This Saturday, nearly 100 high school students from across New York State will make their way to Stony Brook University (SBU) to compete at the 6th annual Day Scallop Bowl. MSRC will once again host this regional competition as part of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB). Sixteen different high school teams will be vying for a chance to compete at the 2007 NOSB finals, which is also to be held at SBU in late April 2007.
The Ocean Sciences Bowl helps to promote ocean literacy in high schools across the country. The program encourages both students and teachers to broaden their understanding of ocean sciences, as well as the ocean’s impact on global climate, weather, economics, history and culture. The all-day competition tests students’ knowledge of oceanography and related sciences and includes Q&A “buzzer” rounds and team challenge questions. The winning team will be announced in the late afternoon.
Marine Sciences Research Center Dean and Director David Conover said, “The Bay Scallop Bowl is an extremely important event because it increases the awarness among high school students about the plight of our coastal 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.”
Teams from throughout Long Island and the New York area are competing this year, including last year’s winners, Jericho High School, and three-time winner Mt. Sinai High School. For the past six years, the Churchville-Chili team has come from as far away as Monroe County, in upstate NY. This years line up consists of many other returning teams inducting the Bronx High School of Science, Regis High School, Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn, Deer Park High School, and the Stony Brook School.
MSRC Associate Director, Bill Wise, and his assistant, Kim Knoll, have coordinated the bowl for the past 6 years. To ensure that the day runs smoothly, a small Bowl Planning Team has been tirelessly working out the many details since early last fall — from logistics and fundraising to signing up enough volunteers.
This year, MSRC Ph.D. student, Lynn Abmmson, is the new volunteer coordinator for the event. She has been recruiting volunteers and holding practice sessions to train those who will serve as science judges, rules judges, moderators, scorekeepers and time-keepers. To date, Lynn has organized 82 volunteers from different departments and organizations, including MSRC, Marine Science Club and other SBU undergraduates, Geosciences, NY DEC, NY SeaGrant, the Riverhead foundation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Brookhaven Town, NOAA Science Advisory Board, WlSE, and a number of’ local high schools including Bay Shore, John Philip Sousa, Westbury, and Uniondale.
The Bay Scallop Bowl is open to the public, and will begin at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday in the Student Activities Center (SAC) auditorium. This year’s competition is sponsored by The Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, Bank of America and New York Sea Grant.
For more information visit the Bay Scallop Bowl: http://alpha1.msrc.sunysb.edu/~BSB/
