Veronica Bystroff and Sarah Garzione earned top honors at this neuroscience competition.
Veronica Bystroff, a senior at Troy High School who attends Questar III’s New Visions Scientific Research & World Health Program, won first place at the Rensselaer Chapter Brain Bee held at the University at Albany’s Health Sciences Campus on February 28. Her New Visions classmate Sarah Garzione, a senior from Averill Park High School, was the first runner up.
Bystroff was awarded $1,000 from Martin, Harding and Mazzotti, LLP to support her participation in the National Brain Bee Competition in Baltimore from March 17 to 19. The U.S. winner will compete against students from around the world in Washington, DC in August.
The Brain Bee is an international neuroscience Q&A competition for secondary school students that aims to motivate them learn about the brain, capture their imaginations, and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical research. There are 175 local chapters in more than 50 countries across six continents conducting annual competitions.
The competition 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 New Visions: Scientific Research & World Health program is a collaboration between Questar III BOCES and the University at Albany’s Health Sciences Campus. High school seniors spend weekday mornings during the school year observing and participating with professors, graduate students, and local professionals in research facilities, government agencies and companies to explore various areas of science and public health research.
