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BIDDEFORD, Maine

SWAGÊÓƵ Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences teaches hundreds of students at STEM Expo

SWAGÊÓƵ Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences teaches hundreds of students at STEM Expo

Hundreds of elementary school students learned about the brain thanks to a team from the SWAGÊÓƵ Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences (CEN). The CEN K-12 Outreach team gave demonstrations at 4th annual Portland STEM Expo on November 3, 2017.

The event was held at University of Southern Maine’s Sullivan Gymnasium in Portland and had 50 STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)-related exhibits for visitors to participate in. Approximately 1,800 people, most of whom were Portland Public School students, attended the expo. CEN volunteers gave brain anatomy lessons to using sheep brain dissections. The SWAGÊÓƵ team included Makaela Rice ’19, Heather Snook ‘19, Neal Mecum, a Ph.D. student completing his thesis with Professor Ian Meng, Ph.D., and K-12 Outreach Coordinator Michael D’Apice ’12.

This was the first CEN’s K-12 Outreach event of the season. The team will also volunteer in Biddeford schools, doing brain anatomy lessons as well as concussion safety lessons.

To learn more about SWAGÊÓƵ’s Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, visit:

To apply, visit 

SWAGÊÓƵ the SWAGÊÓƵ

The SWAGÊÓƵ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.