News Features

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education news features archive is a collection of news releases and features that support DOE's mission to advance science and energy literacy, from workforce development and scientific peer review to environmental assessments, worker health research, and radiation emergency assistance and training.

Official announcements released by ORISE are listed below.

Media Contacts:

Pam Bonee
Director, Communications
Office: 865.576.3146
Phone: 865.603.5142
pam.bonee@orau.org

Wendy West
Manager, Communications
Office: 865.576.0028
Phone: 865.207.7953
wendy.west@orau.org

2023

  • Margaret Scheiner, Ph.D.

    Margaret Scheiner, Ph.D., dedicated to supporting education and scientific research initiatives

    Margaret Scheiner, Ph.D., wears many hats in her role with ORISE—all to support education and scientific research initiatives. As an ORISE STEM Workforce Development senior project manager for U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory educational programs, she administers internships and fellowships, primarily with the National Energy Technology Laboratory. As a functional analyst for ORISE, she provides data analyses for STEM WD staff and leadership.

  • Tennessee Science Bowl winners - Collierville High School

    Collierville High School takes first place in 2023 Tennessee Science Bowl

    Collierville High School from Collierville, Tenn., placed first in the annual Tennessee Science Bowl competition and will now compete in the DOE National Science Bowl® in Washington, D.C., scheduled for April 27 – May 1, 2023.

  • Applications are open for CIA Mission Possible Operation Advance Technology

    Applications are open for CIA Mission Possible Operation Advance Technology

    Applications are now being accepted for CIA Mission Possible Operation Advance Technology. Five public school or private school K-8 educators from across the United States will win a $60,000 prize package that includes 30 laptops, a laptop charging cart, and a package of coding or 3-D printing equipment.

  • Occupational Radiation Exposure Report cover

    Occupational Radiation Exposure Report released

    ORISE prepared the 2021 DOE Occupational Radiation Exposure Report that was released to the public in January 2023. The document presents the results of analyses of occupational radiation exposures at DOE National Nuclear Security Administration facilities during 2021.

  • ORISE staff recognized for GreenBuy environmentally friendly purchases

    ORISE receives DOE silver award for GreenBuy program

    The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education was recognized recently as a silver-level recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy’s GreenBuy award for fiscal year 2022. The GreenBuy Award Program recognizes DOE sites for achieving stringent sustainable acquisition goals that go above and beyond the government’s “green” minimum compliance requirements.

  • ORISE stay rate data featured at conference for linked data sources

    ORISE Economists Leigh Ann Pennington and Mike Finn are lead authors for a biennial study examining how well the United States attracts and retains foreign-born science and engineering (S&E) doctorate holders. The work, which ORISE performs through an interagency agreement for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), a division of the National Science Foundation (NSF), was one of only eight selected as a poster and “lightning talk” presentation at the 2019 Data Linkage Day.

  • Bright lights, big science

    Janie Kimble and Melissa Jones, who teach math and science at Carlin Combined Schools in Carlin, NV, have transformed STEM education at their school thanks to their experience in the Joint Science and Technology Institute in Aberdeen, MD.

  • How to build a better peer reviewer: An exploratory study

    In 2018, ORISE researchers conducted an exploratory study examining how the use of technology in panel reviews for research-funding agencies affects the development and improvement of skills needed by effective reviewers.

  • REAC/TS shares unique radiation emergency medicine expertise with the world

    The Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, provides 24/7 emergency response to radiological/nuclear incidents around the globe. REAC/TS also educates health care personnel, first responders and others with the most advanced techniques for medical management of radiation incidents. In 2018, REAC/TS conducted courses in its own backyard and traveled internationally to present education tailored to meet diverse needs of a wide range of emergency and health professionals.

  • Bringing cytogenetic biodosimetry to the world

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is creating a reference biodosimetry/radiobiology laboratory, which will provide assistance with estimating absorbed radiation dose for exposed people in developing or third-world countries who do not have adequate resources. Adayabalam Balajee, Ph.D., director of the REAC/TS Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory (CBL), shared his experience in establishing robotic platforms for automated processing of a large number of samples for rapid individualized biodosimetry at the CBL he manages in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

  • Preparing to Launch: REAC/TS supports NASA in Mars 2020 Mission

    REAC/TS, an asset of the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, is providing training and consultation for medical responders and emergency planners near Kennedy Space Center this year in preparation for NASA's Mars 2020 rover launch.

  • DOE presents ORISE its 14th Star of Excellence Award for safety and health

    For the 14th year in a row, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has met the exceptional health and safety standards set by the Department of Energy, which recently presented ORISE with the Star of Excellence Award during DOE’s annual Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association national conference.

  • ORISE Beryllium Testing Laboratory maintains CAP certification

    The College of American Pathologists, or CAP, has accredited the ORISE beryllium laboratory in Oak Ridge for the fifth time since the laboratory’s first accreditation in 2009.

  • Some of the nation’s most accomplished STEM teachers selected as Albert Einstein Educator Fellows

    Fourteen accomplished K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers from across the United States have been named 2018-2019 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows.

  • Number of undergraduate health physics degrees dropped in 2018 to lowest level in nearly two decades

    The number of undergraduate students who graduated in 2016 with bachelor's degrees in health physics increased over 2015, as did the number of doctorate degrees, while the number of master's degrees decreased according to an annual survey conducted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

  • ORISE report shows number of nuclear engineering doctoral degrees spike to highest level in 52 years

    The number of nuclear engineering doctorate degrees awarded in 2018 reached the highest level recorded since 1966 according to the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education which surveyed 35 U.S. universities with Ph.D. nuclear engineering programs.