College hosts successful 2018 Brain Bee

Professor Shubhik DebBurman congratulates Stuart Lukz of Stevenson High School on his first place win.
February 12, 2018

Last weekend, students braved the winter storm to participate in the Chicago Brain Bee, hosted by Lake Forest College. The Bee provided an excellent opportunity for our undergraduates to work with local youth and gain experience in organizing educational events.

“Helping to plan and organize the Brain Bee was one of the most rewarding things I have done Aly Skoczek ’18Aly Skoczek ’18as co-president of Nu Rho Psi,” says Aly Skoczek ’18. “It has given me hands-on experience with planning a large-scale educational event that works to spread knowledge of a topic I am passionate about. In my future career as a physician, I hope I can hold other large-scale educational events to educate youth, and I believe this experience has opened those doors for me.”

The Chicago Brain Bee is a competition for area high school students that tests their knowledge in neuroscience. “It motivates our youth to learn about the brain, captures their imagination for the sciences, and inspires them to pursue careers in biomedical research,” explains Disque and Carol Deane Professor of Biological Sciences Shubhik DebBurman, who coordinated this year’s Bee.

This is the second year Lake Forest College has hosted the competition and it will continue to host it for the next few years. The College’s Neuroscience Program and the student members of Nu Rho Psi organized this year’s event. Over 40 Lake Forest College undergraduates and alumni and seven faculty members volunteered to make the event successful.

The Chicago Brain Bee is much more than a competition. This year, the daylong event held programs designed to expose high school students to primary neuroscience research and introduce them to professors, graduate, and undergraduate students actively engaged in neuroscience research. Tours led by Lake Forest undergraduates and faculty took participants to see cutting-edge undergraduate science teaching and research in action in the college’s Lillard Science Center.

The 2018 Chicago Brain Bee winners were as follows:

  • Stuart Lukz (First Place Honors), Adlai Stevenson High School
  • David Liang (Second Place Honors), Adlai Stevenson High School
  • Krishnachandra Nair (Third Place Honors), Illinois Math and Science Academy

“Winning the Chicago Brain Bee was both an exhilarating and incredible experience for me,” says Lukz. “I had such an amazing time throughout the day attending lectures and touring the Brain Lab at Lake Forest College. Just when I thought it could not get better, it did. I am thrilled with the privilege of representing Chicago Brain Bee students and my high school at the National Brain Bee.”

— By Sophie Mucciaccio ’18

The 2018 Chicago Brain Bee drew nearly 70 high school participants and involved dozens of Lake Forest College students who helped organize and run the daylong event.2018 Chicago Brain Bee Photos