ORISE announces winners of 2025 Ignite Off! Competition

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 ORISE Ignite Off! competition, an annual event that showcases the innovative research of interns and fellows through dynamic, five-minute Ignite Talks.

The top-three winners were announced during a virtual national viewing event on Aug. 27, 2025, during which 10 finalists’ presentations were showcased.

• Gabriela Olmedo

  

  Taking first place was Gabriela Olmedo, Ph.D., an ORISE postdoctoral fellow with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). Her presentation, “Redesigning Small Fruit Packaging for a Better Quality and a Longer Shelf Life,” highlights efforts to develop a new packaging design that reduces spoilage and extends the shelf life of small fruits. Olmedo, who received her doctoral degree in biological sciences from the National University of Tucumán (Argentina), is based in the Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research Unit at the U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory. Her mentor is Jinhe Bai, Ph.D.

• Lila Branchaw

  

  Lila Branchaw, a summer 2025 participant in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), placed second with the presentation, “Can Sawdust Strengthen Biocomposites?” In her talk, Branchaw looks at biocomposites as a way to reduce plastic pollution and examines how sawdust can be used to strengthen these materials. Branchaw is an undergraduate student majoring in bioproducts and biosystems engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her mentor at ORNL was Oluwafemi Oyedeji, Ph.D.

• Peyton McCubbin

  

  Third place was awarded to Peyton McCubbin, also a summer 2025 participant in the SULI program at ORNL, for her presentation, “Pulling Batteries Out of Thin Air.” Her talk focuses on a method of converting carbon dioxide into hard carbon for use in battery applications. McCubbin, an undergraduate student studying chemistry at the University of Kentucky, was mentored at ORNL by Shannon Mahurin, Ph.D.

• Sheetal Jha

  

  As part of the viewing event, audience members voted in a live poll for their favorite presentation. “Fan Favorite” honors went to Sheetal Jha, an ORISE participant at the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, for the presentation, “Bacteriocins at Work for Safer Food.” Jha is pursuing a doctoral degree  in food science with a focus on food safety at Louisiana State University. Her USDA mentor is Isabel Walls, Ph.D.

The other finalists in the event were:

• Chris Jaskiewicz
  • Program: National Nuclear Security Administration Minority Serving Institutions Program, National Energy Technology Laboratory
  • Presentation Title: “Quantum Computing: Not Your Average Computing”
  • Academic Level: Graduate Student
  • Institution: George Mason University
• Evelyn Kalmar
  • Program: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Research Student Internships
  • Presentation Title: “Conduit Hydropower: Beyond the Dam”
  • Academic Level: Post-Bachelor’s
  • Institution: University of Washington
• Amber Mooney
  • Program: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
  • Presentation Title: “Spatiotemporal Risk Modeling of New World Screwworm with GNN + LSTM”
  • Academic Level: Postdoctoral
  • Institution: University of Southern Mississippi
• Derick Phanos
  • Program: U.S. Department of Energy Building Technology Internship Program
  • Presentation Title: “Leveling Up Construction: Using AI to Revolutionize Construction Productivity”
  • Academic Level: Graduate Student
  • Institution: University of Texas at Tyler
• Olivia Slomski
  • Program: Naval Medical Research Unit – Dayton
  • Presentation Title: “Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE): Mitigating Motion Sickness without Medication!”
  • Academic Level: Post-Bachelor’s
  • Institution: Wright State University
• Katie Stallings
  • Program: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Presentation Title: “Microplastics and Public Health”
  • Academic Level: Postdoctoral
  • Institution: Northwestern University

Visit the ORISE Ignite Off! webpage to learn more about the competition and see the presentations of past winners.