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
How did we get the brain?
Brains examining brains
Women in Science (& Art!)
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
Noggin Takes DC
“I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair.” — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Brains change, but they also develop routines, and adult brains are less plastic and more fixed in their neural…
Je pense, donc je suis: Traversing tricky topics through outreach
Post by Dan Jang, an undergraduate triple majoring in Computer Science, Biomedical Physics and General Science, and also pursuing a double minor in Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. Dan is a PSU Neuroscience Club General Officer (’21-’24) and served as Club President (’22-’23). “Je pense, donc je suis,” an insight…
Making art and making brains
Post by Kasey Judd, undergraduate in Psychology pursuing an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University. “Hello, my name is Kasey and I am studying Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. I think brains are fascinating!” — Kasey Judd, undergraduate at PSU This is typically what I’d say as we briefly introduced ourselves…
Curiosity for the Noggin
Post by Conner Corbett, undergraduate in Psychology pursuing an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University. Conner is a 2023 McNair scholar. My Journey to Research Growing up I have always had a deep curiosity for the brain. I was puzzled and intrigued by the trivia facts that are commonly told to kids, such as…
Fentanyl On The Brain
Post by Rebecca Chevrel, undergraduate in Social Science and Psychology pursuing an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University. My name is Rebecca Chevrel. I’m in my senior year of undergrad at Portland State University, pursuing a double major in Psychology and Social Science, and a minor in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience. I’ll be 44 when I…
Why does my brain FREEZE?!
Post by Alexandria Bills, undergraduate in Psychology pursuing an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience minor at Portland State University. My name is Alexandria Bills, and I am a senior at Portland State University (PSU) pursuing a degree in Psychology and a minor in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience. I am also co-president of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanic and…
A Hippocampal Halloween
Happy Halloween! We LOVE visiting King Elementary in Northeast Portland, and couldn’t have chosen a better date to return! Halloween will forever be on our schedule for future Noggin school outreach, and King is one of our favorite and most memorable community connections. Memory and the Brain Certain kinds of…
Listening at MacLaren
Northwest Noggin returned to the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility this fall, to meet with more young people curious about the brain, and the policy implications of ongoing neuroscience research on adolescent development, bias, trauma, drugs, and mental health in terms of education, healthcare, criminal justice and the law. We’ve visited…
Brains in Boise
A huge thanks to Geof Garner, the President of the National Association of Educational Opportunity Programs (NAEOP), for inviting Northwest Noggin to their annual conference in Boise Idaho! This was our THIRD conference workshop on interdisciplinary neuroscience outreach for NAEOP, following earlier presentations in Bellevue, Washington and Gleneden Beach, Oregon.…
Butterflies in my brain!
It’s fall, the leaves are changing, and Noggin volunteers are heading back into public schools, correctional facilities, houseless youth nonprofits, neuroscience conferences and even Congress! Imagine that! BRAINS IN CONGRESS: Noggin at SfN, DC schools – and the U.S. House! LEARN MORE: Noggin Event Calendar! LEARN MORE: The last time…
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?.