University at Buffalo (UB)
Published April 12, 2012 This content is archived.
Members of the UB Neuroscience Graduate Student Association helped organize and conduct the local Brain Bee, an annual competition that tests high schoolers’ knowledge of the brain.
The competition, held Feb. 25, was sponsored by the Buffalo Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.
It was led by Elizabeth Hogan, PhD, associate professor of biology at Canisius College, with UB neuroscience graduate student Sarah Hayes and others assisting the effort.
“The Brain Bee is a great opportunity for graduate students to inspire high school students to become interested in neuroscience,” Hayes said.
In addition to Hayes, four other UB neuroscience graduate students—Katelyn Carr, Jason Kushner, John Fleites and Ginger Lasky—conducted a review session for competitors before the Brain Bee.
Eight area high school students participated in the competition. Judges included Tadeusz Kaczynski, Lara Duffney, Jay Garaycochea and Claire Modica, all neuroscience graduate students as well.
The three-part bee required students to answer multiple-choice questions, identify different parts of the brain and provide short answers to questions during elimination rounds.
The winner, Aman Shamaa, was invited to compete in the National Brain Bee, held March 4 and 5 in Baltimore.