Dear colleagues,

 

As the year winds down, I am pleased to offer you two exciting opportunities to become involved with the outreach activities of the Winnipeg Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.

 

Art of Neuroscience - Collaboration with the Manitoba Craft Council

 

The Council sent out a call for applications last month and received applications from 14 highly-accomplished artists who are interested in creating pieces based on neuroscience.  Some of these artists have a personal connection to our field, as they have family members who are affected by neurological disorders, while others are interested from a purely aesthetic standpoint. 

 

As a first step, we will be selecting 5 artists for a pilot project, and based on their interests, we will match them with scientists who work in that area.  If you are interested in participating, please send me an email, and we will do our best to match you.  Even if it doesn't work out for the pilot project, we will probably be able to match you once the project expands.  I will also send out profiles of the artists once we have selected them.

 

Inaugural Winnipeg Brain Bee

 

Second, I am pleased to announce that we will be hosting our Inaugural Winnipeg Brain Bee on March 21, 2015!  For those of you who are not familiar with the Brain Bee, it is an annual neuroscience competition for high school students, which progresses to the national and international levels.  Our participation brings us in line with chapters in other major cities such as Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.  We had a tremendous response this year, with 47 students registering!  They include students from Henry G. Izatt Middle School, Arthur A. Leach School, River East Collegiate, Children of the Earth High School, and Sisler High School.

 

This will be a large event, and its success will require a concerted, collective effort on our part.  I am therefore looking for volunteers to serve in the areas listed below.  All members, especially students and post-docs, are welcome to take part!  Other roles will likely emerge as the process moves forward.

 

Competition - judging, scoring, question preparation

Registration

Guides (to escort groups around the Bannatyne campus)

Hosting of demonstrations/lab tours

Signage and printing

Media/photography

 

Through their response to these events, our community has stepped forward in a big way to say that they are interested in what we do.  It is now up to us to respond in kind.  I hope that you will consider participating.

 

With best wishes for the holiday season, Sari