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Educational opportunities for students at the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky do not stop when classes let out for the summer. Two-thirds of recent graduates and students returning for the fall semester will participate in some form of learning through the school’s summer research and internship program.
Highlights of the summer 2012 program include seven participants in Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs, 35 students studying abroad focusing on research and culture, and unique public and private industry partnerships via ten-week research internships in some of the nation’s most premier programs.
The Gatton Academy’s program begins in late November each preceding year with faculty and staff members promoting summer programs. Students prepare applications as early as the winter break for some of the most competitive STEM-based summer programs available not only to high school students, but undergraduates as well.
Derick Strode, assistant director for academic services at the Gatton Academy, coordinates the school’s research and internship programs. He explained the variety and depth of these experiences distinguish these students from their peers at both the high school and undergraduate level.
“This summer, our students are pursuing answers to research questions across STEM fields,” Strode said. “They are active participants in cultures on four continents. They are in their own hometowns shadowing the doctors and engineers they looked up to as children. Our summer program encourages students to follow their passions for science, math, and learning, and get a taste of what it means to be a contributing citizen and professional in the broad STEM community.”
One such student is Lydia Brothers, a class of 2012 graduate from Madisonville. Brothers is interning at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, this summer in missions operations. She will focus on crew operations and training for the International Space Station (ISS).
“I’m working with the people who create the procedures that the astronauts actually execute,” Brothers explained. “We ultimately use the procedures to train the astronauts to carry out tasks and experiments while they are on mission.”
Brothers’ internship at NASA is combines features of her coursework at the Gatton Academy in engineering, physics, and computer science.
“In my work, not only do you have to have a good understanding of how all the machinery works but also provide the information in the same format that an astronaut sees it in, which is computer programming,” Brothers said.
Brothers’ first experience at the Marshall Space Flight Center came as a middle school student when she went to space camp.
“I would have never thought that sitting around learning about the ISS that one day I would be working with people on a daily basis who help run it,” she said. “It’s like a dream come true.”
Strode noted that the success in students’ summer exploits can be drawn directly back to the preparation students receive at WKU.
“Lydia is a perfect example of a student who embraced the rich research opportunities available at WKU and applied hard work to her passions,” Strode said.
Brothers participated in research during the entirety of her two years at the Gatton Academy with WKU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy under the mentorship of Drs. Louis Strolger and Edward Kintzel. Additionally, she interned in summer 2011 at the University of Tennessee’s Space Institute. Her research for that experience was recognized by the Siemens Competition.
“Many of the summer research programs that our students apply to accept only five to ten percent of their total applicants,” Strode said. “In such competitive programs, the Gatton Academy students compete so well for coveted spots because they engage in research that goes far above and beyond their coursework.”
91% of the students who graduated in the Gatton Academy’s class of 2012 had participated in a mentored research project while studying at the school—almost entirely under the tutelage of a WKU faculty member.
“These are students that love to learn. Whether it’s the middle of the semester or the middle of summer, these are curious students,” Strode said.
Contact: Derick Strode, (270) 745-6565.
A full listing of Gatton Academy students’ summer plans are listed after the jump.
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