Episodes

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...

This episode of the ORISE Featurecast continues our monthly exploration of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Fellowship. This month, host Michael Holtz and guest co-host Amy Szczepanski talk to two educators who are AEF Fellows at the USGS. They talk to Sarah Slack and Samantha Willsey about a day in the life at USGS, what inspired them to become educators, what they hope to take back to their communities when their fellowships end, and so much more. Sarah Slack, who has taught middle school sci...

Jenny Paul, who is an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf Ecosystem Measuring and Monitoring Division and Gulf of Mexico Division, is the recipient of the ORISE Future of Science Postdoctoral Award. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, Paul and host Michael Holtz discuss her research in benthic ecologies, what the Future of Science Award means to her, the importance of mentorship and collaboration, and so much more. To learn more about Paul and the ORISE ...

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for accomplished K-12 educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to serve in the national education arena. Fellows spend eleven months working in Federal agencies or in U.S. Congressional offices, applying their extensive knowledge and classroom experiences to national education program and/or education policy efforts. In this episode, host Michael Holtz talks with Jill La...

Dr. Elizabeth Armstrong-Mensah, a former ORISE Fellow at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the undergraduate program director for Health Policy and and Behavioral Sciences at the Georgia State University School of Public Health. She was honored with the 2023 Early Career Teaching Excellence Award from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health for her passion for teaching and her service to her profession. In this conversation for the ORISE Featurecast, Armstr...

Mariah Guevara, who holds a biomedical engineering degree from Brown University, has a full plate and she loves it! At the time she and host Michael Holtz had this conversation, Guevara had recently been named a Fulbright Scholar. She was teaching students to prepare for the American College Testing (ACT) Test part time, conducting research at a local university and studying for the Medical College Admission Test. And, she was preparing to go to Spain to teach English as part of her Fulbright Sc...

This is a special edition of the ORISE Featurecast, wherein host Michael Holtz interviewed the winners of the Ignite Off! competition during the ORISE National Postdoc Appreciation Week Symposium, held Wednesday, September 20. Amanda Fanelli de Souza, Madeline Addis and Samaria Estrella discuss their Ignite Off! presentations, the trajectories of their academic and research careers, obstacles they have faced as women in STEM, and the importance of mentorship and collaboration. The conversation w...

Sara Howard, an epidemiologist at ORISE, is working with a researcher at Vanderbilt University to study how factors that change over time impact the models assessing exposure and health risks from radiation exposures. Their ORAU-Directed Research and Development project is still in its early stages, but Howard explains the science behind assessing multiple factors, why the research is important, and what the outcome could be. Join Michael Holtz and co-host Amber Davis for an interesting and enli...

Jennifer Childress, a high school science teacher in Alaska, recently completed the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship. During her fellowship, Childress was part of the Department of Defense STEM program. Her experience as an educator proved valuable to helping shape some of the programming offered through DoD STEM. In this episode, Michael Holtz and Bryan Campbell talk to Childress and Jill Latchana, program manager for the AEF program. The AEF program provides unique opportuniti...

The DOE Scholars Program is designed to create a pipeline of highly qualified talent in disciplinary fields that support mission critical areas of the U.S. Department of Energy. While DOE is focused on science and research, not everyone in the Scholars Program has a background in STEM. Cristina Cordero, program coordinator for the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship, is a former DOE Scholar with a background in communications and public administration. She is also a mentor for the Scholars program. ...

Joe Giove is the director of business operations in the Office of Carbon Management for the U.S. Department of Energy. Among his many duties, Giove is a mentor for the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship, a 10-week summer research fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students in STEM majors. In this episode, Giove and host Michael Holtz discuss his role at DOE, the MLEF program and the important role such programs play in the development of a scientific career, and the value of mentorship from ...

Earlier this summer, the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) hosted the NATO Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Medical Symposium in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The event brought together experts from around the world to share best practices to prepare for events where large numbers of people could be exposed to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear elements. Imagine, for example, a drone carrying fentanyl flying over a stadium crowded with people. Robbie Beech,...

Asha Dee Celestine is an ORISE Science, Technology and Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy. She and her team research hydrogen as a critical element of our clean energy infrastructure to reduce our carbon footprint. She is the first faculty appointment in an ORISE research participation program to be interviewed for the ORISE Featurecast. Her portfolio includes research and development project management, strategy development, stakeholder engagement, SME in composite materials and mec...

Jeremy Busby is associate laboratory director for Isotope Science and Engineering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Before he was named associate lab director, he held other roles throughout ORNL, and is a former ORISE participant as well. In this conversation, Busby and host Michael Holtz discuss the various roles Busby has held, how he honed his interest in science, and how valuable mentorship, both being mentored and mentoring others, is to the scientific enterprise as a whole. To learn more ...

Cedar Blazek is training program manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program, which helps other agencies in the federal government meet their energy and water efficiency management goals. The training program offers accredited courses to help anyone, whether in government or not, learn how to manage their environmental impact. In this conversation, Blazek and host Michael Holtz discuss the importance of her work and of sustainability, her previous experience as ...

Seni Adeniji is a project manager at Microsoft and a former ORISE research program participant in the Nuclear Engineering Science Laboratory Synthesis program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Adeniji has a passion for science and for mentoring and lifting others up, which shows in his work and his writing. During this conversation with host Michael Holtz, Adeniji talks about his ORISE experience, being on both sides of the mentoring experience and the passions that drive him. He also talks abou...

Cancer patients treated with radiation therapy may be required to make daily trips to their cancer treatment center over the course of five, seven or more weeks to experience the full effects of their treatment. While beneficial, this fractional form of radiation therapy can cause serious side effects like burning, blistering, swelling, pain and other side effects in healthy tissue. This type of treatment can also be a barrier for patients with transportation, employment and childcare issues. FL...

Dr. Brian J. Anderson, director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the Department of Energy (DOE), is the first DOE laboratory director to join host Michael Holtz for the ORISE Featurecast. In his capacity at NETL director, Anderson manages the complete NETL complex, including delivery and execution of the Laboratory’s mission. Anderson leads NETL’s national programs, in fossil energy and other DOE mission areas, with industry, universities, and national laboratories. In this...

Dr. Alexandra Hakala, senior fellow for geologic and environmental systems in the Research Innovation Center at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, discusses the formative nature of her ORISE Research Participation Program experience at NETL, how her interest in STEM developed, and her experience being mentored and mentoring others.

Geneva Gray, doctoral candidate in Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University and a current ORISE participant at the Environmental Protection Agency, was named the ORISE Future of Science Graduate Student and Post-Master's Award winner in 2022. She studies how extreme precipitation events change under future warming conditions using stakeholder-driven case studies and extreme value analysis. Gray holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in Meteorology and Environmental Sciences and a m...

Crystal Clark, a fourth-grade teacher at Mary Munford Elementary School in Richmond, won the CIA Mission Possible Classroom Transformation competition in 2021, through which she received $25,000 to buy new technology for her classroom. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz talks to Clark and some of her students about how new technology has transformed her classroom, her school and their lives. Two competitions sponsored by the CIA are open right now: CIA Mission Possible ...

Mentoring is associated with academic and career success across disciplines and career stages in higher education. However, inadequate training can reduce the effectiveness of the mentor-to-mentee learning experience. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz has a conversation with Melissa McDaniels, Ph.D., associate executive director and scientist at the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They discuss the i...

Brooke Vollmer is an ORISE fellow in the Research Branch at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), which is a division within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) located in Pittsburgh. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, host Michael Holtz talks to Vollmer about her role at NIOSH, how she got interested in a career in STEM, and so much more. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Pittsburgh at Joh...

Ryan M. Corey is an ORISE Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellow working with Professor Andrew Singer in the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As a hearing aid user since he was a teenager, Corey’s research focuses on signal processing strategies to help people hear better in noisy environments. In particular, he is developing systems that allow multiple sensors and audio devices to work together to improve performance in adverse environm...