St. Mary’s College of Maryland hosted the 17th Annual Southern Maryland (SOMD) Brain Bee on March 1, 2025. The Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition that promotes interest in and learning of neuroscience at the high school level. At the Brain Bee, 14 local high school students competed to test their neuroscience knowledge. Participants competed in individual and team rounds, each designed to challenge their understanding of the brain.
The competition consisted of three rounds. The first round focused on general neuroscience topics, the second focused on brain anatomy, and the third focused on more specific topics. After each question was read aloud by emcee Leonardo Montenegro ‘25, participants had 30 seconds to write their responses on their whiteboard and were scored by judges Hara Collins ‘26, Em Allen ‘27, Alba Gonzalez Ventura ‘25, Jayden Washington ‘25, Christina Rutherford ‘25, and Elise Kinyanjui ‘25.
Allie C. from Great Mills High School earned first place in the individual competition and was awarded $500 to cover registration and travel expenses for the USA Brain Bee at Rutgers University. Additionally, the Great Mills High School team won the group competition. Every guest received a door prize raffle ticket, with prizes awarded to the first-place winners in both the individual and team categories.
The event was organized by Associate Professor Elizabeth Leininger, PhD, Chair of the Neuroscience Department at St. Mary’s College, with the help of the aforementioned Brainiacs, a group of neuroscience and psychology students who worked hard since January to make this event a success. The Southern Maryland Brain Bee, an officially sanctioned event of the International Brain Bee, was founded by Dr. Anne Marie Brady ‘93. The International Brain Bee was founded by Norbert Myslinski, PhD.
Students, do you want to become a Brainiac for the 18th Annual Southern Maryland Brain Bee? If so, register for the NEUR 399 Independent Study in Spring 2026!
-By Presley Pickeral ‘26, Neuroscience Program Student Ambassador
