We love to explore, think and talk about the intersection of brains and art, neuroscience research, interdisciplinary outreach, policy and communication!
Please get in touch: bgriesar@nwnoggin.org & jleake@nwnoggin.org.
LIVE INTERVIEW: Funding Rural Podcast
When artists and scientists put their minds together, novel things can happen. Participants in these gatherings benefit from a heightened sense of curiosity — a trait that can spark innovation in communities. Recognizing the combined potential of the arts and sciences, neuroscience professor Bill Griesar, PhD and his colleague, artist Jeff Leake, formed an all-volunteer run nonprofit twelve years ago called Northwest Noggin’. Griesar offers ideas on how philanthropists can get more curious and support regional innovation by bringing more diverse people together for impactful conversations.
LIVE INTERVIEW: In Season on KMUN
September, 2024
In Season September 3rd, 2024
LISTEN: In Season September 3rd, 2024
RECORDED INTERVIEW: KOIN 6 News
March, 2024
“We are forced to wake up in darkness and remained activated a lot later into the night,” said Bill Griesar, who teaches neuroscience at Portland State University.
LEARN MORE: The neuroscience of time change and health
LIVE INTERVIEW: American Brain Coalition
October, 2023
Northwest Noggin joined Katie Sale, the Executive Director of the American Brain Coalition, for their “Voices for the Brain” Advocacy Champions podcast! What IS Northwest Noggin? How did we begin? How did we meet 65,000+ people with real brains and art projects without the extensive resources afforded large institutions? What’s so cool about BRAINS and ART? Find out here!
*** LISTEN: Voices for the Brain – Northwest Noggin
LIVE INTERVIEW: Everyday Northwest on KOIN
October, 2022
This show is so much fun! We had a blast discussing Northwest Noggin and introducing our ten years of all-volunteer arts-infused neuroscience outreach with host and producer Ashley Howard.
Portland State University students Britta Harbury and Bradley Marxmiller also ACED an impromptu early morning brain quiz! Ashley asked them questions we hear A LOT during outreach visits to K-12 classrooms, houseless youth nonprofits, art museums, correctional facilities, Congress and pubs.
LEARN MORE: NW Noggin on Everyday Northwest!
LIVE DISCUSSION: @ This Moment
January, 2022
A conversation about how Portland State University faculty and students are working alongside community partners to bring neuroscience research and philosophy into K-12 schools.
LEARN MORE: Gray Matters @ This Moment @ PSU!
LIVE INTERVIEW: Austin Howard
January, 2022
ARTS – Live and Local!
March, 2021
LEARN MORE: ARTS – Live & Local for March 19, 2021
How easy is it to get a human skull?
PODCAST: Two Broke College Kids
January, 2021
Recorded pre-covid: PSU Neuroscience instructor Bill Griesar & Pacific Northwest Artist Jeff Leake are the masterminds behind the entirely volunteer driven K-12 outreach program called NWNoggin. By combining neuroscience and art they create newfound ways for kids to learn complex concepts in neuroscience through art. Make sure to check out all of the amazing work they are putting into communities in need (NWNoggin.org).
HEAR THE PODCAST: How easy is it to get a human skull?
OPB’s Think Out Loud: Combining Neuroscience & Art
March, 2019
Listen to “Combining Neuroscience And Art” on Spreaker.
Bill Griesar, who teaches psychology and neuroscience at Portland State University, teamed up with artist Jeff Leake to create a nonprofit called NW Noggin. Their goal is to engage kids through both art and science to help them learn about their how their brains work.
Community Neuroscience: How to Build an Outreach Organization
February, 2018
The latest episode of Community Neuroscience is out and all about how to build an outreach organization from the ground up. Neuroscientist Bill Griesar, Ph.D., and artist Jeff Leake, M.F.A., are faculty members of Portland State University’s Psychology department, and together they are the brains behind NW Noggin (Northwest Neuroscience Outreach Group: Growing in Networks).
LEARN MORE: What is NW Noggin?
LEARN MORE: Community Neuroscience: Interview with Dana!
Founded in 2012, the arts-influenced outreach group is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization with a mission to turn kids on to the wonders of neuroscience.
Bill and Jeff have since traveled all across the country to schools, displaced youth shelters, correctional facilities, and even the White House to promote learning about the brain…
LEARN MORE: Brains at the Obama White House!
LEARN MORE: Brief: Outreach Group Spreads Love of Science in the Nation’s Capital
LEARN MORE: Synapsing in San Diego @ SfN!
You can learn more about them and their work in a past Dana Blog interview.
Here We Are in our NW Noggins!
with Jeff Leake & Bill Griesar, Shane Mauss on Here We Are
September, 2017
Noggins + Networking
September, 2017
with Bill Griesar, Shane Mauss on Here We Are
Professor Bill Griesar from Psychology at Portland State University and Behavioral Neuroscience at OHSU specializes in public neuroscience education and outreach. Bill and Shane zoom out and offer up a collective Neuroscience 101 discussion.
Brain Awareness Week Partner Interview: NW Noggin
March, 2017
This is the third in a series of Brain Awareness Week (BAW) partner interviews, in which partners share their BAW experiences and tips for planning successful events. Bill Griesar, Ph.D., is a psychology and neuroscience professor at Portland State University (PSU), Washington State University (WSU) Vancouver, and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and is the neuroscience outreach coordinator for NW Noggin (Neuroscience Outreach Group Growing In Networks). Griesar works together with Jeff Leake, who also teaches at PSU and WSUV, and is NW Noggin’s art education coordinator.
NW Noggin was conceptualized in 2012 for a group of middle school students at a public school in Portland, Oregon. With support from organizations like the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) and the Association for Psychological Science, your group has now expanded to a nationwide focus. Can you talk about how you were able to expand so rapidly in such a short amount of time?
BG: Through the tireless enthusiasm of our graduate and undergraduate volunteers, who quickly discovered how much they enjoy sharing what they’re learning about the brain with young people and the public. It’s also the multi-disciplinary nature of the outreach, with young scientists and artists working together and discovering similarities in their process: the creative experimentation, the structure-function relationships, the fun, often the messiness, and certainly the need to communicate!
We also reached out. Jeff and I already taught at several universities and knew there was strength in partnerships and a multi-institutional approach. There’s a wealth of resources in the Pacific Northwest—and in many areas around the country—and our students were naturally interested in connecting with collaborators from other schools. Our undergraduates benefit from exposure to graduate students and learn about graduate school, as well as federally-funded research opportunities at their own university and elsewhere. Graduate students gain useful experience designing academic curricula, teaching and engaging students, and working directly with school professionals, undergraduates, and kids.
You also need to inspire people about how much fun, educational and rewarding community service can be! Jeff and I have small budgets, our visits are free for public schools and the community, and we’re both regularly volunteering in classrooms, museums, hospitals, homeless youth centers—even a Portland bike shop/pub—which makes these Noggin opportunities genuine and compelling.
READ MORE: Brain Awareness Week Partner Interview: NW Noggin
Understanding the Brain at Skyview High School
April, 2015