Where is NW Noggin?
Our innovative graduate and undergraduate art and neuroscience volunteers are Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) Juice award-winning developing experts in science communication, synapsing for science, and teaching in schools, theaters, museums, urban and rural communities, homeless youth centers, breweries, correctional facilities, Congress and bike shop pubs! For more information see NOGGIN BLOGGIN.NW Noggin is a locally sourced, 501(c)(3) ALL-VOLUNTEER shoestring nonprofit organization. Your tax-deductible contribution supports the purchase of sheep brains, pipe cleaners, electrodes and clay for innovative, arts-integrated outreach, and helps send volunteers from local universities (including Portland State University, OHSU, and other area institutions) to public school classrooms, conferences and free community events.
DONATE HERE!
LEARN MORE: Community Neuroscience: How to Build an Outreach Organization
NW Noggin: Art + Brains
Noggin Brings Brains, Volunteers, Coffee and Pizza to Brain Fair 2024
Without my amygdala, would I get scared?
Join us in Chile in 2025!
Please join us SUMMER 2025 in Valparaíso, Chile - the home of the Humboldt squid! 🦑⚡️🧠🎨😃 We'll explore how neurons carry information, and how research in Chile (involving the squid’s giant fused axons) led to our understanding of the electrical signaling that links our experiences to the world. We’ll visit laboratories to examine the rich history and exciting present of research at the Universidad de Chile en Valparaíso, make art (including arpilleras, woven depictions of experience that help people express challenging memories and preserve them for accountability), and contribute to community engagement through Ciencia al Tiro, a local STEAM (STEM + Arts) outreach nonprofit. We may even create a public mural celebrating famed neurology patient Phineas Gage, who lived for several years after his infamous accident - and drove a stagecoach - in the city of Valpo!
LEARN MORE: LAS NEURONAS SON BACANES.
Silence and Sagebrush @ Montello
In addition to outreach I’m also a practicing artist. Over the past few years one of the things that has become increasingly vital to my practice are artist residencies. This last September I was invited to spend two weeks out in the Nevada desert making art in a cabin that…
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…
Viking, Shark, Fishermen & Bandit Brains!
“Amazing the things you find when you bother to search for them.” ― Sacagawea We’re approaching a full decade of volunteer outreach amidst a landscape of extensive public “STEM Hub” investments, well-funded institutional outreach positions, paywalled conferences and museum exhibitions aimed at communicating science. But we’re pretty excited about the…
Faces at p:ear!
We kicked off fall term with a return to p:ear, a remarkable Portland nonprofit aimed at building positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth through education, art and recreation. NW Noggin has collaborated with p:ear for SEVEN years (!), and we were honored to serve as their Community Partner of…
Gresham Cool
Last week’s brain-baking temperatures gave way to a more traditional Oregon summer day – a few clouds, “sunbreaks” and some welcome morning cool. Our use of fossil fuels changes climate, and the data could not be more clear. Thankfully the latest IPCC report also identified steps we can take, crucial…
Hillsboro Heat
As temps soared to triple digits in our formerly mild Pacific Northwest, a network of undergraduates, graduate students, neuroscientists and artists arrived in Hillsboro, Oregon to talk brains and make art. LEARN MORE: The Pacific Northwest Is Getting Hit By Another Heat Wave LEARN MORE: Climate change widespread, rapid, and…
Cross-Country Noggins!
What a year! We pioneered both online and hybrid outreach models, traveled the globe (virtually!) with our noteworthy noggins and cerebral art, taught close to 1000 engaged and accomplished undergraduates and helped launch a brand new Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University! LEARN MORE: STEAM Ahead: A new interdisciplinary…
STEAM Ahead: A new interdisciplinary neuroscience minor at Portland State!
By Alisha Steigerwald, 2020-21 Neuroscience Club President, Portland State University One thing is certain – neuroscience rocks! That is definitely how students at Portland State University feel. LEARN MORE: Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Minor at Portland State University PSU students have a long-standing passion for brains and have sought many opportunities to enrich…
Hosford, Hippocampi & Hope
“I dwell in possibility.” – Emily Dickinson We remember this! It’s been over a year since we evacuated campus, struggled with ring lights and camera cords and converted all our live, in person interdisciplinary neuroscience courses to an online format. Only days before closure, we were holding noggins in crowded…
Clatsop Community Cortex
“A little flower that blooms in May. A lovely sunset at the end of a day. Someone helping a stranger along the way. That’s heaven to me.” –Sam Cooke Our noggins contain multitudes Each of us is made of billions of cells which reach out and join with others. These…
Synapsing in San Diego
“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.” ―Maya Angelou.
Our AMAZING volunteers organized the largest all ages Art & Neuroscience Festival in the Pacific Northwest! We offered live bands, science-inspired art, neuroscience research presentations, and the chance to ask questions and examine real brains! The fifth annual Noggin Fest helped send more young scientists and artists to the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego - and into San Diego Unified Public Schools! LEARN MORE @ Brains Beyond SfN!.