Épisodes

  • A mentor can make or break a student's time: A conversation with Lindsey Perkin, Ph.D., USDA ARS scientist
    Aug 28 2026
    We celebrate mentorship in this episode of the ORISE Featurecast in a conversation with Lindsey Perkin, Ph.D, research molecular biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Perkins’s unit focuses on insect pests of cotton and other row crops. She says mentors can make or break a student's experience in a lab or other opportunity. It’s important to guide people in the right way, to give them that good experience. If they have a bad experience, that might completely change the trajectory of what they plan to do in their career and they could leave science altogether. Learn more about ORISE opportunities at USDA ARS: https://orise.orau.gov/usda-ars/index.html
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    17 min
  • ORISE Symposium 2026 Preview: James Dewar, Ph.D., says treat every AI prompt like an experiment
    Aug 12 2026
    James Dewar, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, uses Large Language Models (LLMs, a type of generative artificial intelligence) in his research. In a recent article published at nature.com, Dewar writes that to get more from AI researchers should treat every prompt like an experiment. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, Dewar talks in more depth about his article and gives a preview of his upcoming ORISE Symposium Seminar on the use of LLMs for science and research. He also discusses and shares some of the tools he has developed to help students and researchers better understand how to use LLMs effectively. For more information and to register for the ORISE Symposium, visit https://orise.orau.gov/news/events/symposium.html Read Dewar’s Nature Careers article: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02083-6 Some of the links mentioned in the conversation are listed below: Papers showing AI automating the early stages of drug discovery https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10644-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10652-y Paper comparing AI to physicians at clinical reasoning https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4433 Preprint from Dewar on AI use for scientists: https://zenodo.org/records/19177101 Preprint from Dewar on how to teach with AI: https://osf.io/preprints/edarxiv/t8mea Dewar’s personal website with free tools: https://www.jmdewar.com/ This is the specific meta prompt tool he mentions: https://prompting.jmdewar.com/meta Links not mentioned in the Featurecast but that may be of interest: Dewar’s ORCID and Linkedin: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4153-3818 https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-m-dewar/ Links to the graduate biomedical programs at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/igp/igp-program-overview/ https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/qcb/qcb-program-overview/
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    1 h et 1 min
  • The importance of interdisciplinary research about crayfish: A conversation with Hampton Kennedy
    Jul 9 2026
    Hampton Kennedy was between jobs when he came across an opportunity for the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Research Participation Program Fellowship. The fellowship blended history – Hampton is a history teacher – and ecology in that it focused on the history of signal crayfish in Montana. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, Hampton talks about the process of investigating the history of signal crayfish. Few studies had been done prior to this project, but determining whether signal crayfish are a native species or were introduced affects how ecologists manage their presence. Hampton found mentions of crayfish in the journals of explorers Lewis and Clark, and thought his work was done, but the reference wasn’t of the creature in question. Hampton and his mentor, Susan Adams, Ph.D., published a paper on their research, which can be found here: https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wat2.70014
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    9 min
  • 'My ultimate goal is to help others:' A conversation with Beth Ellinport, ORISE Fellow
    Jun 24 2026
    Beth Ellinport is an ORISE research program participant at the US Army Corps of Engineer's Engineer Research and Development Center Environmental Laboratory, where her research helps drive data-driven decision-making under uncertainty. We think of the Army Corps of Engineers in relation to dredging waterways and building levies, locks and dams but there is much to consider for those projects and others, including impacts on downstream communities, employees and search-and-rescue crews. Ellinport is part of a team that helps bring more certainty to the process. Ellinport says she was drawn to the field of crisis and risk management because she lost someone close to her in an incident that involved a huge urban search, rescue and recovery mission. She saw first responders put their lives at risk to help others. Her ultimate goal, she says, is to be able to help others, which she does every day. When her ORISE fellowship ends, Ellinport plans to pursue a doctoral degree in industrial and organizational psychology. She wants to look through the lens of uncertainty and resilience, recovering and adapting to unknown and known threats, from the perspective of the people impacted. “Can our employees and our circles of support maintain function when they are also receiving disruption themselves. Learn more about Ellinport here: https://orise.orau.gov/people/success-stories/2025/beth-ellinport.html
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    23 min
  • AI's role inside and outside the classroom: An Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship conversation
    Jun 3 2026
    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something most people interact with every day, even if they don’t realize it. Maps apps, the predictive text you see when you’re writing an email or document, or the ad you get served on social media because you searched the web for something. While useful in our daily lives, AI is also beneficial in the classroom. As this episode is posted, students and educators from around the country are about to compete in the finals of the Presidential AI Challenge in Washington, D.C. In this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, Michael Holtz is joined by guest co-host Natasja Brown. Together they have a great conversation with Dr. Ann Schwartz, an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship alum, and Kyle Kuhlers, a current AEF Fellow. Join them for an interesting and inspiring conversation. Dr. Ann Schwartz is the Director of Emerging Tech Workforce Impact Fellow with the Maryland Department of Labor in the Office of the Secretary. Previously, she was the Assistant Director for Research Infrastructure in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) where she revitalized the development of the National Strategic Computing Reserve and led the US Delegation at the G7 Conference for Large Research Infrastructures. Previously, Ann was the Director of the Computing Community Consortium bridging computing research and policy. She began her work in policy as an Einstein Fellow at the National Science Foundation working on Computing Education and Workforce, building on her prior experience as a high school math and computer science teacher. Ann received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, her Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from George Washington University and her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from George Mason University. Kyle Kuhlers has taught business and computer education for 22 years in rural and urban Iowa high schools, the last seven years at Waterloo Community School District in the Waterloo Career Center. The last four years have been exclusively Information Technology and Cybersecurity education. Before teaching, Mr. Kuhlers was an IT professional for 6 years at Oral-B Laboratories toothbrush manufacturing facility. He has a BBA from the University of Iowa in Finance and Marketing, along with teaching certifications in Business Education, Information Technology Endorsement, and Computer Science Endorsement. In 2023, Mr. Kuhlers completed the University of Louisville National Cybersecurity Teachers Academy Certification, which included 12 graduate credit hours of learning over two summers. The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act gives the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) the responsibility for managing the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship. The DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) manages this program for DOE in collaboration with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and the partnering Federal agencies, which, at the time of this recording, included the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Library of Congress (LOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The DOE sponsors five placements in congressional offices. To learn more about the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, visit https://science.osti.gov/wdts/einstein.
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    44 min
  • Honing new skills as an ORISE Fellow at the Health Resources and Services Administration
    May 20 2026
    Maggie Mangas is a former ORISE Research Program Participant whose fellowship was with the Health Research Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Mangas was excited about the opportunity to develop her quantitative research skills. Her background includes conducting qualitative research. Mangas was drawn to the ORISE fellowship because she saw an opportunity to be in a government setting, along with this data training component. She says her mentor was fantastic about creating an environment to hone her desired new skills. Hear more about Mangas’s ORISE experience, some of the projects she was part of, and how she became interested in science. Read more about Mangas here: https://orise.orau.gov/people/success-stories/2026/maggie-mangas.html
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    20 min
  • Leveling up in the classroom: Albert Einstein Fellows discuss gamification and education
    Apr 7 2026
    Gamification in the classroom applies game design elements, like points, badges, leaderboard, and leveling up, to increase student engagement and improving learning. Gamification does not mean turning everything into a game, though. As our Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows discuss in this episode of the ORISE Featurecast, gamification is selective. Natasja Brown, guest co-host for this cohort of AEF Fellows, and host Michael Holtz are joined by Shane Wines and Steve Kirsche, two experts on gamification in the classroom. Dr. Shane Wines is a distinguished educator, researcher, and leader in computer science education. With over a decade of experience teaching and coordinating middle and high school computer science programs, he currently serves as both the Computer Science Coordinator and a high school teacher for Calvert County Public Schools. He facilitates professional development for the Maryland Center for Computing Education and Code in the Schools, mentors computer science educators, and was named Calvert County's 2020 STEM Teacher of the Year. A recipient of the Maryland Governor's Citation, Dr. Wines also served as president of the Maryland Chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association, leading a statewide network of over 500 educators who advocate for accessible and high-quality computer science instruction. Steve Kirsche is a middle school science program specialist for Saint Johns County School District in Florida. He previously taught math and science at both the middle school and high school levels and served as an Albert Einstein Fellow from 2019-2020 in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA. Steve earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Upon graduating, he was commissioned in the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer. He served at commands in the United States and Japan and is a veteran of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Act gives the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) the responsibility for managing the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship. The DOE Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) manages this program for DOE in collaboration with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and the partnering Federal agencies, which, at the time of this recording, included the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Library of Congress (LOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The DOE sponsors five placements in congressional offices. To learn more about the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship, visit https://science.osti.gov/wdts/einstein.
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    35 min
  • The rewards of mentorship: A conversation with Scott Crawford, Ph.D., at NETL
    Mar 12 2026
    Keri Cagle, Ed.D., ORISE Director, joins Michael Holtz as special co-host for the ORISE Featurecast. In this episode, they talk to Scott Crawford, Ph.D., a research physical scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Lab in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who has served as an ORISE mentor and was once an ORISE research program participant. NETL is dedicated to innovating and accelerating the nation’s energy solutions in hydrocarbon, geothermal energy and critical minerals production. Crawford’s research is focused on developing low-cost sensors for economically critical metals, as well as hydrogen sensing development, and serves as the responsible person for the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy lab at NETL. In this conversation we discuss Crawford’s career trajectory, the importance of mentorship, and how ORISE has been a key partner in the success of NETL and other research participation programs. To learn more about NETL, visit https://netl.doe.gov/ To learn more about ORISE research participation programs, visit https://orise.orau.gov/internships-fellowships/index.html
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    39 min