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
Imagination, Stories & Brains
Gray Matter Marching
Chronic Pain + Mary Jane
Join us in Chile in *2027*!
In 2027 we'll return to Valparaíso, Chile, home of the Humboldt squid! 🦑⚡️🧠🎨😃 Just like in 2025, and 2023, we'll explore how neurons carry information, and how research in Chile (involving the squid’s giant fused axons) informed 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 with Ciencia al Tiro, a local STEAM (STEM + Arts) outreach nonprofit.
LEARN MORE: LAS NEURONAS SON BACANES. LEARN MORE: Valparaiso - Arte y Cerebros en Chile LEARN MORE: ARTS AND BRAINS IN CHILE
A less self-centered and more creative life
“The mystical experience is doubly valuable; it is valuable because it gives the experiencer a better understanding of (themselves) and the world and because it may help (them) to lead a less self-centered and more creative life.” — Aldous Huxley Twenty seven (!) informed undergraduates from Portland State University and…
Treating the whole person
“No one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness.” ― Elyn R. Saks Once again thanks to the generosity of the OHSU Brain Institute (OBI),…
Noggins & Kings
Going places, going places – putting yourself out there, listening, and sharing sciart and noggins brings so many benefits, opportunities, relationships and ideas..! Last fall we traveled to San Diego for the annual Society for Neuroscience conference… LEARN MORE: Synapsing in San Diego @ SfN! We presented many posters, mentored exceptional young neuroscientists,…
Brains to the Streets!
“Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity. Science is…delving in.” –Sally Ride We LOVED taking brains to the streets in 2017, after the Trump/Pence administration threatened to cut support for the National Institutes for Health. The NIH funds essential scientific research to address a host of national priorities, including…
Everything in its place
We are so excited, on the eve of our mini-March for Science, to receive a new book by Oliver Sacks, the celebrated neurologist who informed and delighted readers with his absorbing volumes of engrossing neurological tales… LEARN MORE: Oliver Sacks Everything in Its Place We are inspired by his warmth and…
Power to Choose: Mindfulness & Addiction
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” –Victor E. Frankl Spring is here! And spring in Portland means fascinating talks by leading neuroscientists – and, of course, brains, art and questions at the Newmark Theater, where Dr. Katie Witkiewitz…
Thankful for brains
“We are more than thankful for your time and for the amazing experiences you awarded our school! The kids and staff cannot thank you enough! On the way to the buses yesterday, the kids couldn’t stop sharing all the cool things they got to do with NW Noggin today at…
Brains & Sex @ SfN
“Understand that sexuality is as wide as the sea. Understand that your morality is not law. Understand that we are you.” — Derek Jarman In this post, you will find… Sex: topical and controversial Rams who like rams Women live longer than men Are men and women the same or different?…
“PLEASE COME BACK!”
We love visiting Anatomy and Physiology teacher Susie Ridgeway and her curious students at Henrietta Lacks (“HeLa”) High School in in Evergreen Public Schools near PeaceHealth hospital in the suburbs of Vancouver. We’ve been dropping by with brains, art and our Noggin volunteers for the last FIVE years..! LEARN MORE: Hallucinations @ HeLa High…
Brains to Buckman!
We are in awe of our volunteers! EIGHTEEN undergraduates (!) traveled to Buckman Elementary this week to talk research, hold brains and make neuro-art with kids and families at STEAM Night! STEAM Night at Buckman, an arts-focused Portland Public School, was organized by Becca Beckman of Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN),…
What is outreach like?
“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 Northwest Noggin undergraduate and graduate outreach volunteers are enthusiastic and informed, and regularly let knowledge serve by going places, making art, exploring brain research, sharing stories and listening to community questions and interests in urban and rural K-12 public schools, coffee shops, museums, correctional facilities, houseless youth nonprofits, research conferences, Congress and more! LEARN MORE @ What is outreach like?.