Threshold through TRIO

What is TRIO?

The federal TRIO Programs reach out and support individuals who are not currently overrepresented in higher education. Upward Bound, Talent Search and Student Support Services were the original “trio,” founded in the 1960s – but they’ve been joined by Educational Opportunity Centers, the Ronald E. McNair Scholarships and more!

These programs support middle, high school, university and post-baccalaureate students, and offer both staff and financial resources to help community members – including those with limited income, first-generation college students, veterans and individuals with disabilities – discover and achieve their career and educational goals.

LEARN MORE: Federal TRIO Programs

LEARN MORE: History of the Federal TRIO Programs

LEARN MORE: TRIO PRE-COLLEGE PROGRAMS @ Portland State University

Threshold Potential

Neurons, brain cells with wire-like projections called axons, carry important information via electric current. To send a current – known as an action potential – a neuron must alter the distribution of charged substances (ions) across its membrane, reducing the difference in charge to a smaller (or depolarized) threshold!

LEARN MORE: Action potential initiation and propagation

TRIO programs help people reach their own thresholds, and achieve their own potential for launch – they pay for college applications, for example, and bring in supportive organizations and opportunities.

Community Collaboration

We’ve been honored to collaborate with TRIO in Clatsop County, Oregon and offer several years of arts-integrated neuroscience outreach in Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside Public Schools!

Meredith Payton, the TRIO Coordinator at Clatsop Community College, has arranged for housing and meals from local businesses for NW Noggin volunteers, who’ve brought innovative art projects and extra brains, along with valuable enthusiasm and expertise to learn from and inspire K-12 students in area public schools!

LEARN MORE: Viking, Shark, Fishermen & Bandit Brains!

LEARN MORE: Clatsop Community Cortex

LEARN MORE: North Coast Noggins: Art, Alevins & Brains!

LEARN MORE: Accumbens in Astoria

Educational Opportunity Programs Conference in Bellevue!

We were thrilled to introduce our arts-integrated, interdisciplinary neuroscience community work at the NAEOP (Northwest Association Educational Opportunity Programs) conference in Bellevue, Washington earlier this month!

We were especially lucky to collaborate with Geof Garner, the irrepressible Director of TRIO Educational Talent Search for the Multnomah Education Service District to consider what we’ve learned from almost a decade of direct, all-volunteer community engagement.

*Geof is an amazing first time brain wrangler!*

LEARN MORE: Noggin @ NAEOP Conference

How do we inspire students?

Brains let us perceive, think and behave. Discoveries in neuroscience offer actionable, compelling information about who we are and how we function. Going where you are surprised and challenged by new circumstances and perspectives drives motivating engagement, as does making art. During these moments our brains are changeable and open to new ideas.

Nonprofit Northwest Noggin (nwnoggin.org) organizes undergraduates and graduates to collaborate, build community networks and inspire people about neuroscience and art.

We bring volunteers excited by research into urban and rural K-12 public schools, correctional facilities, Congress, houseless youth centers, coffee shops, and pubs to hear what people already know and what they’d like to know, and see where our stories and discoveries from labs and classrooms intersect. We’ve met more than 50,000 people since 2012!

Discover what we’ve learned, craft your own cells, and examine real brain specimens up close.

LEARN MORE: What is Northwest Noggin?

CHECK OUT OUR SLIDES: NAEOP Slides FINAL (pdf)

CHECK OUT OUR SLIDES: NAEOP Slides FINAL (ppt)

At the conference

We made art, held noggins, discussed interdisciplinary neuroscience outreach and considered new opportunities for collaboration.

Our graduate and undergraduate volunteers are always excited to GO PLACES, especially when they are supported with transportation, housing and meals – and have the chance to create and learn from K-12 students and community members about what they already know and want to explore further about our brains and behavior.