Our Events
Annual Brain Awareness Fair
2011-present (ongoing)
Roger C. Sullivan High School
Lake View High School
Nettelhorst Elementary School
Hosted in partnership with the Nettelhorst Elementary school, Lake View High School, and Roger C. Sullivan High School, the annual Brain Awareness Fair is NUBAO's biggest event. Each year has seen an increase in attendance and student volunteers. The 2014 fair attracted visitors from 43 different Chicago neighborhoods representing 90 different schools. Over 80 volunteers worked in teams to develop and present demonstrations that explain neuroscience at every level. With over 20 interactive demos, the brain fair offers a hands on experience for children of all ages.
2013-present (ongoing)
Northwestern University (Chicago campus)
Every year, NUBAO hosts a professional development workshop for Chicago area science educators aimed at exposing these educators to the exciting field of neuroscience research, and to demonstrate how neuroscience topics can be introduced into the classroom through engaging, hands-on activities. NUBAO volunteers present demos and lesson plans featuring topics such as Neuranatomy, Brain Injury and Safety, Sensorimotor Neurophysiology, Motor Adaptation, and Learning and Memory.
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Certified teachers receive up to seven continuing professional development units for participating.
Walter payton seminar series
2014-present (ongoing)
Walter Payton High School
As part of an ongoing seminar series, NUBAO volunteers give bimonthly neuroscience lectures at Walter Payton High School in downtown Chicago. The presenters, primarily neuroscience graduate students, delve into a specific sub-field of neuroscience pertaining to their own doctoral research, and often present recent findings from their lab and others. This is a unique opportunity to bring cutting edge neuroscience research to high school students, and to get them engaged and excited about brain research.
Cognitive Neuroscience High School Summer Research Program
Summer 2018, 2019
Northwestern University (Chicago campus)
In partnership with biotechnology company EMOTIV, NUBAO developed and launched a 6 week summer research program for high school students in 2018. NUBAO volunteers guided a group of students through designing and conducting an original research project. Using donated wireless EEG headsets, students independently designed an experiment, collected and analyzed the data, and presented their results as a scientific poster. One group was selected to present their work at the Chicago Society for Neuroscience (cSfN) conference in 2019. This program provides students with the exciting opportunity to gain first-hand experience with the process of neuroscience research, from development and execution of a project, through presentation of the results to a professional society.
Rauner College Prep STEM Expo
December 2015-2018
Rauner College Prep
From 2015-2018, Rauner College Prep invited high school students in the Noble Network of charter schools to learn about STEM careers at their annual STEM Expo. NUBAO representatives gave several presentations about careers in neuroscience to full classrooms of enthusiastic high school students.
Museum of Science and Industry Science Works
October 2016-2019
Museum of Science & Industry
The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry's Science Works is a day long museum-wide event in which visitors to the museum meet with working science professionals from various fields and perform hands-on experiments led by the science professional. NUBAO has organized several workshops regarding the sensori-motor nervous system and brain machine interfaces for youths and their families visiting the museum. The event is free with museum admission.
Some of the other events that NUBAO have been involved in include:
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AAAS Family Science Days
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Neuroscience of Superheroes Workshop at Stewart Elementary
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MSI Black Creativity Career Showcase
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MSI Junior Science Cafe
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Northwestern University BioEXCEL Program