Eighth Annual Bay Scallop Bowl February 7, 2009

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The Bay Scallop Bowl is a regional competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) held annually in New York.  The bowl is hosted by the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences(SoMAS) at Stony Brook University and takes place on the Stony Brook University campus on a Saturday in February or early March.  The competition features teams of high school students competing for cash prizes and a chance to represent New York in the NOSB final competition.

The 2009 Bay Scallop Bowl will be held on Saturday, 07 February 2009 at the Student Activities Center on the Stony Brook University campus. For registration information and instructions, please contact Kim Knoll or William Wise.

What is the National Ocean Science Bowl?

The National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB) is an annual competition for high school students and is sponsored by the Washington DC-based Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Ocean Leadership representing the nation’s leading marine research institutions, laboratories, and aquaria, sponsors the NOSB.  The National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) and federal government provide base funding for the NOSB, but local host institutions must meet the costs of running their regional competitions.  The objective of the NOSB is to raise awareness an understanding on the oceans and coastal resources among the nation’s high school students.  Each year, the NOSB orchestrates 20-25 regional competitions distributed around the nation’s coastal areas, including the Great Lakes region.  Regional competitions are held in February or early March.  The winning teams from each regional event meet in the NOSB finals, held in late April at a different coastal location each year.  The top-finishing teams in the NOSB finals receive great prizes featuring all expenses paid multi-day trips to oceanographic laboratories around the country.

Why have a Regional Site in New York?

New York’s schools are among the best in the nation and our high school students do extremely well in science fairs and national science competitions, such as that sponsored by the Intel Corporation.  Many Long Island high schools offer courses in oceanography or marine biology.  The average interest and knowledge level about the marine environment among Long Island high school students is high. 

Why at SoMAS?

The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences is among the world’s great institutions for study and instruction in the marine and atmospheric sciences.  It has a long history of working with state and municipal governments, the business community, non-governmental organizations, and the people of coastal New York to better understand and manage the marine environment that is so important to the state’s economy and lifestyle.  The School has conducted extensive programs and activities over the past thirty years involving local school districts, teachers, and students.  As the locus for marine science research and education in New York, SoMAS is the natural host for a New York NOSB regional competition.

For more information about the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, see the OL web page: http://oceanleadership.org/.

2009 Bay Scallop Bowl Results

2009 Bay Scallop Bowl winner Mt. Sinai High School. Back row- Coach David Chase, Elizabeth Delio, and Coach Andrew Matthews. Front row- Elliot Kurtz, Matthew Clark, Russell Leiborwitz, and Kenneth Gunasekera.

Mt. Sinai High School defeated rival Churchville-Chili High School to win the 8th Annual Bay Scallop Bowl held at Stony Brook University on February 7th, 2009.
Each member of the Mt. Sinai team received a $1,000 cash prize and an all expenses paid trip to compete in the 2009 National Ocean Sciences Bowl Finals, scheduled for Washington D.C. at the end of April.

After many rounds of competition between the 16 participating teams from across New York, the Mt. Sinai team and Churchville-Chili team faced each other in the final rounds. Mt. Sinai, whose one loss of the day was to Churchville-Chili, faced that team again in round 11. If Churchville-Chili had won round 11, they would have won the competition. Instead, Mt. Sinai dominated the round, forcing a final round to decide the winner.

It was a nail-biting finish. Despite earning zero points in the first buzzer round, Churchville-Chili performed well in the team challenge questions and surged in the second buzzer round. However, Mt. Sinai’s initial lead proved to be insurmountable. The final score was Mt. Sinai 66, Churchville-Chili 52.

Each member of the 2nd place team, Churchville-Chili High School, received a cash prize of $750. Each member of the 3rd place team, Longwood High School, received $500. The team from The Stony Brook School was selected for the sportsmanship award and won several oceanography books for their team library.

The Bay Scallop Bowl is administered by the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences of Stony Brook University. Persons interested in learning more about the event should contact event organizers Kim Knoll (kknoll@notes.cc.sunysb.edu) or William Wise (wwise@notes.cc.sunysb.edu)