Cal State East Bay to Host Bay Area Brain Bee
- January 14, 2016
California State University, East Bay will host the fifth annual Bay Area Brain Bee — a Q&A competition for high school students that focuses on neuroscience — on its Hayward campus Jan. 16.
The free event, sponsored by CSUEB’s Institute for STEM Education, will take place from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in North Science, Room 120. Tours of the neuron recording lab, magnetic field stimulator and laser scanning confocal microscope will be given after the Brain Bee competition.
The annual Brain Bee competition is similar to a spelling bee, but the subject is the brain and nervous system. The program’s goal is to motivate children to learn about the brain and introduce future college students to a wide variety of STEM career opportunities.
“The Bay Area Brain Bee is part of a larger national and international competition, put on by the Society of Neuroscience, that gives high school students the opportunity to explore and develop an interest in neuroscience, a field with limitless potential,” said Janiene Langford, program director for the Institute for STEM Education. “The free competition creates a community of students and families who are interested in learning more about the brain and nervous system. For some, it’s their first experience being on a college campus, which includes meeting faculty, college students, and seeing cutting-edge scientific equipment and labs.”
Dr. James Murray, associate professor of biological science, will host the event. He emphasizes that competitions like the Bay Area Brain Bee encourage students to think about neuroscience as a college major and career path.
“The Brain Bee inspires people to learn more about the brain and to consider going into the field,” Murray said. “Many people are not aware that neuroscience is key to the study of depression, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and more. We need more people going into basic and medical research, so we offer this STEM experience to a diverse population of students to get them more interested in neuroscience.”
The winner of the Bay Area Brain Bee will move on to the competition for a chance to compete in the . The Institute for STEM Education funds the travel costs for the winner and a family member to travel to the national competition to be held March 18-20 in Baltimore, MD.
For more information about the Bay Area Brain Bee, contact Dr. James Murray at 510-885-2367 or via email at james.murray@csueastbay.edu.