Some 100 high school students from across the country descended upon Northeastern’s campus Thursday to meet faculty members, tour labs and research facilities, and see science in action as part of the American Junior Academy of Science annual conference being held in Boston.

The students, who collectively were from 21 states, spent the day crisscrossing campus as they engaged with various faculty members who explained their research and opened up their labs to the budding young scientists. They also toured Northeastern’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex, which opened last month.

Lisa Feldman Barrett, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology, kicked off the day’s events with a lecture titled, “Emotions Inside Out: From Cartoon Neuroscience to the Predictive Brain.” Students then dispersed across campus to meet a number of faculty members and explore their labs. These included Erin Cram, whose lab focuses on cell biology and molecular genetics; Dagmar Sternad, whose lab analyzes human motor performance; Roman Manetsch, who works to improve possible drugs for neglected tropical diseases and bacterial diseases; and Peter Bex, who uses cross-disciplinary approaches to study vision science.

The American Junior Academy of Science is America’s only honor research society for high school scientists. Each state’s Academy of Science selects the premier middle school and high school researchers from their states to be lifetime fellows in the academy.

High school students observe Northeastern’s shake table earthquake simulator in action on Thursday in a Snell Engineering laboratory, where graduate student Alpay Demiryurek led the demonstration. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Students tour Northeastern’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex. Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University