UNA Junior Completes Summer Internship with ASGC
Aug. 27, 2026
Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392
FLORENCE, AL – Brooke Patterson, a junior at the University of North Alabama from Rogersville, recently completed her summer internship with the Alabama Space Grant Consortium, where she combined her interest in mathematics and education with an opportunity to support STEM education and NASA’s Artemis program. At UNA, Brooke is a double major in Secondary Education and Mathematics.
UNA was chosen to be part of the Consortium in late 2023, and it grants UNA student direct access to ASGC scholarships, fellowships, and internships. This year, the ASGC worked directly with UNA faculty in the Spencer College of Education and Human Sciences to select Brooke as the first education intern in the program.
“ASGC provides and supports highly valuable hands-on student experiences centered on expanding the knowledge of the goals and mission of NASA,” said Dr. Matt Green, Associate Dean of the Spencer College and UNA’s campus director for the ASGC. “It is an honor for UNA to be part of this organization and what it can provide for our students.”
Brooke said the internship broadened her perspective on the opportunities available with STEM.
“I never would have imagined that my background and interests in mathematics and education could connect so naturally to NASA and space exploration,” she said. “This experience has shown me just how broad STEM truly is and how many different interests and career paths can have a place within it.”
As an intern, Brooke created age-appropriate presentations centered around NASA’s Artemis program, its mission to return humans to the Moon, and the role that this work plays in the future of space exploration.
“My goal was to take the exciting and sometimes complex work NASA is doing and make it engaging and understandable for young students,” she said. “I am incredibly grateful to the Alabama Space Grant Consortium for giving me this opportunity.”
Brooke said she plans to take the knowledge and experiences she gained through the ASGC internship into her future career and as she continues her degree program at UNA. Her experience reflects the experiential learning opportunities available to students enrolled in the Spencer College.
“UNA’s education program is unmatched in the hands-on curriculum provided to students like Brooke,” said Dr. Green. “UNA’s teacher education students enter the workforce exceptionally well-prepared and that, coupled with the strong reputation of our education majors, formed the foundation that ultimately opened this opportunity.”
Brooke completed her internship under the guidance of Melissa Simmons, Outreach and Program Coordinator for the ASGC.
“(Brooke’s) hard work is certainly not going to sit on the shelf; the modules she developed will be taught to hundreds of students across the state this year,” Simmons said. “Brooke’s summer internship may have concluded, but her impact will continue to inspire Alabama classrooms for a long time to come.
About The University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; the Spencer College of Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I and United Athletic conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/.