, about this important issue. Many of the participants Holtz has interviewed over the years talk about the imposter syndrome they have felt. White break...

Jake Krauss is a storyteller. As an ORISE Fellow in the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water, Krauss has used his communications skills to tell the stories of scientists and the work they do. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to Krauss about his work, including his travels to Madagascar and Australia. We discuss the power of storytelling to help people understand science, his journey from academia to media, the importance of bei...

The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency is one of the latest government agencies where Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows are serving. in this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz and guest host Amy Szczepanski talk to Jess Hexsel and Ashley Benitez-Smith about their time at CISA, the role educators can play in cybersecurity, some of the educational materials they've developed, and why they chose to apply to be part of the Al...

Molly Hornbuckle is a former ORISE intern who is now director of lead generation at YouScience, a company that helps students discover their natural aptitudes and connect those aptitudes to their educational and career aspirations. ORISE Featurecast hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to Hornbuckle about her career trajectory, which has been primarily focused on education in some form. She discusses a YouScience survey that shows a significant gap in students' aptitude with computers ...

Marie Russell is an ORISE postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency studying the intersection of climate change and human health. Her doctoral degree is in mosquito ecology and she recently published a perspective piece in "EcoHealth" on beneficial use impairments (think litter on beaches as one example) in the Great Lakes Region and the increased risk of mosquito-borne disease, which garnered some media interest and interview opportunities. In this conversation, Russell talks t...

Victoria Knight is a health policy reporter for Axios, on online news outlet dedicated to efficient coverage of the news and topics shaping the world. She covers healthcare and Congress. Ten years ago, Knight was an intern for ORISE, helping tell the stories of ORISE research program participants. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to Knight about the evolution of her career. She almost went to medical school but decided her heart wasn't in i...

Elle Winfield is an ORISE Fellow at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Her research focuses primarily on the development of an ecofriendly essential oils-based larvicide meant to kill mosquitos. Around the world, mosquitos are responsible for transmitting diseases like Zika, malaria and dengue. Eradicating mosquitos in their larval stage prevents them from become adults and thereby capable of spreading disease. During this conversation with ORISE Featurecast hosts Michael Holtz and Matt...

Cybil "Nikki" Cavalieri is an ORISE Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the USGS Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, working on climate change refugia in Tanzania. With her research, Cavalieri aims to provide agencies and communities in Tanzania with information to be able to help make decisions on how and where to prioritize resources for conservation. Hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to Cavalieri about the meaning of her research, how she became interested in biogeography,...

For as far back as she an remember, Karen Valdez wanted to be a dentist, and went to dental school in Mexico. Still, she longed for an education in the US and took English as a Second Language classes at El Paso Community College. Valdez's interest in science fueled her desire to continue her education. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, hosts Michael Holtz and Matthew Underwood talk to Valdez about her role as an ORISE Fellow at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where ...

This episode of the ORISE Featurecast is our monthly look at the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program. Matthew Underwood sits in as guest host for this episode with guest co-host Amy Szczepanski, a member of the current AEF cohort. Matthew and Amy talk with three members of the 2017 AEF cohort – John Galisky, Chris Wright and Kelly McCarthy – who provided feedback on the 5 year Federal STEM Education Strategic plan. John Galisky is a doctoral student at UCSB where his resear...

The Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office has a fundamental role to collect and disseminate data on the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes waters. Isabel Dunn and Suse Lagory are ORISE research program participants at EPA GLNPO. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, Dunn and Lagory talk about their love of the Great Lakes region, the importance of conservation, what it's like conducting research on the Lake Guardian, the EPA's Great...

The Library of Congress serves as the research library for the U.S. Congress and is also the nation's oldest federal cultural institution. The Library of Congress manages the largest collection of books, photographs, maps, and manuscripts in the world. Programs for learners of all ages are constantly in development, making the Library perfectly suited for Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz and co-host Amy Szczepanski talk ...

Melissa de Vera is an assistant director in the Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction for the Indian Health Service. The IHS is recruiting interns for its summer program. de Vera talks about the trajectory of her career and the surprising turn her life took toward environmental engineering, and what interns will do during their summer appointment. she says that while interns are classified as civil or environmental engineers, they don't have to be studying those disciplines. Rather, app...