- Oh, we've got an exciting topic, and maybe a topic that can be controversial at times. - Sure. - It's on climate security and environmental justice, pathways to achieving the 2050 carbon net zero goal. - Okay. - And you know, you read it in the paper every day, you see it, all of us feel it and see the issues related to climate change, climate science, and so everybody's talking about it. So it seemed to us that this would make perfect theme for this year and gather our thought leaders across our consortium to come together with federal agencies and others to put some action and start an agenda for change and innovation that everybody can be a part of. - [Announcer] 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 storied 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. - Welcome to another episode of "Further Together," the ORAU podcast. As ever, I'm your host, Michael Holtz in the communications and marketing department at ORAU, and I'm excited today to be talking about ORAU's annual meeting with Ken Tobin, our chief research and university partnerships officer, and Cathy Fore, our senior director of university partnerships. Ken and Cathy, welcome back to you "Further Together." - Great to be here. - I love, love, love talking about the annual meeting, 'cause it's kinda this special thing that we do for our university partners to engage our university partners with our federal government agency partners and our own subject matter experts to, I guess, build synergy around, if that's the right phrase, to build synergy around the specific topic of the annual meeting, and then build those research relationships that build out from the annual meeting every year. So before we get too deep into the annual meeting now, Ken and Cathy, if you would, just briefly tell me a little bit about who you are. I know you've been here before, but just touch on who you are, and then we'll talk about the annual meeting in depth. - Sure, so I guess I'll start. So I'm, as you mentioned, Ken Tobin, and I'm the chief research and university partnerships officer for ORAU, and I've been here for a little over two and a half years now. My, how time flies. And of course, my role in the company, it's really kind of twofold. I work with our research staff and subject matter experts to try and build a strong research culture for the company, and part of how I'm able to do that or would like to do that or approach that problem is to leverage the relationships in the consortium that we have, the 152 universities that we have on our consortium, which are very strong in terms of science and technology and education, and all the things that, you know, we leverage in our own business that we do within ORAU. And so, you know, try to find ways to tie our university partners with our research subject matter experts is really what RUPO lives for. You know, how do we do that in such a way that we continue to grow our capabilities as a company, and leverage and benefit from the research that we do in terms of all the things that I always talk about, you know, creating new opportunities, making this an attractive place for people to come and work, differentiating ourselves from others, you know, in terms of what our skills are, and that's what I do here. - Right, and you say it's been two and a half years, but there's been a lot to talk about in the last two and a half years, 'cause we've sat across this virtual coffee table several times to talk about what's happening in the research and university partnerships office, so lots of exciting things have been going on. Cathy Fore, how are you? - Hey, I'm doing great, Michael. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be able to share our story today and to create some new interest in our annual meetings. As senior director of university partnerships, my main role as I call it, is a matchmaker, so I try to stay up on what all 152 member universities are great at and strategically where they want to grow, and create the kind of collaborations and connecting the dots, if you will, between the universities, private industry, federal agencies, and anyone else who's interested in joining the team of advancing research innovation. And it's also interesting that this Friday, February the third is my 20th year with ORAU, and it has gone by very fast, and it's been a fun ride, and I'm not finished yet. - Hope not. - Ken's eyes just bugged out a little bit. And it's a big job being matchmaker to 152 universities plus our government agency partners. So there is a lot going on, and there has been a lot of excitement around, you know, some of what, you know, the research clusters that you love to talk about. And the annual meeting is one of those tools that helps to develop those clusters, so let's talk about what the annual meeting is. Every year we have a different topic area, so let's talk about what's the topic area for this year's meeting and why do we do it? Why is it important? - Well, let me start with that, just from the high level, but I'll tell you, when it comes to organizing this meeting and reaching out to our speakers and the panel discussion participants, Cathy is just a champion at that. She has done just a fantastic job. Every year that I've worked with her, it's been an incredible meeting, and it gets better all the time. But just from, you know, historic perspective, you know, of course, ORAU has been in its 75th year. Goes back to 1946 or so with a dozen or so universities in the Southeast, and as part of how we were established, our corporate bylaws required that the council sponsoring institutions which is our our consortium, conduct a meeting of the consortium members every year. So for many years initially, this was really more of a business meeting. - Okay. - But in, you know, over the last, really, probably over a decade, a couple of decades maybe, it really turned into more of a topical meeting, an annual meeting that had a technical topic where we invited speakers from federal agencies and industry to come and, you know, highlight and share things that were going on in the federal complex and in the nation, really, that our universities could potentially build from, build from in terms of partnerships with ORAU, and with partnerships among themselves, right? They also can and should be working together and leveraging their different skills and complimentary strengths as they try and build business within the university environment as well. So long history, really more of a topical meeting today and sort of a business development meeting, I would say, than it has been in the past where it was really just more of a business meeting. - And it brings our university consortium members, our federal agency partners, and our subject matter experts together to say, how can we tackle this issue, this research topic at hand? What can we do to further improve, enhance, and work together to solve whatever the problem on the table is there in the community. - So the value added to both the universities and our, you know, there's value added to the federal sponsors too. So I mean, obviously it helps build new connections among our member universities and our subject matter experts within the company, and the value proposition to our speakers is also to provide them with an opportunity to share their federal program initiatives and missions with, you know, really a captured audience of academic institutions, and when we bring in key industry leaders as well, to bring them into that conversation too. So there's a lot of value to both, well, to all, to academic, academia, to feds, to industry, to look at ways that we can leverage skills, capabilities to address whatever the nationally important issues are of the day. - Right. - And I also, you know, wanna throw this in there. I just don't wanna forget it before we go any further, but this meeting this year will be the first meeting, in person meeting we've had since March of 2020. - Right. - So we're really looking forward to that as well. - Absolutely, yeah, back in person, very important. So Cathy, what's the topic for this year's meeting? - Oh, we've got an exciting topic, and maybe a topic that can be controversial at times. - Sure. - It's on climate security and environmental justice, pathways to achieving the 2050 carbon net zero goal. - Okay. - And you know, that's, you read it in the paper every day, you see it, all of us feel it and see the issues related to climate change, climate science, and so everybody's talking about it. So it seemed to us that this would make a perfect theme for this year and gather our thought leaders across our consortium to come together with federal agencies and others to put some action and start an agenda for change and innovation that everybody can be a part of. - Right. - And this year, we've got a fabulous lineup of speakers. We have 14 speakers, and that consists of three keynote note addresses and 11 panelists, representing federal agencies and academia. And the format's gonna be a little bit different this year. Instead of having the typical conference death by PowerPoint, find a meeting, we're going to have three panel sessions. - Okay. - That will be facilitated discussions around the research and education gaps and priorities in three key areas, and that's technology, innovation, and transformation, science-based models for an environmentally equitable society, and growing the future leaders, future thought leaders through strategic alliances. So three highly, you know, impactful- - Really impactful topics, yeah. - Yeah, it's thought provoking, you know? - Right, absolutely. - But you know, when I recruited these agencies particularly there was a common thread of interest by all of them. They're all investing in this to some degree. - Sure. - And they are all interested in what the future workforce for their own respective agencies needs to look like to help them get there. And so it wasn't hard, really, to recruit them, but when I do ask the speakers to attend, the value proposition to them is you're gonna have a captive audience of university experts, leaders, and researchers, so now's your time. - Right. - To challenge them and set the stage to help better position those universities to get involved, whether it's changing their curriculum, readdressing their research portfolio, but how to be more involved, more engaged in an action oriented agenda for those agencies. - As the matchmaker for our university consortium members, what are you paying attention to during the annual meeting to be that matchmaker to work, you know, to I guess, line university partners up with the federal agencies? - Well, one good thing that we've got going for us, this time we have eight federal agencies speaking, and Michael, that's a first for ORUA. - Amazing, that's a great number. - And I feel like we ought have special security outside, because you've got eight federal agencies in one room together, and they're talking about the same thing. It's not like Congress, hopefully. It's like eight agencies all interested in doing something about this topic. And so what we're looking for is doing some matchmaking with the attendees that are there and even with ORAU staff. A lot of these agencies are our customers, and so how can we leverage what we're doing for EPA and their research office, and do the same thing with USDA? - Right. - And particularly related to workforce development, so I'm looking at where the synergies are, and I think a lot of the questions that will be asked of each panel speaker will help drive some solutions and priorities and actions. And with this, for the first time, we'll be having a report generated from this meeting, so some good takeaways that we intend to build on. So I don't want a lot of grass to grow under our feet too long after March the sixth and seventh, so that we can look at what we can do and continue to build upon. - And the object of that report, and I can say this because we're working on that together is really for both the federal agencies and our university partners to come away with not only here are the key takeaways, here are three things you might have learned in, you know, each of these panel discussions, but here's how you can plug into what's going on. Here's how you can be part of the solution for whatever came out of, whatever comes out of those panel solutions. - And you know, our universities are so diverse in geography, in size, in research portfolio and the degrees that they offer, and everybody can play into this, so you've got some schools that are just totally undergraduate and they they play an exceptional role in preparing undergrads for grad school and beyond, and they are very unique and very successful at what they do. And then you've got the tier one R one universities that are doing extraordinary research, and then we have our minority institutions that are in both camps. - Right. - And so watching the synergy between those universities partner together in advancing the research and the education, those two combined, and even the entrepreneurship that could come out of those universities, the new small business that could be developed, you know, as a result of this, it's fascinating to watch. I like to sit back and watch the magic happen. - I was gonna just ask you that question, like what's it like to sort of see the light bulbs go off? Like, oh, we could do that with, you know, this university, or we could plug in with that federal agency, and here's where our strengths are. - And what's even more magical is when you've got the College of Business someone expert in policy, and someone in cybersecurity actually talking about collaborating together, so very- - At the same institute, yeah. And they may never have worked together before. - Right. - But now they're having a conversation. Yeah, that has to be pretty amazing. So this year's meeting is March 6th and seventh at the Knoxville Airport Hilton, which is a great location. - Easy in, easy out. - Easy in, easy out, exactly, and just great facilities in general. I mean, the conference facilities they have are great. So for folks who maybe haven't committed, what's the sales pitch to those folks? - Well, I think it's twofold. I usually harass them a little bit. If they haven't attended yet, I try to give them the value proposition of it. But I think the other thing is we're trying to use this meeting to show that ORAU is making an impact on the environment. It's not just a meeting to talk about the subject, but let's set an example, okay? And so we're actually currently calculating the anticipated carbon footprint of our meeting. - Okay. - And exploring ways in which to both reduce our impact, so you're not going to see piles of handouts on tables that you normally see at conferences. - Right. - And so some of the changes that you can expect to see at the meeting and in meetings in the future, not just this one- - Not just this one. - Is reducing the printed, you know, and single use materials, sourcing local foods, and serving vegetarian meals, true vegetarian meals, not just removing the protein, but true vegetarian meals. - Right. - Offering hybrid, you know, virtual attendance where we can, and just looking at the results of a meeting and exploring new ways to further advance and reduce the carbon emissions. So we're trying to set an example, and the handouts that we plan to have will be, you know, environmentally correct, appropriate, very few giveaways. It's gonna be seeds, it's gonna be other types of things maybe, and other surprises we haven't, we're not ready to announce yet. - That are still in the works, yep. - Still works, but we're using the carbon footprint software, myclimate, which is the Swiss software package, to actually calculate what the footprint of our meeting is. So more news to be announced to the meeting about that. - That's great. Can we talk about specific speakers? - Oh, yes we can. I'm gonna pick three. - Okay. - One is Chris Gray. Chris was one of the first ones I asked to speak. He is the senate confirmed assistant administrator for research and development at EPA, and he also serves as the agency science advisor. He was very excited to accept. He has a very strong academic background. - Awesome. - He happens to be our customer. - Right. - And so he is going to speak. He's our first keynote speaker. - Great. - A second one I chose is with NOAA. Ko Barret is the senior advisor for climate at NOAA, and she is well known as an expert on climate policy, and particularly on the issues related to climate impacts and strategies to help society adapt to the changing world that we're experiencing every day. She was also with the US Agency for International Development, USAID, where she oversaw climate activities in more than 40 countries. So she's got a lot of knowledge and experience behind her, and so looking forward to hearing her speak. And then Sana Beg is a new person in the federal agency of the US Department of Agriculture, USDA. USDA has never spoken at our annual meeting, so this is another first. And Sana was named recently in November, the deputy undersecretary for research, education and economics. - Okay. - And she actually is more on promoting food and nutrition security and better positioning agriculture as a key solution for climate change. - Wow, such an important issue. - Yeah, and she was formally appointed by President Biden as the chief of staff there. So three great examples and others, so it's just very exciting. - It's gonna be a great meeting, it sounds like. I can't wait to be there myself. - Me too. - Is there anything that we want to make sure people understand about the meeting before we wrap things up? There's still time to register right? - Yes, definitely. - But I think a couple other things I'd like to share is that last year's meeting was on public health security and innovation, lessons learned from COVID 19, and that was a virtual meeting. That was also a very timely topic, of course. - And very impactful. - Very, and out of that came some new collaborations, one with a couple schools like Virginia Commonwealth University and Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, and those topics are direct spinoffs of that meeting. And because we talked about our strategic research focus areas of climate, environment, health equity, and future STEM workforce. So I think that we are doing better at leveraging the annual meetings, scoping it to where it represents high priority research and needs, and all we're doing is just bringing the parties together and watch the magic happen. - Watch the magic happen. I love that. Well, I'm looking forward to this year's meeting, and can't wait to see you both there in person. - And now I think Ken's gonna give you a taste of what 2024 might look like. - Oh, yes. - Yes, just a taste. We always announce next year's meeting at this year's meeting. - We do, yeah. - So we have been putting our heads together and working out some topics that we think would be of interest and value to the consortium and to ORAU. So I'll preface this by saying that without giving too much away on some of our strategy here, we are, you know, we being RUPO and with some interest and direction from the board of directors, we're looking at ORAU's very significant role in workforce development and in STEM education and such. And so we are really looking at some topics that could help us highlight those activities, those kinds of activities and those national needs in '23. If you think about many of the federal agencies, national laboratories, some of the new initiatives out there like the Chips for America Act, which is looking at the need in workforce development for semiconductor manufacturing and other things like this, you know, there's a lot of discussion that needs to be happening around building a future ready workforce that can address those issues, so workforce transformation around building the next generation of STEM thought leaders, or innovation or innovative models for STEM education, how we can leverage public private partnerships to enhance training and education in university settings, and of course, diversity, equity, inclusion, access in education, in training, in opportunities for career development. Those are such important issues right now. All of those are important. And so our theme in '24 is gonna be around those topics. We just haven't come up with a succinct title yet for what that might be, but we will announce that at the upcoming meeting in March. - You've got a few weeks yet. - Be prepared. - We'll get there, we'll get there. - Well, awesome, that sounds exciting, and it definitely sounds as ever, I mean our, you know, our annual meeting topics tend to be right on the cutting edge of what's going on, so definitely sounds like we'll be there again for 2024. - I believe so. - All right, well, Ken and Cathy, thank you so much for spending this time with me and talking about this year's annual meeting. And for any of our consortium members who are still considering, now is the time to get signed up and come be part of the magic, and- - Absolutely. - Learn about and get involved in these really critical and important issues. Thank you. - Thanks, Michael. - Thank you both, I appreciate it. - Yeah, thank you for having us. - Absolutely. - [Announcer] 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 at ORAU, and on Instagram at ORAU Together. 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.