MICHIGAN PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 36TH ANNUAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
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NR-12-06 (10/11/06) For more information, please call Sara Harris at (202) 962-4000 or sharris@sfn.org.
MICHIGAN PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 36TH ANNUAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
WASHINGTON, DC, October 11 - Two local educators -- a neuroscientist and a teacher -- are one of 10 pairs of international award recipients recognized for their commitment and innovative approach to bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
Rebecca Johns, a high school biology teacher at Troy High School, and Dr. Paul Walker of Wayne State University, received a Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Travel Award to attend Neuroscience 2006, the 36th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, to be held in Atlanta, Ga., October 14-18.
This is the second time Johns has been recognized by the Society for promoting neuroscience education. She attended the Society's annual meeting in 2005 after leading one of her students to win the International Brain Bee, a competition that tests students' neuroscience knowledge.
"Michigan did not have a Brain Bee at that time, so for two years I drove with a group of students to Ohio in order to compete," says Johns. She explains that after attending last year's meeting, she became determined to start a Michigan Brain Bee.
Johns contacted Walker who agreed to help coordinate the event.
"We contacted every school in three counties in the Detroit area, arranged for prizes, give-aways, and practice sessions," Johns explained. "We also got the Field Neuroscience Institute to donate $1,000 to the winner." Their hard work paid off, and Michigan's first annual Brain Bee was held in Detroit in February.
At this year's meeting, Johns hopes to speak with Michigan neuroscientists and other Brain Bee coordinators to promote this initiative and get advice on how to increase student participation.
Roughly 30,000 scientists from around the world will attend Neuroscience 2006 to present and discuss the latest advances in neuroscience research. The meeting will feature more than 14,000 presentations covering topics ranging from stem cell research to basic human behavior.
In addition to receiving unlimited access to the meeting's thousands of sessions and forums, the awardees have been invited to attend a number of special events. Johns, Walker, and the other award recipients will also be honored at a gathering of the Society's Public Education and Communication Committee, which represents educational advocates from among the Society's membership.
The goal of the award program is to further partnerships between research and educational communities by bringing them together at a premier scientific meeting. "The travel award program is an example of the Society's commitment to explaining basic scientific processes -- how research leads to discovery and how discovery leads to treatments, cures and healthy choices at all stages in life," says Society for Neuroscience Public Education Director Colleen McNerney. "This program provides encouragement and visibility to the Society's members to embrace and contribute to this work, demonstrating the value of scientist and teachers working in partnership."
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 37,500 members, is the largest organization of researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
