Astronaut to Talk About Vital Need for STEM Education

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Col. Patrick G. Forrester

Col. Patrick G. Forrester, an astronaut with NASA, will speak on the University of Arkansas campus March 5 about “Why Integrated STEM is Essential at the Elementary Level.”

Forrester, chief of safety for the Astronaut Office at NASA, will speak to teacher-education interns, their mentor teachers and campus faculty from 2 to 3:30 p.m. March 5 in Rooms 509-511 of the Arkansas Union. The public is also invited to the presentation. Forrester’s visit is sponsored by the College of Education and Health Professions.

A strong proponent of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, Forrester speaks at conferences and schools about the need to encourage students’ interest in these fields at an early age. He will also speak with interns and mentor teachers in the four-year licensure program that meets at Global Campus in Rogers and will teach a class in Peabody Hall about what every elementary teacher needs to know about STEM education.

Forrester was trained as a pilot while serving in the Army and began working as an aerospace engineer for NASA in 1993, assigned to the Johnson Space Center. He flew on three shuttle missions and has logged more than 950 hours in space, including four spacewalks.