Since 1948, ORAU has instructed more than 30,000 scientists, physicians, engineers, educators, regulators, and personnel in a variety of radiation safety and health physics courses through its Professional Training Programs (PTP). Whether you are just starting your career in the health physics field or are a seasoned professional, PTP offers a variety of radiation safety and health physics courses for any experience level.
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.
