Where is NW Noggin?
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!
NW Noggin: Art + Brains
A Tale (Tail?) of Two Neurons
Hands on Brains!
“PLEASE COME BACK!”
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 brain research, make art (including arpilleras, woven depictions of events 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: Arte y Cerebros en Chile LEARN MORE: ARTS & BRAINS IN CHILE
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),…
Brains, Art & Inquiry @ Hosford
Guest post by Marc Thompson, a recent graduate of Chaminade University with a BS in Psychology. Marc joined us recently for NW Noggin outreach visits to Hosford Middle School in Portland Public Schools, and to HeLa High School in Vancouver, WA… As a new graduate student in Psychology, joining NW Noggin…
An axe to the head
“I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair.” ~Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Noggin @ The Mac, McLoughlin Middle School, Vancouver WA At NW Noggin, we don’t focus our science communication efforts on…
Bringing BRAINS to Brain Fair :)
“It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.” –Michel de Montaigne And there were so many others! We enthusiastically returned to one of the nation’s largest Brain Fairs at Portland’s Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) to continue our robust volunteer efforts at expanding brain awareness! Phineas…
Listening to testimony @ p:ear
“If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected – those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most! – and listens to their…
Brain Hacking is Electric!
Post by Aaron Eisen, PSU Neuroscience Club (and Bill Griesar) How does our brain communicate with the 650+ muscles in our body, and allow us to move? What drives our ability to walk around, grasp items and direct our physical, muscular engagement with our environment? By understanding and harnessing these…
How can you change your brain?
We get AMAZING questions from the K-12 students we visit – questions that might stump some of the foremost experts in neuroscience! “Why do headaches hurt?” “What happens when two emotions go against each other?” “Why do you remember some dreams and not others?” “How does the brain know what we are going…
Brain Awareness Week!
“To be creative means to connect” –Nawal El Saadawi NW Noggin is honored to be a Brain Awareness Week partner of the Dana Foundation, a leading philanthropic organization that supports neuroscience research through grants, publications, and educational programs. We share their enthusiasm for genuine community outreach, and their commitment to educating everyone about the potential of…
Gray Matter in Grants Pass!
Post by Michael Endicott, Art Teacher, North Middle School, Grants Pass, OR NW Noggin recently trekked along a few snowy, icy roads to the beautiful southern Oregon community of Grants Pass (“It’s the Climate“). We were guests of North Middle School Art Teacher Michael Endicott and his wife Jill, who…
Putting brains back in biology @ HS2
Post by Jacob Schoen of OHSU, Madison Cho-Richmond from PSU Psychology, and Bill Griesar of PSU/OHSU/NW Noggin In February, NW Noggin volunteers joined the Middle School Science Club meeting at the Health and Science School (HS2) in Beaverton, Oregon. The club was just finishing up an afterschool snack when a horde…
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?.