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
Voices of Two Worlds: Delving into Mandarin-English Bilingualism
NW Noggin wins RACC grant!
Potential (electric and more) @ P:ear
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
Jessica Patching-Bunch: Sparking curiosity!
By Jessica Patching-Bunch, Psychology @ Portland State University & NW Noggin Resource Council member for Communications What role has NW NOGGIN played in shaping my educational and career trajectory? The answer to this question has been harder for me to articulate than I would have thought because my involvement with NW…
Allie Clark: Overcoming the impostor @ SfN
By Allie Clark, Portland State University, Noggin Resource Council member for Instagram I wish I could say that my first few moments at the 2016 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience were bright and rosy, but I’m going to be honest: I walked in and got hit with the biggest…
Kim Engeln: Teaching thousands about the brain!
What has been your experience with NW Noggin? It has been difficult for me to begin writing this statement, because when I think about what my experience with NW Noggin has been like, I quickly become overwhelmed with emotion and don’t know how I can put it into words. But…
March for science with art & brains!
We gathered some cool, creative, collaborative and community-minded supporters of both science and art at our favorite bike shop pub this week, to build new brain cells in support of the upcoming March for Science on Earth Day, April 22! LEARN MORE: Science March PDX Twitter LEARN MORE: March for Science PDX Facebook LEARN…
Touched in the head
Touch is just one of Aristotle’s original “five senses,” but it involves much more than gentle pressure perceived when holding an apple, or tapping a screen. Our “somatosensation” (sensation from the body) encompasses many specific impressions – heat, cold, hair deflection, poke – each dependent on a specific neuronal “micro-machine.” It is also utterly…
Jacob Schoen: We ALL have BRAINS!
“A good place to start in neuroscience is learning the basics of what you have in your own head, then ask questions, and keep asking.” -Jacob Schoen, PSU/NW Noggin How have you connected personally with students through your volunteer work?” There was this one high schooler, we’ll call him Paul. He…
Joey Seuferling: Changing the world, one brain at a time
By Joey Seuferling, Resource Council Member for hospital/health care outreach It was a sunny day as I drove to the NW Noggin outreach opportunity of the week, with human brains riding along in the passenger seat of my car. Many Noggin events are early in the morning, but the feeling I have when…
Psychopathy & brains
What is a psychopath? What drives a Ted Bundy, or a Diane Downs, to be so cold blooded – and to lie, manipulate, and commit horrific crimes without experiencing remorse? Do the brains of psychopaths differ? Can we identify changes in specific brain regions that might predict or diagnose this condition? How should efforts to understand the biological basis…
Dopamine in Davenport!
What better way to spend Brain Awareness Week than by hitting the open road! We loaded up our cars with Noggin volunteers, pipe cleaners, dissection trays and extra human brains for a dramatic, stormy 700 mile roundtrip Pacific Northwest journey between Portland/Vancouver and Davenport, Washington..! “Brains in the trunk!” Exploring unfamiliar…
A BioGift of Brains
We love growing our Noggin networks – they let us offer student volunteers from multiple institutions extraordinary opportunities they might never get if they always sat in separate university classrooms and didn’t directly engage with all the remarkable people and organizations in their own communities! During a rainy start to Brain Awareness Week we…
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?.