The National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB) is an annual competition for high school students sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) , an association of seventy-two oceanographic institutions, universities and aquaria that represent the nucleus of U.S. research and education about the oceans. The Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) of Stony Brook University hosted the “Bay Scallop Bowl” on Saturday, February 28th, one of twenty-four regional competitions for the 2004 NOSB.
Twenty teams participated in this year’s competition. First Place went to Bronx High School of Science, coached by Mitch Fox. Each student will receive $1000, plus an all expenses paid trip to the College of Charleston campus in Charleston, SC to compete in the national finals, April 24-26, 2004. Second place went to State College Area high school of Pennsylvania, coached by Julie Gittings. Each student will receive $750. Third place went to Mount Sinai High School, coached by Andrew Matthews. Each student will receive $500.
photos by Kathryn Seaver, Jason Powers
Top High School Students Compete In �Bay Scallop� Ocean Sciences Bowl
BARBARA BRANCA, NEW YORK SEA GRANT
STONY BROOK, NEW YORK February 18, 2004 Did you know that within the bountiful ocean there are deserts where only a few life forms live on the surface? You would know that if you were one of the 95 high school students from 19 high schools across the region participating in the Bay Scallop Ocean Sciences Bowl on Saturday, February 28 at the Student Activities Center of Stony Brook University. The event’s opening remarks will be made by Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny and Marine Sciences Research Center Dean and Director David Conover who will moderate the event.
David Conover said “The Ocean Sciences Bowl is an extremely important event because it increases the awareness among high school students about the plight of our marine environment. We need to attract the brightest young minds to a career in oceanography to help us find solutions to the decline in health of our marine environment.”
“Getting young people interested in marine issues is essential to fulfilling the goals that have been identified by the Oceans Commission,” adds Jack Mattice, Director of New York Sea Grant, one of the Bowl’s cosponsors. “It is their generation that will decide how to recover, develop, maintain or conserve sustainable ocean resources for the future.”
The winning Bay Scallop Bowl team will go on to compete in the 7th Annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl on April 24th in Charleston, South Carolina, competing against 23 other regional champions from around the country. The NOSB is sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research & Education in Washington, D.C.
Says coach Andy Matthews whose Mt. Sinai High School team captured the Bay Scallop Bowl title in both 2002 and 2003, “This year’s team of three seniors and two juniors has been working pretty hard. Though there are a lot of great teams competing, we are hoping for another good showing.” High school teacher Matthews is a Marine Sciences Research Center graduate and former New York Sea Grant Scholar.
Most coaches form study groups or after-school clubs to prepare for the NOSB tournaments, and students participate on their own time. There’s a lot of dedication by coaches like Karl Biedlingmaier whose Churchville-Chili High School team will make the seven-hour trip from upstate New York for the third year in a row. They’ve made it into the final three for two years running. Maybe this year is the charm as they face off against teams from Bronx HS of Science, Regis HS in Manhattan, Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn and over a dozen suburban high schools on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and from as far off as State College, Pennsylvania.
The competition includes Q&A ‘buzzer’ rounds, a team challenge question, an educational field trip and social activities so the students get to know one another. University faculty and staff volunteer their time to be moderators and judges over the course of the day. A sample of quiz questions is available at www.nosb.org.
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is sponsored by the Consortium for Oceanographic Research & Education or CORE that represents 74 oceanographic institutions, universities and aquaria, and is funded by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), a collaboration of 15 federal agencies including NOAA Sea Grant.
The Bay Scallop Bowl is sponsored by the Marine Sciences Research Center at Stony Brook University and New York Sea Grant.
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Ocean Sciences Bowl Participants
Suffolk County
Commack High School / Coach: Vincent Cericola / (631) 912-2171 / vcericola@commack.k12.ny.us
Elwood John H. Glenn High School / Coach: Gary Ramonetti / (631) 266-6282 / (631) 368-5038 / Gramonetti@aol.com
Half Hollow Hills High School East / Coach: Susan Hirschmann / (631) 757-5275 (home) / hirschmarine@netscape.net
Longwood Senior High School / Coach: David Chase / (631) 345-9200 / chasewhales@yahoo.com
Mount Sinai High School / Coach: Andrew Matthews / (631) 473-1991 (ext 614) / amatthews@mtsinai.k12.ny.us
Sachem High School, South Campus / Coach: Michael Vaccariello / (631) 471-1545 / vaccariello@sachem.edu
Smithtown High School / Coach: Max Strieb / (631) 382-3056 / (631) 382-3075 / mstrieb@juno.com
The Stony Brook School / Coach: George Linzee / (631) 786-3293 / (631) 751-4211 / geoge.linzee@stonybrookschool.org
Women in Science and Engineering, SUNY / Coach: Sharon Pavulaan / (631) 632-3282 / (631) 632-8176 / spavulaan@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
Nassau County
Great Neck South High School / Coach: Elizabeth Wissner-Gross; Locust Valley High School / Coach: Walter Gurzynski; Long Beach High School / Coach: Karen Bloom; MacArthur High School / Coach: Jason VanEron
Hudson Valley
Ossining High School / Coach: Christopher Straub
New York City
Bronx High School of Science / Coach: Mitch Fox; Regis High School / Coach: William Carew
Saint Ann’s School / Coach: Sarah Richards
Rochester Area
Churchville-Chili Senior High School / Coach: Karl Biedlingmaier
Outside Tri-State Area
State College Area High School / Coach: Julie Gittings
– See more at: http://commcgi.cc.stonybrook.edu/am2/publish/Marine_Sciences_1/Top_High_School_Students_Compete_In_Bay_Scallop_Oc_609.shtml#sthash.VWWieFgl.dpuf