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
Video games don’t cause violence
The Magic of Music
Roots in Research
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
ALL BRAINS ON DECK!
Post by Kadi Rae Smith, President of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Association (INA) at Portland State University (PSU), and Conner Corbett, PSU graduate and Senior Clinical Research Assistant at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Discover Kadi Rae’s “neuron hat” art project here: Neuron Hats! This year, the INA at PSU…
Collaborating Noggins
Post by Sam Mutschler-Aldine, an undergraduate studying Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. This is not an exaggeration: I have been playing music since before I could walk. My parents brought my sister and I over as infants to our neighbors’ house to play on their set of…
To Bounce Or Not To Bounce
Post by Sydney Watson, senior undergraduate at Portland State University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Public Health, with a minor in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience. This winter I participated in outreach at both Portland and Vancouver area public schools. I’d known about NW Noggin for as long as I’ve worked on my…
Obsession and the Brain
Post by Allan Gaither, an undergraduate working on his Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at the Honors College of Portland State University. While traveling school to school with NW Noggin I’ve engaged with students in a number of amazing ways, from handling brains with them…
Music is My Copium
A post by Emmali Luangrath, an undergraduate majoring in Psychology while pursuing a minor in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. Do you feel heard? Why is it that whenever we listen to our favorite songs or genre of music we feel the most “heard?” How does music call up…
Is There Room Enough?
Post by Willow Coughlan, a Portland State University senior working toward a BA in Psychology and an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor. Willow joined several NW Noggin events with students of a variety of ages and backgrounds during Winter 2025. Throughout this winter I have traveled with NW Noggin to public schools…
There’s a tail in your brain!
Post by Omri Jones. Omri is an undergraduate finishing his Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with a minor in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. During these past couple months, I have felt lucky to have the opportunity to participate in neuroscience outreach visits to public K-12 schools. During these…
Noggins in Gaza
We were hugely heartened by the opportunity to join the volunteer NeuroChem Lab and meet with 20+ awesome young students from the British International School in Gaza (BIS Gaza). It’s horrifying and heartbreaking to witness the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people by the government of Israel, aided, abetted and funded…
Glial retrograde signaling in class
Post by Natalie Robison, Portland State University alumna, Northwest Noggin outreach participant and current research assistant at the University of Washington. When I was in the sixth grade my class took a field trip to downtown Portland to ride the tram that connected the hilltop and riverside buildings of Oregon…
Are grownups more boring?
Post by Yasaman Farhand, a graduate in Science and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience from Portland State University. Yasaman has contributed to multiple outreach visits to K-12 public classrooms and at the annual NogginFest through nwnoggin.org. She is the mother of a 3rd grader in Tigard-Tualatin Public Schools in Tigard, Oregon. It was an honor to host the NW Noggin outreach group…
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?.