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Press Releases | |
January 16, 2004
High School Students Sought for Southampton College’s Acclaimed Brain Bee
Local Winners Have Gone on to Place No. 1 and 2 in International CompetitionContact:
Darren Johnson
631-287-8360Southampton, NY – Wanted: the next International Brain Bee champion!
High school students interested in neuroscience from Suffolk and Nassau counties are invited to participate in Southampton College of Long Island University’s acclaimed Brain Bee on Saturday, February 28, starting at 9 a.m. Regional winners have gone on to place No. 1 and No. 2 the past two years in the international competition. Registration for free Brain Bee training sessions is going on now. Call 631-287-8202.
Winning the Southampton College contest is the springboard for entry into the international contest, to be held at the University of Maryland, March 20-21. Southampton College professors Dr. John Neill and Dr. Paul Forestell, both well-published neuroscience experts, will hold training sessions on Saturdays in February (7, 14 and 21) at 9 a.m., leading up to the competition.
Southampton College received international attention at the prestigious Society of Neuroscience Conference in New Orleans in November. Prof. Neill was invited to present "How to Run a Brain Bee Workshop" at the conference, considered the most important annual gathering in the field.
Students in Southampton College’s high school neuroscience program have placed in the top 10 each of the previous four years the International Brain Bee has existed. Southampton College produced 2003’s international champion Saroj Kunnakkat, 16, who took first place overall in a heated competition that lasted 11 rounds. Kunnakkat, a junior from Lynbrook (N.Y.) High School, continues a Long Island tradition of excellence when it comes to this prestigious competition. The previous year, Southampton College champ Vikas Gupta, from Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station, had placed second overall in the international contest. Regional winners are offered a $12,000 scholarship to attend Southampton College. International champions receive an additional $6000 in scholarships and an all-expense-paid trip for two to attend the Society for Neuroscience Conference.
Southampton College is well known for its hands-on undergraduate programs in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Psychology/Biology and innovative graduate training in Applied Behavior Analysis. The Brain Bee website is www.southampton.liu.edu/news/brainbee.
Internationally, the Brain Bee is part of Brain Awareness Week each March. Spearheaded by both the Dana Alliance, a private philanthropic foundation, and the Society for Neuroscience, the goal is to motivate youth to learn about the brain and pursue careers in biomedical brain research in the fight against mental retardation, cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injury and other brain disorders.