Local Brain Bee winners
one step closer to national stage
Four Aroostook County high school students recently traveled to the University of New England in Biddeford to take part in a Brain Bee Boot Camp, meant to prepare them for the National Brain Bee in Baltimore.
The four County students include Marta Herzog of Presque Isle High School, who won the Northern Maine Regional Brain Bee held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle; Nerissa Larrabee of Caribou High School, first runner-up; and Samuel Gray of Presque Isle High School and Ben Ezzy of Caribou High School, who tied for second runner-up.
Both Herzog and the winner of the Southern Maine Regional Brain Bee represented Maine at the national contest, slated for March 20-22; however, all four County students are training at the boot camp as, should Herzog be unable to attend the Baltimore competition, the respective runner-up would attend in her place.
The Brain Bee is a quiz-style competition for high school students designed to promote brain awareness while motivating students to pursue careers in the neurosciences. The first Northern Maine Regional Brain Bee was held Dec. 12, 2014, on the UMPI campus, in conjunction with faculty from the University of Maine at Machias and the University of New England, where the eastern and southern regional contests were held.
These events are associated with the International Brain Bee, a not-for-profit neuroscience competition designed especially to test students’ understanding of the brain and the nervous system, and how they work together.
University of Maine at Presque Isle Biology professor Dr. Rachael Hannah and Aroostook County high school teachers worked together on the local event.
“It is wonderful that one of our local students will have the opportunity to travel to Baltimore, Maryland, in March to compete in the National Brain Bee,” Hannah said. “We hope that this event will inspire young people about brain research and their interest in all sciences.”
Directed by founder Dr. Norbert Myslinski of the University of Maryland, the national competition is intended to increase high school students’ interest in the brain and inspire them to pursue careers in brain research. The motto for the International Brain Bee is “Building Better Brains to Fight Brain Disorders.”
