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
Are grownups more boring?
Brains, Art & Inquiry @ Hosford
Serving 700 students at SfN!
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
Meninges over Minter Bridge!
Post by Jessica Patching-Bunch, Noggin Resource Council member NW Noggin volunteers were invited to Minter Bridge Elementary School in Hillsboro on a crisp December morning, ready to take on an energetic class of SIXTY 4th graders followed by another thirty eager 5th graders! We were welcomed by Mrs. Murphy, a 4th…
Why Art? Noggins go to Washington
Why art? We often hear this question when we go to conferences, talk with school and university administrators, and even while presenting in Congress. For the students we work with in the classroom however, and for many other teachers who work directly with kids, this approach seems very natural. This…
The humanity of science
Post by Sulema Rodriguez, Noggin Resource Council member for NIH BUILD EXITO “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” – Martin Luther King Jr, at the Washington D.C Memorial Between ivory buildings and neurons, it was surreal being surrounded by…
Noggin has the Juice!
NW Noggin is thrilled and honored to receive an award at the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) Juice breakfast ceremony on Thursday, March 1, 2018! LEARN MORE: RACC Announces the 2018 Juice Honorees Check out details from the March 1 RACC breakfast ceremony at this link!! Ten Ways to Support the Arts Juice…
Synapses, Stories & Song: Coyote, Grizzly & their Brains!
We did it!! See a full summary at the link… Until the story takes shape LEARN MORE: Synapses, Stories & Song! October 8 – October 11 In the Spirit of Learning Joanne Trzcinski on Synapses, Stories & Song! NW Noggin is thrilled and honored to receive a grant from the…
Jobe Ritchie: I witnessed genuine engagement…
Post by Jobe Ritchie, Noggin volunteer from Portland State University “The scholar struggles for the benefit of all humanity, sometimes to reduce physical effort, sometimes to reduce pain, and sometimes to postpone death, or at least render it more bearable.” -Santiago Ramón y Cajal For better or worse, we are all…
Joey Seuferling: Institutions must advance…
Post by Joey Seuferling, Noggin Resource Council member for healthcare and hospitals First, I would like to gratefully thank my sponsor who charitably donated to NW Noggin so that I might join the Washington D.C. trip! (My alma mater had promised support for students in outreach, but in the end…
Andrea Anaya: With each twist of a pipe cleaner…
Post by Andrea Anaya, Noggin volunteer, Portland State University Neuroscience Club Treasurer Speaking to the Neuroscience and STEAM caucuses in the U.S. House of Representatives, volunteering at Sidwell and Turner Elementary in D.C., and presenting a poster at the Society for Neuroscience conference opened doors for further connection between scholars and…
Brains, biofeedback & SLEEP @ Fort Vancouver!
Fort Vancouver High School, the diverse “Home of the Trappers,” is also home to some excellent science teachers, including Coreyanne Russell, Angela Fojtik, Andrew Wicklas, James Cederstrom and Ahran Jang. We’ve hosted their students at a Providence Brain Watch surgery, and their pipe cleaner neurons even hung at the Portland Art…
Feeling stressed?
And who isn’t? Just look at current events… Republicans in Congress (even supposed “moderates”) took a major step this week towards raising taxes on graduate students while showering wealthy individuals and corporations with massive financial windfalls. Sexual assault by those in positions of authority, environmental degradation, oil drilling in the Arctic National…
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?.