Barbara Branca, Communications, E-mail: Barbara.Branca@stonybrook.edu,
Office: 631.632.6956, Cell: 631.839.1763
STONY BROOK, NY, February 5, 2009 - The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University will once again host 80 students from 16 high schools across the region as they compete in the 8th Annual Bay Scallop Bowl on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at the Student Activities Center at Stony Brook University. The all-day competition includes Q&A “buzzer” rounds and team challenge questions that test student knowledge of oceanography and related sciences. The Bay Scallop Bowl is New York's regional competition in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl.
"The Bay Scallop Bowl is an innovative way to attract the brightest young minds to a career in oceanography,” said Dr. David Conover, Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. By increasing awareness among high school students about the plight of our coastal environment, the Bay Scallop Bowl nurtures the next generation of scientists and citizens that will help find solutions to the decline in health of our marine environment."
Among the 16 teams competing in the 2009 Bay Scallop Bowl will be the 2008 winner, Churchville-Chili High School from upstate Monroe County. This team represented the Bay Scallop Bowl in last year’s national finals held in Seward, Alaska. The other teams competing in the 2009 Bay Scallop Bowl are Deer Park High Sool, Elwood John H. Glenn High School, Half Hollow Hills High School East, Jericho High School, Locust Valley High School, Longwood High School, MacArthur High School, Mount Sinai High School, North Babylon High School, Ossining High School, Regis High School, Saint Ann's School, South Side High School, The Stony Brook School, and Woodlands High School.
Each student on the winning team will receive a $1000 cash prize and a trip to Washington D.C. to represent New York in the 2009 National Ocean Science Bowl Finals.
New York State Senator John J. Flanagan, New York State Assemblyman Steven Englebright, New York State Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, and Suffolk County Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher plan to attend the event.
SoMAS's Associate Director William Wise and Staff Assistant Kim Knoll organized the Bay Scallop Bowl, which is supported this year in part by financial contributions from the Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, Battelle Memorial Institute, New York Sea Grant, and the Blue Ocean Institute.
"New York Sea Grant is pleased to provide support for the Bay Scallop Bowl,” said Ms. Cornelia Schlenk, Assistant Director of New York Sea Grant. “It’s a fun and exciting competition that exposes young students to the wonders of our water world and draws these energetic, bright minds to the vital fields of oceanography that are so important to society today."
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About SoMAS
The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University is a leader in marine science research and education. It is the only academic institution in New York to offer B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in marine science.
About Stony Brook University
Part of the State University of New York system, Stony Brook University encompasses 200 buildings on 1,600 acres. In the 50 years since its founding, the University has grown tremendously, now with nearly 24,000 students and 2,100 faculty, and is recognized as one of the nation’s important centers of learning and scholarship. It is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, and ranks among the top 100 national universities in America and among the top 50 public national universities in the country according to the 2008 U.S. News & World Report survey. Considered one of the “flagship” campuses in the SUNY system, Stony Brook University is a driving force of the Long Island economy, with an annual economic impact of $4.65 billion, generating nearly 60,000 jobs. Stony Brook accounts for nearly four percent of all economic activity in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and roughly 7.5 percent of total jobs in Suffolk County.
About the National Ocean Sciences Bowl
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is sponsored by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership and funded by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) in Washington, D.C., a collaboration of 15 organizations and federal agencies including National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) / Sea Grant.
