- Ken Tobin, the chief of RUPO, was really passionate about starting an internship program. He had a history of working with interns at his previous employment, and he just saw a real opportunity for both the students to benefit, but for our university consortium relationship to be strengthened. You know, we can bring in students from that consortium. And then the schools can really see the benefit of being part of the consortium, because their students can benefit from this program. So, we think it's a win-win for the students and the schools. And it's just really exciting. We really hope to bring on some more interns next year. - [Narrator] You're listening to Further Together: The ORAU Podcast. Join Michael Holtz and his guests for conversations about all things ORAU. They'll talk about ORAU story history. Our impact on an ever-changing world. Our innovative scientific and technical solutions for our customers. And our commitment to the communities where we do business. Welcome to Further Together: The ORAU Podcast. - Hello and welcome to Further Together: The ORAU Podcast. I am your special guest host, Adam Delahoussaye today. Joined by co-host Michael Holtz. Along with a couple of our RUPO interns. So, to start, I just want to get some introductions out of the way. And we're gonna have Tony, and Kelsey, and Kayla, our RUPO interns for the summers, along with myself, just give an introduction. So, we'll start with Tony, and then go to Kelsey and Kayla. Tony, do you wanna introduce yourself? - Hi everyone. My name's Tony Zbysinski. I am a PhD student at Colorado State University in Environmental Health and Epidemiology. As well as a occupational ergonomics and safety map ERC trainee. I'm here at RUPO working in health studies with Dr. Ashley Golden and Sarah Howard in radiation epidemiology. - Hi, everyone. My name is Kelsey O'Brien. I am from Iowa State University, majoring in genetics with an emphasis in biochemistry. Here, in Tennessee, I am working alongside Dr. Balaji down at the Cytogenic Biosymmetry lab, doing a lot of super cool stuff. My main project is actually working on a retrospective analysis on cancer survivors and impacts of ionizing radiation. So, that's been super awesome. - Hi, everyone, I'm Kayla Lacey. I am in a PhD program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, majoring in industrial organizational psychology. And I am working on the safety culture team with Dr. Davida Hammond, and Alex Stemer, and Paige. And I've just been having a great time. I've been doing a lot of qualitative analyses with them, which I don't normally get to do. So, it's been pretty fun. - I am Adam Delahoussaye. I am the intern here in the communications and marketing department at ORAU for the summer. I am a writer. I go to the University of Tennessee, about to enter my senior year. And I've been doing a lot of writing, some podcasts, some photo shoots. Just, all around trying to be a handyman for the communications department. And cover all the great stuff that everybody's been doing this summer. And we're also joined by Lindsay Motz, who is, sort of, the organizer of the RUPO summer internships for the summer. So, Lindsay, do you wanna introduce yourself? - Sure. I'm Lindsay Motz. I work for the research and University partnerships office. And when the idea came up of bringing in some summer interns, I was tasked with coordinating and bringing them on. So, it's been an interesting experience and I've been happy to do it. - Awesome. So, now, I just want to kind of ask each of you guys why you picked ORAU. Why did you pick ORAU to spend your summer at? We'll start with Tony again. - Well, thanks for asking. So, it's been a great opportunity for me because, at CSU, we have a department with multiple sections of health physics, industrial organizational psychology, industrial hygiene epidemiology. But it's a great ground for a lot of interdisciplinary work. And, specifically, I was introduced to the field of radiation epidemiology that I learned about. However, there is no actual official training for radiation epidemiology in the entirety of the US. So, having this opportunity for this internship here, at ORAU, is actually, in a ways, an opportunity to get some on-the-job training and some applied training in radiation epidemiology, whereas I haven't had the opportunity anywhere else. So, it's a really unique ability to be able to learn those skills. - Awesome, Kayla, what about you? - Yeah, so, I am kind of deciding, I'm at the point where I need to decide whether I want to go into academia or more of an industry focus. And I know that I didn't want- I've been doing a little bit of, kind of, external consulting work. And I'm not super liking it. So, I figured, if I wanted to go into industry, it'd probably be in something that matters. And, like, has, like, a good mission. So ORAU is kind of a good chance for me to, I guess, apply what I know to something that I feel like matters. - And Kelsey? - I'm gonna be honest, I did not know ORAU existed until about March of this year. I knew the area, and I knew its historical significance, but I never really looked into the private companies that coexisted around that history. This position kind of fell into my lap. I was on spring break and I applied to just a ton of different internships over the summer. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but my mom said I needed to do something. So, I applied to pretty much everything. Ended up getting, you know, an interview and a call back from, you know, ORAU and did a bunch of research. And I never realized how fortunate I was at the time to be given this opportunity. And now, nine weeks in, this is probably one of the best and most interesting companies to work with. Not only do they have an amazing, like, private company aspect, they do a lot with a lot of different government agencies. And I think that's where I, kind of, fall in between those two, just because- Like, the CBL works a lot, you know, with different universities. And we do stuff for the government. And we're run by ORAU. So it's definitely, like, a three headed, like, space down here, if that makes sense. So, I definitely get to dip my toes into pretty much every single part of what ORAU has to offer. And I'm incredibly fortunate. And I love Tennessee. And I'd rather be here more than Iowa. So, that's definitely a plus. And I'm not mad about that at all. - As a person in Nebraska, I will second the Tennessee being amazing. And I'll also say, I did not know what ORAU was until I applied as well. I was just like, "what are the ones that aren't consulting jobs?" - I learned about them through my networking at CSU. There was a faculty member in health physics who told me about the million person study. And then, I got to know the people in the million person study, and that's how I got to meet Ashley Golden. Sarah Howard. But, I like it here in Colorado too. I think it's comparable to Tennessee, sorry. - No, it's definitely way cooler there. - Well, Smokies versus the Rockies, you know? - I mean, we got corn. We got mountains of corn. - So much corn. - And soy beans. That is the only terrain that we have, unfortunately. - The rolling hills of corn is, honestly, amazing. - Yeah. Yeah, I mean, going off of what Kelsey said, I'm from the area, I'm from Knoxville, Tennessee. So, I had a vague understanding of ORAU and what all they did. But it really took about a week or two of me being here to realize the variety and, kind of, the vastness of the work that gets done here. I've gone from interviewing students, postdoctoral students, for the NASA programs that are launching telescopes. From that to doing, like, our math and movement mini academies for rising sixth graders. So, just the amount of different stuff, in a basic sense, that gets done here is incredible. And I think the work that gets done here is, should be highlighted more. So, I'm really glad to be a part of, even though I might not be an expert in any of the fields that you guys are, I'm really glad to be a part of the team in some capacity. And just be able to share all of the hard work that you guys have been doing. Yeah, Michael, do you have a question? - Yeah, so, Lindsay, I just wanted to ask, from your perspective, why is- Why was it important for the research and university partnerships authors to offer the internship program this summer? I guess what, you know, what was the hope that this would provide from the benefit perspective, to like our university partners? Because they're, you know, all of our interns are, you know, attached to one of our university partnership. One of our university consortium members. - Yeah, so, Ken Tobin, the Chief of RUPO, was really passionate about starting an internship program. He had a history of working with interns at his previous employment. And he just saw a real opportunity for both the students to benefit, but for our university consortium relationship to be strengthened. You know, we can bring in students from that core consortium. And then, the schools can really see the benefit of being part of the consortium, because their students can benefit from this program. So, we think it's a win-win for the students and the schools. And it's just really exciting. We really hope to bring on some more interns next year. - Awesome. I will say, from our perspective, and I know talking to, you know, Ashley and Dr. Balaji and Davida that, you know, this has really been a great experience for all of the departments involved as well. So, I'm excited. And it's been, honestly, it's been a joy working with Adam. I haven't gotten to spend as much time with Tony, Kelsey, and Kayla, but it just seems like such a wonderful thing for us to be doing. - Yeah, and I'll follow that up with another question for Lindsay. Have there been any, sort of, obstacles that you faced? I guess this is the first summer we've had RUPO interns, is that correct? - That is correct, yes. - Yeah, so, have there been any sort of obstacles or learning curves along the way with having summer interns in the office that weren't there before? - There were definitely some lessons learned with the onboarding process. We kinda had a model we thought we were gonna be able to follow and found out that it wasn't gonna be applicable for the interns for this summer or for future interns. So, we had to pivot a little bit. But we were still able to fill four summer internships. We weren't able to fill- We actually had an ITS internship. Which is just a super competitive field, and we had a couple candidates that we extended those internships out to. But, the further we got into the summer and, you know, got some declines, we realized we weren't gonna be able to fill that one. But we hope to start earlier next year to make sure we can fill all those internships, so we can offer everybody more opportunity. - Yeah, awesome. And, on the flip side of that coin, for Tony, Kelsey, and Kayla, have there been any learning curves or obstacles that you guys have faced this summer that you've been able to overcome? - Oh, God, where to begin. Learning curves in the research that I do is a daily basis. Every day, I walk in and learn something. Every day, I mess up on something. And, I think that's the beauty of research. At least coming from a lab standpoint, is you want to be challenged. You want to face those learning curves every single day. And I enjoy them, if that makes sense. I want there to be difficulties. And I want to struggle. And I want to be able to ask questions. And I think that's where I grow the best, personally. And, plus, I have an amazing support staff here. Probably the most amazing mentors in a lab setting you could ask for, that are more than willing to sit down with me, go through it, and really work through it. And explain it in a way that I can apply to other procedures and things that I work through on a daily basis, which is super awesome. As well as, I love how independent I am here. I've had wonderful training over this nine weeks and I'm actually able to run a lot of these things independently, which is amazing. And, again, it goes back to being challenged every single day. So, not an obstacle, in a sense of the program. But more of me choosing to put myself within those obstacles to learn and grow outside of what I'm used to doing. - Yeah, yeah, no, I love that. I think that's one of the main things that you need to do within, like, an internship for the summer. Especially for college students, is, kind of, challenge yourself in a sense. Tony or Kayla, anything? - I was gonna add onto that. That I felt very similarly about challenging myself, because, since there is no official training for radiation epidemiology. And in epi you already have, like, a very large set of tools to use and methods to employ. And those change varying from each sub-discipline. Infectious disease epi. Environmental epi. Occupational epi. But radiation epi is particularly unique in what, the ways that you use certain methods. And it's very challenging getting into it and learning how to do all these things and all the technical terms. 'Cause you're not only talking in epi terms, you're talking in industrial hygiene terms and a lot of health physics terms. And you're trying to learn all these different concepts, 'cause it's a lot, like, highly interdisciplinary, which is extremely challenging. And, even settling down on a project, I'm at the halfway point here. I'm starting to get to that independence of getting through the work without having my hand held as much through the radiation epi fundamentals. And it's really exciting. And still, obviously, you know, coming across some closed doors. But new doors open. And it's just a process. And it's very enriching and a lot to learn, and already has been learned so far. Awesome. - And I'll second that just doing things that you're not used to doing. A lot of stuff that I do is, kind of, done in tandem with other people when I'm in grad school. So, having kind of the ability to do these sorts of like analyses and stuff by myself. And also just the opportunity to learn new analyses. And, also, just, kind of, navigating this very interesting world that we have in like DOE stuff is really, it's been a different way of looking at things. I think, in IO, it's kind of a well-known gap that we don't pay as much attention to blue collar stuff as white collar stuff. So, it's been a really interesting, kind of, challenge trying to reframe the way I think about things when we're interpreting. - Yeah. I'll add to that. I don't know if it's a challenge, necessarily in the traditional sense either, but one thing that I've had to, sort of, work through as I've been here, is being able to tell stories about things that I'm not immediately well oriented in. My writing background is, I'm an undergrad, so I write for the student newspaper in their arts and culture department, which is wildly different than a lot of work that gets done here. So, it's just been being able to take those skills and apply them to interviewing people who are doing research in epidemiology, or whatever the case may be. So, just learning that I may not be an expert in every field, but that there are people that are and can explain to me what they're doing in a cohesive way, and I can sort of present it to the rest of the world. - Well, thank you, Adam, for making us sound, the scientists, making us sound less awkward than we are in person. Doing the dirty work on that, and making us sound way cooler and way smarter than just little interns that sit in the lab most of the time. Your work is appreciated from, you know, the scientist on this end. What you do is not overlooked. - Yeah, I appreciate it. - We do really appreciate it. - I'm gonna add to that. You said you weren't an expert earlier, but, like, you kind of are. - Yeah, now, I definitely am. I'll go back to my classes and be like, I learned about rocket ships, and telescopes, and cancer research this summer. So, lots of different fields. But, yeah, Michael, do you have anything to add? - Well, for folks who are listening, you know, I want everyone to know that, A, these are paid internships, right? So, that's always a good thing. And, you know, Lindsay, this isn't grunt work. I mean, they're doing- All of these folks are doing really great work, making contributions to the departments that they're working in. And I think that's an important distinction from, sort of, the typical, you know, internship that students might do is, you all are doing some serious, pretty heavy lifting. And, I wonder if, A, it sounds like you're cognizant of that, but how it feels to be in that position of, you know, you're making a contribution to your fields. You know? Even as, you know, in your role as an intern. - I mean, if I could speak on it, it does feel really great. I've always wanted to get into science, like since ninth grade. I wanted to eventually get to a PhD. Now, I didn't know what I wanted to do a PhD in at that point, obviously. But, finally getting to this point to where I'm getting to the edge, or on the edge of science, and actually contributing something to the greater literature, it's really amazing, you know? I'm sitting behind my computer running code, a lot of statistics, and everything. And you sit there and you come to a pitfall over and over again with, like, "okay, there's an error, there's an error, there's an error." But, once you finally get some results and you start seeing, like, some significant results, not there yet, but I know how that feels in the past. I'm getting there. So, when you start getting those significant results, and then you start getting to the manuscript writing, and things like that, it's always really exciting to feel like I'm contributing. And it's just- Words don't do it justice, describing the feeling of helping the field of radiation epidemiology, for my case. - Yeah, I'm the same way. I was working a little bit on the Flash Project, which I know you had Dr. Balaji on a little bit ago. Finally getting that, sort of, figured out. And it was extremely humbling to be able to say that my name will be on that paper. And that I will be on a poster that could potentially lead to a new radiation treatment for cancer is insanely mind blowing. Like it- Like Tony said, words don't explain it. And I'm the same way of, like, I wanted to do this since I was very, very young. And I love that now I'm able to give back to a community that's done so much for me. And just being able to get me through school, and like all those different things. And it's an insane opportunity. And I'm grateful, literally, every single day. It's insane. - Awesome. - I know there's, like, some small, like, horror stories for like some people's summer internships, so I was a little bit nervous, you know? To do one, especially remotely. I wasn't sure if I was going to be kind of left to- "Hey, can you code this in silence across the country, thanks." But they've let me be in on a lot of the, like, bigger conversations. I think we're working towards revising the safety culture survey. So, like, knowing that, even after I leave, my input will affect the way that we even evaluate safety culture in the next, you know, few years. It's kind of incredible. And just, like, getting to help with working on like paper proposals and stuff has been really cool overall. Like, I'm not just sitting there, you know, processing other people's applications for jobs. Like, I'm actually getting to do real work is really awesome. - I can add on to that, as another remote intern, that it's really awesome that I've been, like, a part of all the meetings and everything. Ashley and Sarah, they've invited me to a lot of meetings with other people part of the million person study. And to actually be in the same conversation discussing all this research with the experts that have been in the field for decades. It's really good to hear that conversation, and to start becoming part of it, and learning how to communicate scientifically in that manner. It's great to be so integrated. There's no concerns about being remote for me anymore. - Awesome. Adam, how about you? - Yeah, I mean, it's definitely not just getting people coffee, so that's definitely a good thing. I'm glad I've been put to use. And I definitely feel like I'm doing very productive work. Like, I got to interview Ken Tarza, the Chief of Staff, a few weeks ago. And that was a moment for me where I was like, felt very entrusted with something important, because, like, it'll go on the website eventually. I have, like, different articles on the website already. And sliders on ORAU News now, which is, I mean, like, I'm a writer, so I've had stuff published on the internet before. But, I think this was a lot different, just because I wasn't expecting to get thrown into the mix as quickly as I did. But I'm very grateful for it all the same. - Awesome. - I will say, that was a very conscious, you know, thought when we developed the program. We didn't want people doing data entry or grabbing coffee. We wanted educational experiences. - And hands-on. Very, obviously, hands-on learning experiences, it sounds like, across the board. So, for everyone, what's next for you after your summer at ORAU? What happens? What happens next? And what are your aspirations, like, beyond education? - My immediate next, is I take my comprehensive exams a week after my internship ends. So, everyone send good vibes, prayers, sacrifice something, I don't know. All the help in the world. - Small ritual. - Light some candles, I don't know. Whatever you believe in, just send it towards me. And then, further, I'll start an assistantship working with a national counter-terrorism thing. And I'll actually be doing a lot of the sort of analyses that I've spent this summer learning, so I'm very excited to kind of apply that starting in the fall. - Awesome. - Okay, I'll go for next. Virtually, I still see the eyes. So, I still have two more years of my PhD left. And I'm still a Map PRC training. For those who don't know, that's the Map and Plains Education Research Center. And I'm still training in the occupational ergonomics and safety. So, I do plan to become a certified ergonomist professional eventually, in the future, after I graduate. But I'm still very excited to be radiation epidemiology. And I kind of hope, through my next two years and my career beyond to harmonize some interdisciplinary work to be done. And, as far as where I want to work, you might, maybe, in the future, if y'all have me, maybe I'll be working here at ORAU. Maybe another federal agency. But, I'm really open to a lot of options. And that's why I'm trying to diversify my skillsets, because I just find a lot of things extremely interesting. It was hard for me to narrow down on radiation epi, because I love all fields of epi. But I still really enjoy having a diverse skillset and working interdisciplinary. - Gotcha. - And I'll still be working with the people that've been working here with the internship. Dr. Ashley Gold and Sarah Howard. And other people part of the million person study. It's a massive study for RAD Epi. And I intend to work with the million person study throughout my dissertation work. - Excellent. Kelsey? - I, sadly, have to go back to the corn. I have to go back to the fields. I have to go back to Iowa after this. I have one semester left, just because I pushed back my graduation status. So, one more semester left in genetics, and then I'll be done after that. Hopefully, I can go get my PhD. Since, Tony, you've talked it up, super interesting. I'm hyped for that. I'll be applying for PhD programs this coming cycle. Hopefully, doing something in cancer biology. Or I've fallen in love with radiation stuff, so that might pivot me a little bit. But I'm just gonna, kind of, apply everywhere and I just need one person to say yes. And then, after that, it's gonna be finding a job. So, I will be scouring the ORAU job board. To be honest. - That's alright. - I mean, yeah. So, just gotta graduate with a Bachelor's first. That's what we're focusing on. - I'll be in Omaha for at least two more years, so, if you end up there, let me know. I will show you where the good corn is. Where the bad corn is. - Amazing. - You got like the, do you got like the- Like the stands where people, like, bring their own corn from their field? - Yes. - And they post it up on the corners? - Yeah, well, we can hit some, some street corn, especially. I love street corn. - Are there as many corn shops there are as rock shops here in Colorado? - And Omaha is only like eight hours away from Colorado. So, like, you're there. - I'm hearing a corn meetup, that's what's happening. Like, that's what was generated. - Adam, it's a farther drive for you, but if you'd like to join the internship corn meetup. - I might have to take up that offer honestly. - Adam, how about for you? - So, come August, I'll be a senior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Hopefully we get a good football season for my senior year. And then, after that, I will be applying to pretty much everywhere. Mainly in Knoxville. Probably in Nashville too a little bit. ORAU will most likely be on my application list. So, just gonna kind of see what in coms, public relations, journalism, what all I can find and what all looks interesting. - Sweet. Awesome. Lindsay, anything, you know, I guess to, sort of, wrap things up? Adam, unless you've got other questions. Anything you wanna say about the internship program, where we are and, I guess, maybe what happens next for next year? - Yeah, I mean, I think we've had amazing interns this year. Hopefully, you all have had really great experiences. It sounds like you have. And we just want this program to grow. So, we're looking at putting at least the same number of internships we put out this year, but hopefully more. We're hoping to get more internships across more programs. And to just grow this 'cause we just see a lot of benefit in it, not only for the students, but for ORAU too. - Awesome. And, question for everybody, what brings you joy? - Could this just be anything? - It can be anything, but probably not, I'm thinking not corn, or, you know. It's probably not corn. But, truly though, what brings you joy in life? - It's a very deep question. - Yeah. - Very loaded question. - Indeed. - I will start. I will say my family, because, obviously, that's- And I have a three year old and a six year old. And my husband also brings me joy, but not as deep coffee. Coffee brings me much joy. - Amen, sister. Although, sweet corn brings me joy, Kayla, I will say. - That sounds pretty good. - I will say, I talk a lot, corn is my favorite vegetable, because, you know, it's not technically vegetable. I guess, I would, it's, at this point in grad school, it's probably a tie between, like, family and sleep. I really value sleep right now. I don't think I get enough of it. I value it a lot. But my family is all in Florida, so I don't get to see them quite as much nowadays. So, whenever I hear from them it's really awesome. - On a deep level, definitely my family. Super close knit. I mean, they support me in everything that I do emotionally, financially occasionally. But they give me a ton of joy and I can't thank them enough for all the support that they give me day in and day out. 24-7, 365, like, they are there for me no matter what. Also, my hedgehog, Toast. I am always willing to talk about him. He is my pride and joy. He definitely gets me through the days. But, yeah. - I feel like that's a good tip for interns. A portable pet. - Oh, yeah. - I didn't bring my cat. - If hedgehogs are legal in your state, highly recommend one. - Plus, his name is Toast, I love that. - His name is Toast yes. So, he's my little bread boy. And he is very sweet. I think he's on my, he's on my screen. But, this is him. - So cute. - Yes, I promise, if he's legal in your state. - That's right. That's right. - No smuggling hedgehogs. - Yes, no smuggling hedgehogs. - Tony? - I'd say it'd be expressing my creativity. I do really enjoy my family and I enjoy my pet. I have a cat, an orange cat. - I have an orange cat! - Really brings me to a lot of joy, because, whether that be in thinking of novel ways to approach my discipline. Or changing up, one of my favorite things do, I love getting lots of cooking recipes, and I like changing them to be healthier cooking recipes. Or baking. And then, my biggest one, though, is my biggest hobby and my pastime is Dungeons and Dragons, which I know was a bit nerdy, but, I, I've been in that game for a very long time. So, I express a lot of my creativity through there too. - Awesome, this is ORAU, man, nerd's world. - I was gonna say, I also love Dungeons and Dragons. So, you're good. This is safe. - I have never played, but I am more than willing to learn. I've heard it's super awesome and super cool. And I'm not afraid to geek out on things. - I mean I've been a leader of a group for six years now. - Oh, so you're a pro, okay. - I do all the voices and everything, so I like making up crazy voices, and all this other stuff. - That's awesome. - In the game. In the game. - Adam, how about for you? - I mean, friends and family are obvious ones. My puppy dogs, Thor and Douglas. I don't get to see 'em as much now that I'm not at home. But, every time I do it's, we're just back like we never left. I would say writing and music are probably my main two right now. I try and journal every day, and just get everything out there. I'm sort of a live music junkie. I'm always trying to go to shows happening in Knoxville, and stuff like that. So, I would say that those are my biggest two right now. - Awesome. Anything else anyone wants to say before we wrap things up? - I thought of it earlier, but I just wanna extend a thank you to Lindsay for organizing these internships, or at least helping facilitate. You know, it's really appreciated. This has been an amazing learning opportunity. I know I'm different 'cause I started late, but I'm only halfway through and I can already say that I've learned a great deal. And I can't wait to see what my next few weeks still have in store for me. Kind of know, but there's still lots to be done. - Yeah, thank you for entrusting us with, you know, these insanely large projects on a government scale. I know it can be hard to, you know, sign a release to some undergraduate students, but I appreciate you taking us on and allowing us to, you know, give our contribution to the company and hopefully make you all very proud. - Yeah, we have an amazing group of young adults working with us this summer. And I just actually got off a call where I just told the head of RUPO how polite, and courteous, and smart all of you all are. So, glad to have you. - Yeah, thank you so much. - Thank you, this has been a wonderful opportunity. - All right. Adam, you wanna close this out? - Yes. So, yeah, thank you guys for being on today. And thank you to our listeners. We will see you next time. - [Narrator] Thank you for listening to Further Together: The ORAU Podcast. To learn more about any of the topics discussed by our experts, visit www.orau.org. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, @ORAU. And on Instagram @ORAUTogether. If you like Further Together: The ORAU Podcast, we would appreciate you giving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews will help more people find the podcast.