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
Noggin heading to NIH!
BRAIN Initiative Career Award to Support Diverse Postdocs
Synaptic Shocks @ P:ear! ⚡️
Join us in Chile in 2025!
Please join us SUMMER 2025 in Valparaíso, Chile - the home of the Humboldt squid! 🦑⚡️🧠🎨😃 We'll explore how neurons carry information, and how research in Chile (involving the squid’s giant fused axons) led to 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 through Ciencia al Tiro, a local STEAM (STEM + Arts) outreach nonprofit. We may even create a public mural celebrating famed neurology patient Phineas Gage, who lived for several years after his infamous accident - and drove a stagecoach - in the city of Valpo!
LEARN MORE: LAS NEURONAS SON BACANES. APPLY HERE (PSU): Valparaiso - Arte y Cerebros en Chile APPLY HERE (NON-PSU): ARTS AND BRAINS IN CHILE
My Journey to Research
Post by Jonathan Palacios, undergraduate in Psychology pursuing an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University. Jonathan is a BUILD EXITO and U-RISE scholar working in Dr. Angela Ozburn’s substance use disorder research lab at OHSU. Discovering Science Being born in a small country was a factor that defined my…
A neurosymphony of skills!
Post by Allonté Barakat, an undergraduate Liberal Studies major minoring in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. Allonté is a computer scientist, voice actor and veteran of the tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) scene, with first-hand knowledge of the power of discovering your voice and the effect that voice can…
Dreaming of Better Sleep for Children with Down Syndrome
Post by Citlaly Vazquez, undergraduate majoring in Public Health Clinical Science and minoring in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. How did I get here? I am a senior majoring in Public Health Clinical Science and minoring in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. I am…
Is memory physical?
We love visiting 6th graders at Portland’s Hosford Middle School, and have done so now for multiple years! Returning again and again, with new students, new volunteers, different weather, different brain specimens and newly crafted pipe cleaner neurons and glia, in pre-pandemic, raging-pandemic and current pandemic conditions – has deepened…
We are all neural networks
Northwest Noggin was thrilled to receive an invitation from the Portland Art Museum, the seventh oldest museum in the United States, to present a workshop on neural networks at their free community “Evening for Educators” event in February, 2023. LEARN MORE: Evening for Educators: Hito Steyerl: This is the Future…
Your Inner Worm Bin
Post by Kristin Preston, Northwest Noggin outreach participant and undergraduate in Psychology pursuing an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University. “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food.”“All disease begins in the gut.” — Hippocrates As we move away from the darker, colder winter season, and into longer days of sunshine and…
Learning through mistakes!
We love Sunnyside Environmental School in gorgeous, inner Southeast Portland, Oregon! We’ve been visiting Jeremy Thomas and Asa Gervich’s 4th grade classes there for several years. LEARN MORE: How to visit public schools LEARN MORE: Thank You Northwest Noggin! LEARN MORE: A crayon in Homer’s brain LEARN MORE: What about…
How many neurons in a dinosaur brain?
This week our intrepid Northwest Noggin volunteers crossed the mighty Columbia River for an energetic day at Sacajawea Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington to meet with over 400 curious 1st through 5th graders and consider their questions, share research and insights about noggins, craft new neurons and even touch a…
Snapshots of Schizophrenia
A collaborative public presentation and post by Cassie Ferguson and Michelle Kielhold. Collaborative art and neuroscience talks are back! Honey Latte Cafe! Honey Latte Cafe, 1033 SE Main St, Portland, OR 97214 LEARN MORE: NOGGIN TALKS: Free Art & Science In December 2022 we gathered at Honey Latte Cafe in Portland, Oregon…
Hey Vancouver: Let Kids Sleep!
Early start times for school: the crumbling (but fixable!) foundation of adolescent mental health. Post by Marc Chenard, University Honors College undergraduate in Biology pursuing a minor in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. NOTE: Because of evidence-based advocacy by district students, teachers and Noggin volunteers, Vancouver Public Schools will move high school start times…
Synapsing in San Diego
“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 AMAZING volunteers organized the largest all ages Art & Neuroscience Festival in the Pacific Northwest! We offered live bands, science-inspired art, neuroscience research presentations, and the chance to ask questions and examine real brains! The fifth annual Noggin Fest helped send more young scientists and artists to the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego - and into San Diego Unified Public Schools! LEARN MORE @ Brains Beyond SfN!.