Further Together, the ORAU podcast

Further Together, the ORAU podcast, covers all things ORAU, through interviews with our experts who provide innovative scientific and technical solutions for our customers. Learn about ORAU’s storied history, how we’re impacting an ever-changing world, as well as our commitment to our community.

Listen to all 190+ episodes of Further Together on Blubrry.com. You can also find Further Together on the Apple Podcasts app for iOS devices, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, Pandora, TuneIn, and Amazon Music.

Latest Episodes

Episode 199 Extreme Trades Makeover: Future Welders offers $30,000 prizes for Alabama welding educators

Welding isn’t just a skill; it’s a national security asset. That’s why ORAU launched Extreme Trades Makeover: Future Welders, a competition to give $30,000 in new welding equipment, upgrades or virtual equipment to three Alabama public high school educators. The competition deadline is January 30, 2026. In this episode of Further Together, host Michael Holtz talks to Jennifer Tyrell, Extreme Trades program manager, and Lindsay Cline from the U.S. Navy's Maritime Industrial Base Program Office about the need for welders, their earning potential, and their critical role in the country’s maritime industry.

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Episode 198 ORAU ‘has benefited all of us:’ A conversation with Lee Riedinger, nuclear physicist, author, community leader

Lee Riedinger, Ph.D., knows the history of Oak Ridge and its connections to the University of Tennessee like he knows the back of his hand. His book, “Critical Connections: The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge from the Dawn of the Atomic Age to the Present,” explores the connections that exist between UT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORAU and other key stakeholders. In this episode of Further Together, Riedinger talks to hosts Michael Holtz and Amber Davis about ORAU’s role in the Oak Ridge story, including how ORNL may not have remained open were it not for the efforts of William Pollard, ORAU’s founder, Kay (Katharine) Way, a UT physics professor, and others to open up what was then Clinton Laboratories to a consortia of universities. Additionally, Riedinger explains that ORAU was instrumental in the creation of the UT-Battelle partnership that now manages ORNL. Check out this fascinating discussion of Riedinger’s career, his book, and ORAU’s vital role in keeping Oak Ridge at the forefront of science.

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Episode 197 Harnessing plant biology for deep space exploration: Luke Fountain, Ph.D., NASA NPP Fellow, returns to the podcast

Luke Fountain, Ph.D., who is in the third year of his NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship, makes a return to Further Together because of a recently published paper he co-authored on plant biology and space exploration. His research focus is figuring out how to grow plants in space to help enable future deep exploration. In this conversation, Fountain shares the challenges of plant biology in space, including the need to make growing systems self-sustaining. The paper he co-authored, published in the New Phytologist in November 2025, lays out a 12-point framework called the Bioregenerative Life Support System readiness level to assist in overcoming challenges to establish resilient, sustainable crop production.

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Episode 196 Superheroes of the insect world?: An ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grant conversation

Are black soldier flies the superheroes of the insect world? This episode of Further Together takes a dive into an ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grant-funded project led by Holly Holt, Ph.D., ORAU research specialist, who teamed up with Jeff Tomberlin, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Etymology at Texas A&M University and Charity Owings, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee. Black soldier flies are said to be voracious decomposers, feeding off anything organic. As they feed, they convert organic waste into insect biomass that can be used as feed for various livestock, such as poultry, swine, and even pets. The residual that's left over after digestion is a replacement for chemical fertilizer. The team’s research includes laboratory research to understand what happens to black soldier flies under stress; and social sciences research to analyze new and emerging opportunities with black soldier fly products and services and the potential to disrupt existing markets, including Western acceptance of using black solider flies for feed, fertilizer and other products.

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Episode 195 Insights into ultra-processed foods gained from social listening: A conversation with ORAU subject matter experts

Ultra-processed foods – think packaged snacks, frozen meals and hot dogs – have become dietary staples due to their convenience, affordability and aggressive marketing. However, these foods have low to no nutritional value and can contribute to significant health issues like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and colorectal cancer. In this episode of Further Together, three of ORAU’s subject matter experts – Diane Krause, Brenda Blunt and Jennifer Reynolds – talk about a recently published white paper on social listening and perceptions of ultra-processed foods. Improving diet quality is a critical goal of the Make America Healthy Again Agenda promulgated by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. Our experts talk in detail about the white paper and what their findings mean for future research and policy initiatives.

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Previous Episodes

Molly Menzel, Ph.D., is an atmosphere scientist in the NASA Postdoctoral Program who conducts her research at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, a smaller office under the umbrella of the Goddard Space Flight Center. When she started college, though, Menzel had no idea that she’d end up in her current fellowship. She was an engineering major focused on fluid dynamics and solid mechanics dynamics. During her graduate program she discovered atmospheric dynamics, which led to a focus on climate science. In this episode of Further Together, Menzel says her research doesn’t focus on day-to-day weather, but on the background context for why the weather is changing.

To learn more about the NASA Postdoctoral Program, visit https://npp.orau.org

Listen to Episode 194 Transcript for Episode 194
Behavioral health during cancer care is a critical issue. Anyone faced with a cancer diagnosis is faced with emotional, social, spiritual, familial and other issues. On top of that, for men in our society there is an expectation that vulnerability and asking for help is weakness. Through a 2025 ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grant, primary Investigator Katherine Chyka, ORAU health education specialist, and Teresa Hagan Thomas, PhD, RN, FAAN, associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, launched a pilot study to measure the acceptability and feasibility of peer-to-per support for men facing cancer. In this episode of Further Together, hosts Michael Holtz and Amber Davis talk to Chyka and Thomas for an early look at their research. Data analysis is still underway, but the team has already gained valuable insights.

Listen to Episode 193 Transcript for Episode 193
ORAU coordinates the evaluation of DOE former workers through the National Supplemental Screening Program. Through the NSSP, the U.S. Department of Energy offers free customized medical screenings to their former workers who may have been exposed to hazardous substances on the job site. On this episode of Further Together, host Michael Holtz and Wendy Benade, operations manager, and Heather O’Maonaigh, outreach manager, take a deep dive into the program, from outreach to enrollment and so much more. ORAU manages the program along with great partners, including National Jewish Health, Acuity International, Cority Software, and the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health.

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Aakash Chhabra, Ph.D., is a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames. Chhabra's background is studying fires and forest ecology using satellite data or remote sensing data. He did his Ph.D. research in Australia on studying the effects of bushfires, he says, because it's a land shaped by fires. While writing his dissertation, he wrote down some ideas for future research. Then he learned about the NPP, contacted scientists at NASA and the rest, as they say, is history. In this episode of Further Together, Chhabra discusses his research and urges fellow scientists who have novel ideas to pursue them and seek out opportunities like the NASA Postdoctoral Program where those ideas can flourish.

Listen to Episode 191 Transcript for Episode 191
Dray Gentry, a clinical physicist on ORAU’s radiation epidemiology team, is the primary investigator for an ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grant project that aims to determine the feasibility of using artificial intelligence to speed up the process of identifying chromosomal abnormalities in the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory, which is part of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education that ORAU manages for the U.S. Department of Energy. The second is to help determine the total dose cancer patients are exposed to during treatment. In this episode of Further Together, Gentry talks to hosts Michael Holtz and Amber Davis about his research, why it’s important and what he hopes to accomplish in the next phase of his project.

Listen to Episode 190 Transcript for Episode 190

View the full Further Together Podcast Archive

Further Together, the ORAU podcast

Latest Episodes

Episode 199 Extreme Trades Makeover: Future Welders offers $30,000 prizes for Alabama welding educators

Episode 198 ORAU ‘has benefited all of us:’ A conversation with Lee Riedinger, nuclear physicist, author, community leader

Episode 197 Harnessing plant biology for deep space exploration: Luke Fountain, Ph.D., NASA NPP Fellow, returns to the podcast

Episode 196 Superheroes of the insect world?: An ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grant conversation

Episode 195 Insights into ultra-processed foods gained from social listening: A conversation with ORAU subject matter experts

Previous Episodes

Episode 194: Finding the path: Molly Menzel, Ph.D., NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, discusses how she found her research passion

Episode 193: What’s going on with men facing cancer: An ORAU-Directed Research and Development Grant conversation

Episode 192: For the health of former energy workers: A deep dive into the National Supplemental Screening Program

Episode 191: Keep pursuing your ideas: A conversation with Aakash Chhabra, Ph.D., NASA Postdoctoral Fellow

Episode 190: Nuclear Science Week 2025: An ORAU-funded research project and the cutting edge of radiation research

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