LAHS Senior Wins New Mexico Brain Bee

Los Alamos High School senior Wilbur Wang and winner of the 2017 New Mexico Brain Bee with 2016 winner Victoria Roy from Sandia High School. Courtesy photo

Participants in the New Mexico Brain Bee. Courtesy photo

LAPS News:

Fourteen Los Alamos High School AP Psychology students participated in the 3rd Annual New Mexico Brain Bee, Feb. 4, at UNM in Albuquerque. LAHS AP Psych students earned all top spots in the competition. After quite a battle, Wilbur Wang earned 1st, Faith Koh came in 2nd and Megan Hemphill was 3rd.

Wang, a LAHS senior, is the winner of the 2017 New Mexico Brain Bee. He won a trip to compete in the National Brain Bee, March 17-19, at the University of Maryland during Brain Awareness Week. If he wins the national competition, he will advance to the international level, which in the past has included students from 19 countries and has been held in places like Austria, South Africa and Denmark. 

The Brain Bee tests knowledge of the human brain including topics such as: intelligence, emotions, memory, sleep, vision, hearing, sensations, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression and addictions. The event, sponsored by the New Mexico Chapter of the Society of Neuroscience and the Brain and Behavior Health Institute at UNM, is open to New Mexico high school students aged 14-18.

Students participating in the New Mexico Brain Bee Competition Day did more than compete, they also learned about science and academic careers, toured neuroscience research labs, and visited with UNM neuroscientists and graduate students. The contest included a practical section with identification of neuroanatomy and brain slides and diagnosis of neurological disorders from case presentations, as well as a session of written questions. Finalists competed in an oral question and answer session and final written exam. 

The competition is part of an outreach program designed to get more high school students interested in neuroscience.

LAHS’s finalists in the New Mexico Brain Bee, from left, Faith Koh, Megan Hemphill and Wilbur Wang and a student from St. Michael’s High School. Courtesy photo

LAHS AP Psych Participants Rose Click, Megan Hemphill, Faith Koh, Wilbur Wang, Wilbur Wang, Nick Dowdy, Elisa Chirigliano, Loren Smeltz, Jerry Li, Katya Skurikhin, Sahana Ummadi, Angelie Baker, Melani Moulton-Guevara and Sophia Sivils. Courtesy photo

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