UNE hosts Brain Bee boot camp for high school students

High school students from across Maine will be doing some serious mental stretches at the University of New England Brain Bee Boot Camp on February 20, as they prepare for the National Brain Bee competition in Baltimore, M.D. next month.

The Brain Bee is a quiz-style competition for high school students designed to promote brain awareness while motivating students to pursue careers in the neurosciences.

Congregating at UNE’s Biddeford Campus in the Ketchum Library’s St. Francis Room from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., winners of the northern and southern Regional Brain Bee held last December will benefit from question-and-answer sessions, presentations and interactive activities involving human and sheep brains. Led primarily by UNE faculty and students from the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the gathering will train participants in neurogenetics and neuronal function, while also providing general brain trivia and competition preparation.

Winning students from Presque Isle High School, Caribou High School, Biddeford High School and Kennebunk High School are anticipated to attend.

Participating UNE faculty members will include Ian Meng, Ph.D., Geoffrey Ganter, Ph.D., and Michael Burman, Ph.D. They will be joined by Rachel Hannah, assistant professor at the University of Maine in Presque Isle. Members of UNE’s Neuroscience Club will also participate, led by Neuroscience major Rebecca Krivitsky ’16.

“This is the first year that Maine has participated in the International Brain Bee competition. It’s so exciting that we get to send two young students from our communities to shine in the national spotlight,” said Burman, faculty coordinator of the UNE Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences’ K-12 Outreach Program. “Their passion for science and medicine is extremely inspiring, so we want to provide them every opportunity to expand their knowledge.”

The National Brain Bee takes place March 20–22 in Baltimore, M.D.

For more information, please visit the Brain Bee website.