The Northwest Neuroscience Outreach Group: Growing in Networks (nwnoggin.org) is a collaborative all volunteer educational effort to enthuse and engage academic priority students and the general public in the study and practice of neuroscience and art.
Northwest Noggin received federal 501(c)(3) status on November 15, 2016. We have no paid staff (no paid anyone!), so your contributions let us purchase sheep brains, pipe cleaners, electrodes and clay for outreach, plus send our graduate and undergraduate volunteers from Portland State University, Oregon Health & Sciences University and other area institutions to multiple public schools, conferences and community events to effectively and innovatively communicate science.
We also welcome, value and depend on the significant contributions and volunteer efforts of dedicated individuals from academic institutions, arts organizations, professional associations, public school systems, and our vibrant Northwest community.
These partners have gone the extra mile (or kilometer!) to make art and science teaching and enrichment opportunities a reality in the Portland/Vancouver areaand beyond!
We take the motto of this diverse urban campus, Oregon’s second largest public university, to heart! PSU’s undergraduates and graduates are among the most committed, fervent, passionate supporters of arts-integrated neuroscience outreach, mentoring and education through NW Noggin.
The OHSU Brain Institute brings internationally recognized neuroscience researchers to Portland’s Newmark Theater every spring. We are grateful to OBI for inviting our undergraduate and graduate NW Noggin volunteers to hear these speakers, and present brains and art in the Newmark lobby!
“We focus on one central mission: to increase visible diversity within the Graduate Studies programs at Oregon Health and Science University by recruiting, retaining, and most importantly, supporting graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, staff, and faculty members from underrepresented backgrounds.”
An exceptional contributor to neuroscience research and education in the Northwest. We always look forward to introducing K-12 students and undergraduates to Kayla McDaniel, their welcoming Education Outreach Specialist, who provides insightful tours and arranges panels of experts to answer student questions.
The Portland Alcohol Research Center investigates genes that enhance risk of or convey protection against alcohol use problems. The Center’s goal is to help find new therapies to improve treatment and prevention.
Mark Rutledge-Gorman was a tireless supporter of STEAM education work in the community, and a tremendous friend of NW Noggin! Dr. Suzanne Mitchell also worked with NW Noggin at PARC. Under Dr. Mitchell, PARC routinely reported our extensive outreach numbers as if they were their own in exchange for some limited art supplies and minimal support for travel. We miss you Mark!
We are thankful to Mark, Suzanne and PARC for providing some of our pipe cleaners, nitrile gloves, paper, electrodes, sheep brains and clay for innovative outreach on the brain and behavior!
NW Noggin is a nonprofit partner of the American Brain Coalition, an organization comprised of leading professional neurological, psychological, and psychiatric associations and patient groups, and an exceptional collaborator in both our 2017 and 2016 outreach efforts in Washington DC!
In 2023 we’ll return to Washington, along with ABC, for a collaborative Congressional briefing to the House Neuroscience and STEAM caucuses along with our sponsors, the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Dana Foundation!
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is the world’s largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 38,000 members in more than 90 countries and over 130 chapters worldwide.
Noggin regularly presents posters at the annual meeting, and in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 SfN awarded complimentary conference attendance for our undergraduate volunteers! In 2017 we presented at the conference, in DC area public schools, and to the Neuroscience and STEAM caucuses in the U.S. House of Representatives!
In 2019 we brought real (extra!) human brains and art projects to the Society for Neuroscience Brain Awareness Campaign Event – the first time this happened in the 50 year history of SfN!
We returned to an in person San Diego conference in 2022, driving over 2000 miles to present posters, visit public schools, and even introduce brains and art to the general public at the Brain Observatory!
A fantastic foundation supporting programs that inspire creativity, connect people with each other and their sense of place, and ensure sustainability for the long-term economic success of Oregon’s rural communities. We are thrilled and honored that Roundhouse backed our innovative interdisciplinary neuroscience outreach in Siletz, the North Coast and their home base of Sisters!
The Dana Foundation started the annual Brain Awareness Week, and is a leading philanthropic organization that promotes neuroscience research through grants, publications, and educational programs.
Neurochem Lab is an educational platform designed to simplify neuroscience for elementary and middle school students through fictional world-building and gamification. Set in a marine-themed environment featuring characters like Happy the Seahorse, students become part of an engaging story. The platform offers interactive activities to help students to get to know their brains, understand the science behind emotions, make healthier lifestyle choices, and develop science literacy about their bodies.
Neurochem Lab was developed by Abdulrahman Abou Dahesh, a Fulbright Scholar and Neuroscience Graduate Student at the University of Texas At Dallas.
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) receives funding from a variety of public and private partners to serve artists, arts organizations, schools and residents throughout Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. Noggin was awarded a RACC grant in 2014.
NW Noggin was also recognized with a 2018 RACC “Juice” award for “out of the ordinary” community engagement – “for giving children a unique opportunity to learn about neuroscience and the brain using nontraditional, artistic methods that make the information more accessible and impactful!”
Northwest Noggin volunteers LOVE collaborating with this critical community center for services and support for homeless youth. P:ear provides meals and a warm, welcoming, arts-filled educational space in downtown Portland, Oregon, filled with caring staff and volunteers for young people, many of whom lack access to safe housing.
We were deeply honored to welcome Will Kendall, the former Art Director at p:ear who founded the nonprofit Artist Mentorship Program (AMP) to NogginFest in 2022! AMP provides a creative space for homeless youth to build healthy relationship-centered communities through music and art.
The Latino Network is a Latino-led education organization, grounded in culturally-specific practices and services, that lifts up youth and families to reach their full potential.
NW Noggin is thrilled to partner with this effective nonprofit community organization which shares our interests in improving community livability, fostering civic participation, and preparing young people for educational and life success. We are also committed to translating posts into Spanish.
Kúkátónón’s mission is to inspire confidence, commitment and vitality among the children in the dance troupe, their families and communities; and to broaden awareness of African and African American cultural traditions throughout Oregon. We love Executive Director Krystal Ngene and Operations Manager Danielle Ali-Cassim! NW Noggin is honored to work with this high energy partner on Velo Cult presentations, and other efforts to connect important community traditions with STEM.
The museum, the 7th oldest in the United States, is another welcome partner in furthering education about both brain science and art.
Noggin collaborated with PAM on the popular “Seeing Nature” exhibit (we contributed panels with text for a “Nature of Seeing” gallery which accompanied this striking collection of landscape paintings from the Paul G. Allen Collection), and PAM was also a co-sponsor of our Brain + Art briefings for the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2016 and 2017.
Noggin co-founders Jeff Leake and Bill Griesar have both served on the museum’s Teacher Advisory Council. Noggin presented a workshop on neural networks at their free community “Evening for Educators” event in February, 2023.
The Hope Partnership is a collaboration between the Oregon Youth Authority and Janus Youth Programs. Hope provides classes and community networking opportunities for young people to help build self-confidence and the skills needed to transform their lives.
Hope has arranged for multiple artists, musicians, activists, tradespeople – and neuroscience outreach volunteers – to visit with, listen to, and enrich the experiences of incarcerated youth at the MacLarenYouth Correctional Facility.
Northwest Noggin has collaborated on outreach in rural Oregon with AHECS, including the Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center (NEOAHEC) and the Oregon Pacific Area Health Education Center (OPAHEC) to bring outreach volunteers, brains and art to K-12 students in La Grande and Siletz, Amity and Willamina, Oregon public schools!
The federal TRIO Programs reach out and support individuals not currently overrepresented in higher education. NW Noggin is honored to collaborate with TRIO in Clatsop and Multnomah counties, Oregon and offer arts-integrated neuroscience outreach in Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside and Portland Public Schools! we’ve also run interdisciplinary neuroscience workshops at TRIO conferences in both Washington and Oregon.
We remain awestruck by these experiences, which made us more effective educators, and are grateful for the generosity of those who donate their bodies to clinical and basic research, education and outreach.
Kings College London is a leader in arts-integrated STEM outreach, recently launching a new initiative called the Health, Arts and Biosciences Lab (HAB Lab) which “aims to bring artists, students and scientists together to explore the entitled themes in a new space at our London Bridge based campus.”
Brains on the floor: According to Leigh and Richard, “…we tried your giant brain map at our workshop!” LEARN MORE: NW Noggin Brain Map
Painted neurons: the #SfNRocks art activity developed by Leigh and Richard
We love connecting and sharing outreach ideas with Leigh Wilson and Richard Wingate, both developmental neuroscientists at KCL. Richard is also the editor-in-chief of BrainFacts.org.
In 2022 Bill Griesar and Jeff Leake introduced Northwest Noggin in the extraordinary lecture pit in the Gordon Museum of Pathology at Kings College London!
NW Noggin is honored to bring the high school students we volunteer with to Providence St. Vincent Hospital, to view live brain surgeries and learn directly from health care providers about their careers!
Neurosurgeon Dr. Vivek Deshmukh describing an aneurysm procedure.
Providence BRAIN WATCH is an extraordinary, innovative outreach program which “connects career seekers of all ages to health care careers through experiential learning,” and “encourages career seekers to explore the many career opportunities that exist within health care. Not only does this help them make better-informed career decisions, but it often motivates and inspires them on their own career pathway.”
SUN stands for Schools Uniting Neighborhoods. The SUN Service System helps our youth have the opportunity to develop intellectually, socially and emotionally. Like three strands of a rope, these intertwined capacities strengthen later functioning into adulthood.
From their website: “At the Allen Institute we’re researching the brain, cells, and immune system to unlock treatments and cures and expand our understanding of human health.” We’re thrilled and excited for their co-sponsorship of our NW Noggin briefing to the House Neuroscience and STEAM caucuses in the U.S. House of Representatives in fall, 2023.
Caldera is a catalyst for the transformation of underserved youth through innovative, year-round art and environmental programs. Caldera serves Oregon youth from both urban and rural communities with limited access to educational and economic resource opportunities. Our programs nurture individual creativity to ignite self-expression and transform the way young people engage in their lives, families, and communities. Jeff Leake of NW Noggin has run brain-related arts programs at their central Oregon campus, and at nearby Redmond Public Schools.
Extraordinary Pacific Northwest brewery, renowned for Stout Month and rich, flavorful beer. NW Noggin has brought brains and art to this Astoria, Oregon landmark at the mouth of the Columbia River, to talk about the neuroscience of alcohol.
Another Portland-based whole body donation and surgical education center. We thank them for their embrace of arts-integrated neuroscience outreach – and for brains! Learn more about their work and support for community engagement here: Memories @ MedCure
Make+Think+Code – under its original Founder and former Executive Director Nandini Ranganathan – was a technology-focused lab at the Pacific Northwest College of Art that brought together members of Portland’s creative, tech, civic, and educational communities to explore the powerful role that creativity and technology play in the search for imaginative, impactful solutions to complex, urgent problems.
NW Noggin was excited to partner with this vibrant program, and appreciated access to their extraordinary facilities and a shared eagerness to innovate and engage with our community, and our world. We’re keeping in touch with Nandini, who is busy developing MTC 2.0!
YES! Youth Engaged in Science is an outreach program started by the Fair Neuroimaging Lab (now at the University of Minnesota) aimed at exposing underrepresented students to science, research & STEM-related careers. YES! aims to get kids excited about science, and educate families about mental health and the importance of community participation in biomedical research, with the hopes of increasing enrollment of underrepresented populations in clinical studies.
Noggin has partnered with YES!, bringing K-8 students from Portland and Vancouver public schools into OHSU imaging labs, and graduate students and post-docs from OHSU into public classrooms.
Rewire Neuroscience is a Portland startup founded by a former Noggin volunteer and Brain Board member that strives to improve the speed, accuracy, and reproducibility of biomedical research using artificial intelligence. They offer an array of lab equipment, ranging from behavioral testing equipment to remote freezer monitoring. Rewire Neuroscience is dedicated to empowering the future of neuroscience by supporting the next generation of scientists with affordable, cutting-edge technologies.
WSU Vancouver is the regional branch campus of Washington State University, home to a Department of Neuroscience. Their graduate and undergraduate students are terrific, and are often thrilled to leave their sheltered, administration heavy suburban environs to join NW Noggin for innovative engagement in diverse communities. A few faculty claim to “#scitalk” (mostly to each other, at overpriced conferences), but students are eager to #scicomm (joyously!) in real world settings through actual off-campus visits.
WSU students are excited to engage in innovative community outreach.
“I tell my students, ‘…just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” –#ToniMorrison
Ugh – here it was all about grabbing the candySooooo happy to be free
Appallingly, WSU’s “Center for Community Engagement” once offered a “community service award” for a student who completed court-mandated community service for robbery and assault. More details below.
We miss you 
Sooooo happy to be free