2024-25 SfN Ottawa Chapter Recap: Thank you for another amazing year!
What a year! Thank you to everyone who joined, volunteered, and learned with us throughout 2024-25. Together, we connected hundreds of students and community members across Ottawa through neuroscience outreach, art, and education!
On May 3rd, we brought the community together once again for the Brain & Mental Health Art Show at the Glebe Community Centre in support of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa‘s mental health programming for youth. Students, faculty, community members, artists, and people with lived experience of mental health challenges joined us for a fun and inspirational night of diverse expression through art.
This year’s highlights:
142 art pieces donated by local and international artists, including contributions from the United States (@NeuroWoodworks) and Mexico
24 local business donations totaling over $3000
Final amount raised: $7,229 for youth mental health!
“As a relatively young artist, I was hesitant to submit my work as a donation to the Brain & Mental Health Art Show, but it was really encouraging to see people take interest in my work and bid against each other for it! I feel encouraged to continue creating, thanks to this opportunity. The whole event is fun and it’s great to see the different communities come together like this. I am especially happy that the proceeds are going to support youth mental health this year, as this is something I see as a struggle for so many my age.”
ELLA BROWN Grade 12 student
“The Brain & Mental Health Art Show was an incredible experience. It was powerful to see how creativity and vulnerability came together to build awareness to inspire conversation. We left feeling connected; not just to the art but the community behind it.”
KAREN & LLOYD ADVINCULA Art Show contributor/patron
“I have enjoyed donating my time and audio equipment to support the Art Show and auction for the past 2 years and look forward to continuing to do so in the future. It is a lively and engaging community event, with a very dedicated group of volunteers.”
STEVE FOLEY Sound engineer and owner of Audio Valley Recording Studios
March 1st marked our biggest Ottawa Brain Bee yet! High school students from across the region participated in a free online neuroscience prep course followed by an in-person trivia competition at Carleton University.
This year’s highlights:
66 students enrolled in the prep course, with 18 competing in the Ottawa Brain Bee
Backyard Brains kits were added for interactive demonstrations and were loved by contestants
“I really enjoyed this competition, both as a learning experience to the scientific niche of neuroscience as well as the social aspect by meeting like-minded students. Through learning the modules, I gained a deep understanding of the brain, and the ways the knowledge can help others in real life (i.e. diagnoses in healthcare).”
CLAIRE HANG (grade 11)
“I really enjoyed the patient diagnosis round—it was amazing to see the volunteer PhD students put so much effort into portraying the symptoms of various neurological disorders. Their dedication made the experience both educational and engaging!”
CHARLIE WANG (grade 11)
“It was an enriching experience, giving me the chance to actually learn about neuroscience in a fun competitive way.”
During the first week of March, our volunteers headed into 9 Ottawa schools to bring neuroscience into the classroom. Presentation topics included Your Brain on Tech, The 5 Senses, Stress & the Brain, Sleep & Dreaming, Learning & Memory, Drugs & the Brain, and Concussions.
This year’s highlights:
Approximately 600 students reached across grades 3 through 12
109 volunteers, with over 50 delivering educational presentations!
“As always, your presentation was great! On top of that you were able to accommodate a new date and provided us with a video clip to compliment your lesson. You went beyond expectations, and I thank you!”
ROBYN LEMIEUX (teacher, grades 3-4)
“Very well done. Connected well with the grade level and class. Good background and experiences were shared. I have been involved with this program since it started over 15 years ago? Keep it going!”
All activities were fully bilingual (English and French)
We continued our collaboration with the authors of The Brain Colouring Book who provided free colouring pages, and a special appearance of one of the co-authors, Dr. Maria Zamfir, who helped us create a how-to video for her popular brain hat activity!
Thanks to our wonderful team of student and faculty volunteers, this year’s Brain Awareness Week allowed us to reach a wide audience, with many visitors expressing interest in bringing more SfN activities into the community!
A Huge Thank You to our Volunteers
This would not have been possible without the help of all of our passionate SfN Ottawa Chapter members. Across all of these initiatives, the collaboration between our volunteer students, faculty, community members, and local businesses made our 2024-25 year a huge success!
“I thoroughly enjoy volunteering for the SfN Ottawa Chapter due to the excitement and initiative that every member brings at each meeting to spread awareness about neuroscience and mental health. As a member for three years, I have seen firsthand how impactful the SfN events are for the community. I am very grateful I became involved in SfN and believe the chapter has strengthened my understanding of the importance of community outreach programs and volunteer groups to raise awareness of important issues such as mental health.”
SPENCER SHAHEN (Previous Graduate Student and SfN member)
“I am so grateful to be part of the SfN Ottawa Chapter initiatives as a high school student and then as a volunteer. The events connect community members from across the city, ranging from the Ottawa Brain Bee, the regional level of the largest youth neuroscience competition in the world, to the Carleton University Mini-Courses program, a one-week neuroscience lab introduction for high school students. SfN Ottawa organizes irreplaceable opportunities for students interested in neuroscience!”
HELENE LI (Brain Bee Winner and BMH Art Show and Brain Bee Volunteer)
“I wanted to be more involved in the neuroscience community and this group has helped me achieved just that by letting me get involved in various events including the Brain Awareness week and the Brain and Mental health art show. I have always loved volunteer work, but this group has allowed me to do it with people who share my passion for neuroscience and my love for helping others.”
OCEANE LUPIEN-LORQUET (Undergraduate Volunteer – BAW and BMH Art Show)
