Twenty-four Alachua County Teens across 10 different schools and 5 different grades registered to compete at this year’s Brain Bee, hosted by the McKnight Brain Institute and the North Central Florida Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. Competitors engaged in a day-long contest similar to a spelling bee, but instead of words, students demonstrated their knowledge of the human brain with neuroscience trivia.
From left: Reese Chadwick (Brain Bee chair), Navya Goyal (first place), Simon Ropicki (second place), Yifan Song (third place), Alejandro Gamba Segovia (Brain Bee vice chair)
While the competition was fierce, three winners emerged earning $150, $100, and $50 for first, second, and third place. Navya Goyal won this year’s overall competition and will receive an additional $1500 from the McKnight Brain Institute to travel and compete at the national Brain Bee in 2025. We wish her the best of luck and look forward to next year’s competition. Additionally, we thank the NCF SfN community, especially Reese Chadwick (Brain Bee Chair) and Alejandro Gamba (Brain Bee Vice-Chair) for organizing the event.