RENO, Nev. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) -- University of Nevada, Reno’s Amy Altick has won the award for Brain Awareness Week events she holds.
Once a year, Altick takes a week and travels to libraries and schools around Nevada to give informal, interactive presentations aiming to make neuroscience interesting to students. When she travels, she brings along her three model human brains and various model animal brains.
Altick is a biology lecturer in the College of Science at the University of Nevada, Reno and a former postdoctoral scholar in the University of Nevada School of Medicine’s Physiology and Cell Biology Department. For the last four years, she has directed a neuroscience outreach program throughout the state as a part of National Brain Awareness Week.
The Society for Neuroscience, with 140 chapters worldwide, has recognized Altick for her efforts in neuroscience education and public outreach by awarding her the Next Generation Award. The award honors outstanding individuals or teams with a $300 honorarium and a $750 travel award to attend the Society’s annual meeting. Additionally, the recipients’ chapter receives $2,000 to continue outreach efforts in the coming year.
Altick is currently planning and fundraising for a 2013 Nevada Brain Awareness Week bus tour to reach small towns in rural Nevada regions. Many libraries and schools already have asked to be put on her calendar for Brain Awareness Week in March 2013.
