Eleventh Annual Bay Scallop Bowl March 3, 2012

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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 2012 Bay Scallop Bowl will be held on Saturday 03 March 2012 at the Student Activities Center on the Stony Brook University campus.

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 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 Ocean Leadership web page: http://oceanleadership.org/.

2011 Bay Scallop Bowl Results

Top row from left: David Chase (coach), Patrick McKeown Bottom row from left: Samuel May, Nick O’Mara, Kenneth Gunasekera and David Eberhard

Making a strong case for dynastic status, Mt. Sinai High School out-answered fifteen other rival schools to win the 10th Annual Bay Scallop Bowl held at Stony Brook University on February 5, 2011. Each member of the Mt. Sinai team received a $1,000 cash prize and an all expenses paid trip to compete in the 2011 National Ocean Sciences Bowl Finals in Galveston, Texas in late April, 2011. This was the 6th win for Mt. Sinai in the 10 years of the Bay Scallop Bowl.

Mt. Sinai’s five-student “A” team went undefeated in nine matches, each of which consisted of two six-minute question and answer rounds interspersed with two analytical essay-style questions (Team Challenge Questions). In the finals match, Mt. Sinai faced a set of familiar faces, the perennially strong group from Churchville-Chili (CHY-lie) Senior High School from the suburbs of Rochester, New York. The match was close throughout. When time finally elapsed on the round, the score stood Mt. Sinai 65 and Churchville-Chili 62. The Mighty Mustangs were going to Galveston!!

As 2nd place winners, each student on the Churchville-Chili team received a cash prize of $750. Each member of the 3rd place team, Bronx High School of Science, received $500. The team from St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn was selected for the 2011 Bay Scallop Bowl Sportsmanship Award and won a “behind-the scene” tour of the Atlantis Marine World aquarium and the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation’s marine mammal and sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation center.

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)