April 10, 2017
Star student Baleigh Doyle has earned an internship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
This summer, Doyle will be analysing data at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Named after the father of modern rocket propulsion, Doctor Robert Hutchings Goddard, it is NASA’s original space flight complex.
The station is located six-and-a-half miles outside of Washington D.C. in Greenbelt, Md.
The double major in math and business found the scholarship with assistance from her advisor Eric Dyreson. Even though it’s a scholarship in math, Doyle still had to write an essay.
“I had to explain what I like about space. I also wrote about how tutoring helped me become a creative problem solver.”
When asked if she’ll be bringing back any inside scoops, she said, “I know they’re working on the Mars mission. That’s what I’ll be looking out for.”
Despite her interest in research, Doyle doesn’t see intergalactic travel in her future. “No, I wouldn’t want to travel through space,” she said.
Although she’s a math whiz now, Doyle didn’t grow up drawing equations on her nursery wall. “I hated math until high school.”
That all changed when she was inspired by a geometry teacher her freshman year. Now, she’s inspiring students herself at the University of Montana Western with her work as a tutor.
This is actually not Doyle’s first encounter with NASA, as she was also the recipient of a Montana Space Grant Scholarship.
Her job at NASA will not be easy, but the lover of statistics says she’s up for the task, “This is going to be great. I’m super excited.”
Officially, Doyle will be studying participant feedback from a training program developed for engineers by in-house subject matter experts. However, for the students and faculty of Montana Western, she’ll be making us proud.
