UNA junior completes summer internship with Alabama Space Grant Consortium

Brooke Patterson never planned on working for NASA. The University of North Alabama junior is double-majoring in secondary education and mathematics, not aerospace engineering. But this summer, that combination made her the first education intern in the Alabama Space Grant Consortium’s partnership with UNA, tasked with turning NASA’s Artemis program into lessons that hundreds of Alabama students will encounter this year.

“I never would have imagined that my background and interests in mathematics and education could connect so naturally to NASA and space exploration,” Patterson said. “This experience has shown me just how broad STEM truly is.”

Working under Melissa Simmons, the ASGC’s outreach and program coordinator, Patterson built age-appropriate presentations breaking down Artemis (NASA’s mission to return humans to the Moon) for K-12 audiences.

“Her hard work is certainly not going to sit on the shelf,” Simmons said. “Brooke’s summer internship may have concluded, but her impact will continue to inspire Alabama classrooms for a long time to come.”

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Original Post Date: 9.1.2026

Author Credit: Baylor Frazie

Image Credit: 256 Today