March 2014: Sarah Johns represents Alaska in the National Brain Bee

by Michelle Saport  |   

Sarah Johns, winner of the 2014 Alaska Brain Bee

Sarah Johns, winner of the 2014 Alaska Brain Bee

For the second year in a row, Alaska was represented in the National Brain Bee, this year by Sarah Johns of Alaska Middle College School. Sarah won this year's local UAA Brain Bee, held at the Anchorage Museum on Feb. 1, 2014. The Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition for high school students. A record 48 regional winners from around the country competed at the University of Maryland in Baltimore March 14 and 15 during Brain Awareness Week.

At nationals, Sarah finished in the top half of the national competitors and did a great job representing the state of Alaska. Sarah and her parents were able to travel to and attend the National Brain Bee through the generous support of the WWAMI School of Medical Education, UAA College of Arts and Sciences, UAA Center for Community Engagement and Learning and Alaska Airlines.

This year's National Brain Bee winner was Adam Elliott of Matawan-Aberdeen Regional High School in Piscataway, N.J. Adam won a scholarship, a summer internship at a neuroscience lab, trophies for his school and himself and the right to represent the United States at the Fifteenth International Brain Bee Championship in Washington, D.C., in August.

Brain Bee chapters are located throughout the world-in 30 countries on six different continents. The founder of the International Brain Bee is Norbert Myslinski, Ph.D. The Brain Bee's purpose is "to help treat and find cures for neurological and psychological disorders by inspiring and motivating students to seek careers in those fields," according to Dr. Myslinski. The International Brain Bee is entering its 15th year as the premier neuroscience competition for high school students. Norbert Myslinski is a faculty member in the University of Maryland's Department of Neural and Pain Sciences at the Baltimore campus.

For more information, please visit the International Brain Bee website or contact local UAA Brain Bee Coordinator Caroline Wilson at chwilson@uaa.alaska.edu.

Creative Commons License "March 2014: Sarah Johns represents Alaska in the National Brain Bee" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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