The live feed of Brookie news! Read articles written by our Fellows and follow the achievements of the Fellows and the program in the news or in publications. This blog is written and maintained by alumnae of the Brooke Owens Fellowship.
By John Gessner, Featuring Jenna Foertsch, 2019 Brooke Owens Fellow
In December, Foertsch was one of three out of about 100 fall-semester interns for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to earn an Outstanding Achievement Award. And it was announced this week that Foertsch is one of 36 applicants from 13 nations selected for this year’s Brooke Owens Fellowship.
Read MoreBy Diana Alsindy, 2017 Brooke Owens Fellow
The language barrier can be a problem for many – if you don’t speak English, you’re essentially excluded from conversations about space exploration. I’m a Propulsion Development Engineer at Virgin Orbit and I’m trying to address this issue with a bilingual Instagram account – The Arabian Stargazer.
Read MoreBy Jenna Kay Foertsch, 2019 Brooke Owens Fellow
It was a few days before the Intern Photo Challenge submission was due. The interns at NASA’s Johnson Space Center slowly shuffled into our weekly meeting, and you could hear the usual bouts of laughter muffled from the outside. As a fiercely competitive and creative group, we knew we had to create something unique to clutch Johnson Space Center’s first win.
Read MoreBy Sierra Nevada Corporation, featuring Carson Brumley, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
It's no secret that SNC attracts some of the most talented minds in the industry -- from executive vice presidents to interns. One is intern Carson Brumley, who is working at SNC's Space Systems Group on the Dream Chaser spaceplane. In fact, she was just named a "Top 100 Intern in the US" by WayUp, a job website for recent college grads. Carson was chosen from a pool of more than 700 interns. WayUp says more than 40,000 votes were cast in their search for the most ambitious, passionate, and talented interns in the country.
Read MoreBy Whitney Hale, Featuring Esther Putman, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
University of Kentucky biology and neuroscience senior Esther Putman, of Lexington, is having an out of this world year. This summer, Putman was named one of 2018’s 50 recipients of a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). In addition, Putman was one of 40 recipients of a Brooke Owens Fellowship.
Read MoreBy Will Pomerantz, Brooke Owens Fellowship Co-Founder
Innovators all around the world are getting creative about ways to close the gender gap and other forms of underrepresentation and discrimination. One fresh new programme that’s making waves is the Brooke Owens Fellowship. Now entering its third year, this program gives extraordinary undergraduate women an incredible start to their careers in aviation or space.
Read MoreBy Alan Boyle, Featuring Maddie Koldos and Chelsey Ballarte, 2018 and 2017 Brooke Owens Fellows
The online application window has just opened for the Brooke Owens Fellowship program, which offers paid internships for undergraduate women at 30 aerospace concerns, including Amazon Prime Air, Blue Origin and Stratolaunch in the Seattle area.
Read MoreBy Lexy Brodt, Featuring Maddie Kothe, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
When she first arrived at UW-Madison five years ago, Madeline Kothe had never considered pursuing engineering mechanics and astronautics. In fact, she only started to consider the major at the recommendation of a roommate. But now her passion for space is unquestionable.
Read MoreBy Caleb Henry, Featuring Lori Garver, Brooke Owens Fellowship Co-Founder
The space industry recognizes it has an awareness issue. When people think space, they often think NASA, and little else. True, billionaire-led companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have opened many eyes to the broader space industry, but that hasn’t generated enough hiring leads to match industry needs.
Read MoreBy Eric Lindberg, Featuring Maddie Koldos, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
As a kid, Madeline Koldos devoured library books on space. And she couldn’t get enough of science shows on TV like The Magic School Bus. With great grades from a science and technology magnet high school, Koldos seemed destined to become an engineer. If not for a big stumbling block: her family’s finances.
Read MoreBy Sukanya Charuchandra, Featuring Sophia Porter and Courtney Schmitt, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellows
From the first moment Johns Hopkins University undergrads Sophia Porter and Courtney Schmitt learned about outer space, they were captivated. Driven by questions about what lay beyond, they have chosen academic trajectories that will skyrocket them into the aerospace industry.
Read MoreBy NYU Shanghai, Featuring Luc Riesbeck, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
Luc Riesbeck ‘18 has recently been named a 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow, and will be hosted for a summer internship by Space Angels, a leading aerospace investment company.
Read MoreBy Jeff Zehnder, Featuring Carson Brumley, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
Aerospace junior Carson Brumley has been selected as a 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow and electrical and computer engineering senior Alex. St. Clair has been named a 2018 Matthew Isakowitz Fellow. Both students are passionate about space and the promise it has for the future.
Read MoreBy Holly Henley, Featuring Kayla Watson and Anna Voelker, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellows
As a 2018 fellow, Watson—along with another Ohio State student, Anna Voelker—completed a rigorous and highly competitive application and multi-phase interview process. Fellows are placed into a paid summer internship at one of the nation’s leading aviation or space companies.
Read MoreBy John Burnett-Larkins, Featuring Madison Harrington, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
There’s not a moment of hesitation when you ask sophomore Madison Harrington if she has a particular career interest in aerospace engineering. “Oh, absolutely! I want to be an astronaut!” And that, she says, is why she applied for – and is delighted to have been accepted for– the selective Brooke Owens Fellowship, “because they are very, very supportive.”
Read MoreBy the Ohio State University, Featuring Anna Voelker and Kayla Watson, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellows
The Brooke Owens Fellowship Program, founded in 2016, awards internships and senior mentorship to exceptional undergraduate women seeking careers in aviation or space exploration. As 2018 fellows, Kayla Watson and Anna Voelker completed a rigorous and highly competitive application and multi-phase interview process. Fellows are placed into a paid summer internship at one of the nation’s leading aviation or space companies.
Read MoreBy Andrea Martin, Featuring Payton Barnwell, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
As a child, Payton Barnwell was fascinated by race cars, but her passion for science came to her in high school with the support of her high school physics teacher. Now, the Florida Polytechnic University mechanical engineering junior has been selected for one of the most prestigious aviation and space programs in the country, one specifically designed for women.
Read MoreBy Drake University, Featuring Katrina Sletten, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
The maximum course load at Drake University is 18 credit hours per semester. Senior Katrina Sletten has had six 18-credit semesters as she strives to graduate with a triple major across disciplines, studying physics, astronomy and public relations with a minor in mathematics.
Read MoreBy Sean Daly, Featuring Payton Barnwell, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
Payton Barnwell has serious travel plans. “Definitely the moon first,” says Barnwell. “Can you imagine the feeling when you come back to Earth, seeing this little blue ball and you’re from that?” Science fiction for this 20-year-old Hillsborough High graduate? Not for this all-world talent. Barnwell, a junior at Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland, is amassing an interstellar aerospace resume.
Read MoreBy Kasey Springsteen, Featuring Katrina Sletten, 2018 Brooke Owens Fellow
Drake student Katrina Sletten, known as Rena to her friends and colleagues, recently received the honor of being accepted into the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program..
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