Brain Explorers

Science outreach often fails to meet its own goals. Many outreach events have the goals of reaching citizens with fewer STEM opportunities or reaching citizens who view science with skepticism or as unimportant. However, science outreach often fails to reach those that need it most. Traditionally, science outreach takes the form of publications, presentations, or events for citizens that seek out these opportunities. In other words, science supporters or enthusiasts. While reaching this population is valuable, reaching individuals in society who are not actively seeking out opportunities to engage with scientists or who are under-represented in science is arguably more important if we are to create informed citizens.

The Brain Explorers Program strives to provide exceptional neuroscience experiences to K-12 students through collaboration with local school systems. In addition, Brain Explorers is an advocate for creating assessable outreach, pushing outreach providers to examine the effectiveness of their efforts in order to better achieve the goals of their program. One of our long-term goals is to produce a database of neuroscience outreach lessons that can be utilized by people across the country and beyond.

To provide exciting, engaging, and assessable science engagement for underserved and underrepresented populations.

1. A Checklist for Effective STEM Outreach in a K-12 Classroom. (Download the Checklist)
2. An Effective Model for Engaging Faculty and Undergraduate Students in Neuroscience Outreach with Middle Schoolers. (Download the Paper)