University of Scranton Hosts 25th Annual NEPA Brain Bee

The event, combining fun and learning, encourages neuroscience education. The winner advanced to the upcoming national championship.
Group photo of students and staff standing on a staircase inside a modern campus building.
The University of Scranton on Saturday, Feb. 21, hosted the 25th annual Northeastern Pennsylvania Brain Bee. The academic competition, which offers high school students a unique opportunity to engage in neuroscience education, attracted students from across the region along with University faculty members and student volunteers.

High school students from around the region competed in the 25th annual Northeastern Pennsylvania Brain Bee, an academic competition designed to inspire an interest in neuroscience. The event was held Saturday, Feb. 21, at the PNC Auditorium inside the Loyola Science Center.

Among the participants was the winner Muyan Liu, a junior from Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. Liu’s victory advanced her to the National Brain Bee that will be held Saturday, April 25, at the University of California, Irvine. She also received a $1,000 scholarship to The University of Scranton, if she attends the University, and a cash prize.

“Most people take biology in high school. Maybe they’ve had psychology, but generally, they don’t have neuroscience,” Robert F. Waldeck, Ph.D., director of the neuroscience program at Scranton and the NEPA Brain Bee coordinator, told the Times Leader. “So it seems like a really complicated topic and they don’t really know much about it, because they don’t know anybody doing it.”

Dr. Waldeck explained that’s where an event like the NEPA Brain Bee proves useful, as it is a competitive, fun and informal way of expanding one’s knowledge on the topic.

For additional coverage, please visit the Times LeaderWNEP and Fox56.

Additionally, the Scranton Brain and Behavior Conference is fast approaching on Saturday, April 18. For more information, please visit the conference’s website.

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