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.
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NW Noggin: Art + Brains
My Pathway to Research
Psychedelics & Outreach
More Bonny Brains
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
A network grows in San Diego 🌴
NW Noggin organized outreach visits to two public elementary schools in sunny California earlier this fall… 🌴🌴 We were in San Diego to present our posters and discuss brain awareness with 30,000 brain researchers at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference… LEARN MORE: Art & Science @ SfN 2016 LEARN MORE: Cortical Connections in San…
Build your brain for finals!
Noggin is partnering with the WSU Vancouver library this week to offer pipe cleaners and instructions on building your own neurons! Relieve stress by twisting colorful wires into the brain cells you’re exercising while preparing for final exams… 🙂 “Christmas neuron” by Lilian Nguyen (WSU Vancouver) You’re welcome to hold on to…
The Art & Science of Stress @ Velo
“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” -Hans Selye “Inspired by the HPA axis,” by Kanani Miyamoto Final exams, politics, holidays, implicit and explicit bias – it’s no wonder people feel stressed these days. Yet stress can also be beneficial, and there are steps we can…
Noggin @ Velo Cult: Balance v. Stress!
Stressed out, burned out: Strategies to stay balanced from the studio and lab. Tamasen Hayward, a Neuroscience graduate researcher in the Coffin Lab at WSU Vancouver, gives you the inside scoop on stress, discusses when stress is good and when it’s too much, and suggests ways to manage stress based on proven…
Enter the Cerebral Wilderness @ Gallery 114 (12/1 & 12/10)
WHAT: Jeff Leake & Kindra Crick, “Cerebral Wilderness Artwork” WHERE: Gallery 114, 1100 NW Glisan, Portland, OR. 97209 WHEN: First Thursday, December 1, 6:00 – 9:00pm Artists Kindra Crick and Jeff Leake examine the impact of memory and place on one’s inner and outer identity. For over a year they have…
Nonprofit Noggins!
We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit! Northwest Noggin received federal 501(c)(3) status on November 15, 2016. Contributions – which let us purchase sheep brains, pipe cleaners, electrodes and modeling clay for outreach, plus send our graduate and undergraduate volunteers from Portland State University, Oregon Health & Sciences University and other area institutions to public schools,…
Bound in a Net of Memories
“My old addiction, changed the wiring in my brain…” – from “Chet Baker’s Unsung Swan Song,” by David Wilcox Compelling NW Noggin outreach by artist Kindra Crick and neuroscience postdoc Dr. John Harkness is featured in an article by Kindra in the November issue of Interalia Magazine, an online publication dedicated to the interactions between the arts, sciences and…
Art & Science @ SfN 2016
Our trip to the annual Society For Neuroscience conference in San Diego this year was really about the need for science outreach in public schools, and the effectiveness of arts integration as a vehicle for learning. We were fortunate this year to be offered a booth in the Art of…
Cortical Connections in San Diego Schools!
After three enjoyable days of poster presentations, nano-symposia, exhibitor swag and excellent conversations with fellow neuroscience educators and SfN staff about arts integration in STEM… And quite a lot of neuron selfies… 🙂 Bill Griesar, Jeff Leake, and their pipecleaner neurons represent at the #brainweek event. #nwnoggin #sfn16 pic.twitter.com/BkCKLUjZN1 —…
A “Battle Ground” – for brains!
On a day when the fate of evidence-based research investment appeared uncertain, we brought our engaged, curious, future oriented undergraduates to meet the energetic students at Battle Ground High… EXPLORE MORE: Science under President Trump (Nature) Julia Gruszceki, Joey Seuferling, Gianfranco DiCarlo, Sabrina Polehn, Valerie Teegardin, Zander Eisenhower, Maria Honsowetz, Chad Foster, Vicki Nganga and…
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?.