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.
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LEARN MORE: Community Neuroscience: How to Build an Outreach Organization
NW Noggin: Art + Brains
Noggin Fest 2017!
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 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
Thalamic Thunder @ OMSI
Our subcortical sensory nuclei were nearly overwhelmed by masses of eager children, parents, grandparents and members of the public curious about neurons at the annual OHSU Brain Fair! Held at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI), this exceptionally popular event brings together scientists, medical professionals and educators, and is the largest…
Spies, Scouts & Scribes at Bonny Slope
All images and 4K video by Alex Voigt… Our third and final day at Bonny Slope Elementary, this time with well over 200 2nd and 3rd graders! In the service of equity, our Spy, Scout, Scribe, Guard, Councilor and Wise Leader have introduced brains and art projects to every student in the school… Our…
More Bonny Brains
Another day at Bonny Slope Elementary, this time with 200 4th and 5th grade students eager to learn about their Wise Leader (frontal lobe cortex), and their Spy (occipital lobe), Scout (temporal lobe), Councilor of Spatial Awareness (parietal lobe), Scribe (their hippocampus, in their medial temporal lobe), and Guard (that threat-sensitive,…
Pot Therapy
Tonight Noggin offered visitors to the Newmark Theater a generous spread of colorful neurons, real brains, cannabis strain guides, and even home-baked brownies (the regular kind, thanks to Brianna Jacobs and Tara Leake)..! This was the most popular, practically sold out lecture of Brain Awareness Season, and folks arrived early to admire Noggin neurons,…
The Land of Cerebrum
All images and video by Alex Voigt… Five exceptionally creative Noggin participants debuted a play at Bonny Slope Elementary School, for kindergartners and first graders eager to learn about the various parts of their brains..! Erin McConnell, Jacob Schoen, Penny Allen and Brianna Jacobs from Portland State University, and Matty McCasland from…
Neuro Crossfit @ the Newmark
Thanks to Kate Stout of the OHSU Brain Institute, NW Noggin had plenty of space on Monday night, for brains, games, and our eager volunteers from Portland State University, and WSUV… We were there to learn about how video games might improve cognitive performance, from Adam Gazzaley, a professor of Neurology, Physiology and…
Synaptic Pruning @ Skyridge
We returned to Skyridge Middle School last Friday, this time for Raeleen Gilman’s classes. Courtney Miskell, Joseph Seuferling, Nathan Allen, Rosie Salice from Washington State University Vancouver, and Ellena Rosenthal from Portland State University joined us for a day of conversation about brains and behavior with four well informed groups of…
Brain Drama @ Bonny Slope!
NW Noggin is excited to have arranged stipends from Bonny Slope Elementary in Beaverton Public Schools, for five experienced outreach experts to present three days of brains, art and theater to about 600 K-5 students! WE DID IT! The Land of Cerebrum Erin McConnell, Brianna Jacobs, Jacon Schoen and Penny…
Comedy, Communication, Community – and TBI
PSU speech-language pathology graduate student Lauren Ficker and media artist Cheryl Green take you on a multi-media tour of the brain and examine ways the community can better support peers with traumatic brain injury… WHAT: Traumatic Brain Injury: Comedy, Communication, Community WHO: Lauren Ficker (PSU) and Cheryl Green (http://whoamitostopit.com) WHEN:…
What’s a “drink..?” At the Newmark for beer & brains
The OHSU Brain Institute kicked off their 16th annual Brain Awareness Season with a lecture by neuroscientist Kathy Grant on alcohol and the brain. NW Noggin volunteers, many from the active Neuroscience Club at PSU, were eager to help explain the actions and effects of this popular drug… Upcoming OHSU lectures promise to…
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?.