ORAU

08/21/2026

🏃🏽 What makes the Secret City Half Marathon and 5K such a great event?
People travel from all over the country to run the Secret City Half Marathon and 5K, a cool-weather race that starts on the waterfront at Melton Hill Lake and takes runners and walkers through the scenic streets of Oak Ridge. ORAU has been a proud sponsor of the Secret City races for many years. In this episode, host Michael Holtz is joined by fellow communications colleague and unofficial race ambassador Bryan Campbell and race director Hannah Fatheree for a conversation about the race, including talk about the course, how to train for a half marathon, the great organization that benefits from race proceeds, and more.

🎧 LISTEN: https://bit.ly/3ShKiof
Register for the race here: https://bit.ly/2EdAnWS

08/20/2026

This month marks the 81st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. ORAU’s Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity preserves some artifacts connected to that day and the scientific research that followed. Explore the history behind rebar from the Aioi Bridge, an autographed Enola Gay crew photo, a blistered roof tile, and more in our blog. ▶️ https://bit.ly/4kGkAD3

08/19/2026

📰 ON OUR BLOG:

🪰 When most people think about flies, they probably think about pests, especially during the summer months. But the black soldier fly is different.

In fact, researchers believe this unassuming insect could play a major role in addressing some of the world’s biggest challenges:

🚛 Waste management
🚜 Sustainable agriculture
🚑 Human health
🚀 Future space exploration

Read more about the ORAU-Directed Research and Development project that delves into these ecological superheroes: https://bit.ly/4zqsWWP

Black soldier fly larvae could play a major role in addressing challenges from waste management and sustainable agriculture to human health and future space exploration. Research into this unassuming insect demonstrates its versatility.

08/18/2026

ORAU understands the increasing demand on our nation’s healthcare and public health systems to prepare for, respond to, and recover from pandemics, natural disasters, terrorism, and other unforeseen, disruptive events. The integration of public health, healthcare, and emergency management systems before, during, and after these events help agencies reduce duplication and meet increased requirements and demands when an emergency occurs. ORAU’s experienced team uses this holistic approach to enhance a community or agency’s resilience in support of national health security efforts. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3OQTr2o

08/17/2026

ORAU was among 24 teams that participated in the return of dragon boat racing to Melton Hill Lake on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Each boat had 10 paddlers and a drummer to keep the team rowing in sync. The dragon boat race was a fundraiser for new playground equipment at Emory Valley Center's Early Learning Center.

08/14/2026

Each year, organizations assign significant portions of their budgets to scientific research. In order to ensure funding goes to the research projects with the greatest potential to further their missions and serve the public good, these organizations often contract with ORAU to manage the process for reviewing research proposals. Click the link below for more information 🔽 🔽 🔽
https://bit.ly/3KpMqmm

08/13/2026

Brenda Blunt, ORAU senior director for public health solutions, recently appeared on The Peel podcast, where she discusses the future of healthcare and what it will take to build healthier, more resilient communities. The conversation also digs into ORAU’s new Rural Health Research Innovation Cluster, designed to bring together researchers, universities, industry, and government to address workforce shortages, access to care, emergency preparedness, and women’s health in rural America.
Listen: https://bit.ly/4zhOyok

On this episode of The Peel, Shelley McGuire sits down with Brenda Blunt, Senior Director at ORAU and former CMS Division Director, for a conversation about the future of healthcare and what it will take to build healthier, more resilient communities. Drawing on her experience in both the clinical a...

08/13/2026

A crew of five technicians recently completed a year-and-a-half-long project replacing aging data transmitters on U.S. Climate Reference Network weather stations.

The USCRN is a network of 141 weather stations across the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii that provided reliable, long-term monitoring of weather and climate conditions.

Tracey Bien-Aime, senior communications specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Air Resources Laboratory and an ORAU employee, wrote an article for NOAA’s Boundary Matters newsletter about the replacement effort. ORAU works in partnership with NOAA Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division to perform advanced weather and climate research.

The Boundary Matters newsletter can be found here: https://bit.ly/3TLZL0f
A longer piece about the effort can be found here: https://bit.ly/4wZ5BKo

08/12/2026

📰 ON OUR BLOG:

For many Americans, access to quality health care depends on something as simple and as significant as geography.

A hospital may be hours away. A specialist may only visit a community a few days each month. A shortage of health care workers can mean longer wait times, fewer services and difficult choices for families already facing challenges.

ORAU convened its first-ever Rural Health Research Innovation Cluster Workshop to help find solutions to the challenges affecting rural communities. Read more: https://bit.ly/45jz7yf

ORAU convened its first-ever Rural Health Research Innovation Cluster Workshop on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, and brought ORAU University Consortium representatives together to discuss health-related challenges facing rural communities.

08/11/2026

The ORAU-led Nuclear Energy Academic Roadmap states that there is a shortage of qualified educators with both industry expertise and teaching skills. Recruiting and retaining faculty is especially hard due to salary disparities with the private sector. Competitive pay, structured onboarding, and professional development can help build an instructor pipeline. Learn more about potential steps for overcoming this barrier in the NEAR: https://bit.ly/45lA1ua