ORAU's work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division focuses on climate research, atmospheric chemistry and dispersion, and boundary layer characterization. The Climate Reference Network, in particular, is a series of 100+ stations around the country that collect data to monitor climate.
Since 2002, ORAU and its partners have peformed radiation dose reconstructions under the NIOSH Radiation Dose Reconstruction Project to provide critical information used in adjudicating claims filed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
Sunil Pulletikurti, Ph.D., is a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow conducting research on the chemical origins of life. Essentially, he's investigating how small molecules become parts of larger molecules—for example, how an amino acid becomes part of a protein and other cellular transformation. In this conversation with host Michael Holtz, Pulletikurti takes a deep dive into his research, the time he spent at NASA before his postdoctoral fellowship, what sparked his interest in science, the struggle of coming from an impoverished childhood in India to being part of a global research enterprise, and how the fellowship will impact his career.
