ORAU blends communication, marketing, preparedness, technical training, and research to develop solutions that inform the public and equip health professionals to respond to the most pressing public health challenges. We develop measurable health communication interventions to effectively reach high-risk audiences to prevent or mitigate critical health concerns.
ORAU supports nearly 1,500 postdoctoral fellows and researchers working with federal agencies like NASA and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. Since 1951, we have been dedicated to fostering career development for individuals at all stages, from early-career scientists embarking on their professional journeys to senior researchers gaining expertise while advancing the objectives of research organizations nationwide.
Tara Fetherolf, Ph.D. is a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the NASA Astrobiology Center at the University of California Riverside. Her research focuses on stellar variability, or how stars change with time. One example she uses is our sun. It has spots and it has storms. She studies those phenomena on other stars and how that affects other planets and their atmospheres, which she can compare to how similar activity affects earth. Fetherolf uses the example of the aurorae on Earth, which are beautiful and demonstrate the sun’s activity, but notes our sun is relatively quiet compared to other stars and their impact on their exoplanets. Fetherolf says studying the stars is part of scientists trying to answer the question, "Are we alone?"
For more than 80 years, ORAU has served as a trusted partner to our government customers, our university consortium members, and our local community. In this video, you can meet some of the people behind the ORAU name.
