ORISE in the News

HotHog, a new smartphone application that predicts heat stress in pigs, is now available for download and use, a team of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and university scientists recently announced. The HotHog app was developed, tested and released with collaborators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

For students who are about to complete their Ph.D. and wondering whether to postdoc or not to postdoc, authors Brian J. Rybarczyk and Chris Smith highlight some helpful resources including the platform Zintellect, which allows applicants to search for postdoc fellowship positions (and other roles) at multiple national labs and federal agencies.

Conner Beckwith talks about his experience as a public affairs participant with the U.S. Army Environmental Command through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). The ORISE program places individuals from the academic community (students, recent graduates, and faculty members) in research projects under the Department of Defense. This program is one way to ensure a steady influx of scientists and engineers to meet the DoD’s future STEM needs. This collaborative approach leverages a young STEM professional with new, unique perspectives and ideas with the initiative U.S. Army and offers valuable job training for participants.

Pennsylvania State University sophomore William Hervey, of San Antonio, an ORISE intern assigned to Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio’s Biomedical Systems Engineering and Evaluation Department, briefed his research titled “Development of a Trauma Manikin for Test and Evaluation in Extreme Cold Environments” to NAMRU San Antonio researchers and leadership at the Battlefield Health and Trauma Research Institute.

Zac Lamas, postdoctoral fellow at ORISE, inspects bees for the parasitic mite Varroa at a hive in the backyard of University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinhauer, in College Park, Md. A new survey says America's honeybee hives just staggered through the second highest death rate on record. The mites are a factor why bee deaths are on the rise.

In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University detected elevated PFAS levels in the blood of pet dogs and horses from Gray’s Creek, N.C., including dogs that only drank bottled water. The work establishes horses as an important sentinel species and is a step toward investigating connections between PFAS exposure and liver and kidney function in dogs and horses. Theresa C. Guillette, an ORISE research participant, co-authored the study.

Szarria Thomas loves working with geriatric patients. The Class of 2025 College of Pharmacy student looks forward to a career where she can provide exceptional care and knowledge to the geriatric community, and her pursuit of a pharmacy education is a big step towards that future.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has highlighted several fellowship projects that will advance food safety and help to inform FSIS decision-making.

Five fellows who are working towards their Ph.D. were selected through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education program. The fellows will work in collaboration with FSIS scientists.