Contact:
Barbara Branca, New York Sea Grant, P: 631.632.6956, E:
Barbara.Branca@stonybrook.edu
Event Update - March 5, 2012, Stony Brook, NY - This year's Bay Scallop Bowl, held on Saturday (March 3) at Stony Brook University's Student Activities Center, wound up with perennial rivals Mt. Sinai High School and Bronx High School of Science (
see respective team pictures from the Bowl at the end of this news release) pitted against each other in the final round. The high school students from the Bronx prevailed and were crowned champions for the second time in the 11-year history of the event. Mt. Sinai was awarded second place and a rookie team from Great Neck South High School finished a surprising and impressive third. The Bronx High School of Science team will now begin preparing for the 2012 National Ocean Science Bowl finals, to be held in Baltimore late in April.
Stony Brook, NY, February 23, 2012 — The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University will once again host 80 students from 15 high schools across the region as they compete in the 11th Annual Bay Scallop Bowl on Saturday, March 3, 2012 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. This year’s theme is “A Sea of Change: Development and Evolution,” focusing on how technologies are evolving to address our nation’s need for forecasting systems, offshore renewable energy production, and research on emerging issues such as ocean acidification.
The Bay Scallop Bowl is an innovative way to educate students about the oceans and to stimulate their interests in sciences,” said Dr. Minghua Zhang, Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS). “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 who will be guardians of our marine environment."
Participating teams 2012:
- Bellport High School, Bellport, NY
- Bronx High School of Science—Bronx, NY
- Christian Brothers Academy—Syracuse, NY
- Churchville-Chili Senior High School—Churchville, NY
- Division Avenue High School—Levittown, NY
- Farmingdale High School—Farmingdale, NY
- Great Neck South High School—Great Neck, NY
- Jericho High School—Jericho, NY
- Locust Valley High School—Locust Valley, NY
- Longwood High School—Middle Island, NY
- Massapequa High School—Massapequa, NY
- Midwood High School—Brooklyn, NY
- Mount Sinai High School—Mount Sinai, NY
- R.C. Murphy Junior High School—Saint Ann’s School—Brooklyn, NY
- The Stony Brook School—Stony Brook, NY
The winning team will advance to compete against 24 other regional champions in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Baltimore, Maryland in April. In addition to the opportunity to travel to the National Finals, teams vie for prizes that include money for study materials and educational trips. And, thanks to funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, participating students may apply for the Coastal and Ocean Science Training internship program, a four-week summer program in Olympic National Park, and the National Ocean Scholar Program, a two-year, $6,000 scholarship for students studying marine and coastal sciences.
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 Consortium for Ocean Leadership, the Alfred and Jane Ross Foundation, Battelle Memorial Institute, New York Sea Grant, the Blue Ocean Institute, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science and New York State Marine Education Association.
"New York Sea Grant is pleased to continue our support for the annual Bay Scallop Bowl,” said Dr. Jim Ammerman, Director of New York Sea Grant. “It’s a fun and exciting competition that exposes students to the wonders of our oceans and draws these energetic, bright minds to the vital fields of marine science and policy that are so important to society today."
For more information about the Bay Scallop Bowl, go to the SoMAS Web site at: http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/community/bsb/index.html. The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is sponsored by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership in Washington, D.C. More information about the national event is available at www.nosb.org.
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.
New York Sea Grant (NYSG), one of 32 university programs of integrated research, education, and extension services promoting the coastal economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness of our marine and Great Lakes resources, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York (SUNY), Cornell University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The Bronx High School of Science students were crowned champs on March 3, 2012 for second time in the 11-year history of Stony Brook University's Bay Scallop Bowl. The team will now begin preparing for the 2012 National Ocean Science Bowl finals, to be held in Baltimore late in April
The team from Mt. Sinai High School was awarded second place in the Stony Brook University's 2012 Bay Scallop Bowl.
