Rhode Island and Connecticut
High School Students to Compete in
Regional Tournament of National Ocean
Sciences Bowl
Narragansett, RI -- January 30, 2001 --
The regional tournament of the National
Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), dubbed the
Quahog
Bowl, will be held at the University
of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay Campus
on Saturday, February 10. For the
event, 16 teams of high school students
from Rhode Island and Connecticut are busy
getting ready for the regional
competition. The NOSB was created in 1998
by the Consortium for Oceanographic
Research to commemorate the International
Year of the Ocean.
Organized by the
URI
Office of Marine Programs, the 2001
Quahog Bowl is hosted by the
URI
Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO)
in collaboration with Mystic Aquarium, a
major sponsor.
Rhode Island students will compete from
the following schools: two teams from
Cranston High School West, Cranston High
School East, Woonsocket High School, and
Smithfield High School, and one team each
from Bishop Hendricken High School in
Warwick, Narragansett High School, North
Kingstown High School, Portsmouth High
School, and West Warwick High School. A
team from Cranston High School West was
the 2000 Quahog Bowl winner and placed
third in the national competition.
Connecticut schools competing for the
regional title include Miss Porter's
School in Farmington, Southington High
School, and Wilby High School in
Waterbury.
In preparation for the rapid-fire,
question-and-answer contest, teams of five
students study topics such as chemistry,
geology, physics, history and economics of
the marine environment. Top regional teams
will be invited to Miami Beach, Florida,
in April for the national final
competition.
Each of the five students on the top
two teams in the Quahog Bowl will receive
a $1,000 cash scholarship, a tour of the
Naval Underwater Warfare Center in
Newport, including a visit to the Center's
simulation laboratory, a field trip aboard
the URI vessel Cap'n Bert, and
premium memberships to Mystic Aquarium.
"The goal of this national initiative
is to interest bright high school students
in ocean sciences," said Gail Scowcroft,
Associate Director of Marine and
Environmental Education at URI's Office of
Marine Programs. "We have a critical need
in the U.S. for scientists who will be
able to solve marine-related problems, and
we are pleased that the URI Graduate
School of Oceanography is able to provide
this service to Rhode Island and
Connecticut high school students."
Patterned after the National Science
Bowl, the National Ocean Sciences Bowl was
inaugurated in 1998 to provide a forum for
students who excel in math and science to
receive national recognition for their
diligence and talent while broadening
their awareness and understanding of the
oceans. Federal sponsors of the National
Ocean Sciences Bowl include the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
the Office of Naval Research, the
Oceanographer of the Navy, the National
Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological
Survey, NASA, Anteon Corporation, the
National Sea Grant College Program, and
the Center for Marine Conservation.
Major regional sponsors include the URI
Graduate School of Oceanography; Mystic
Aquarium; Pfizer, Inc.; Connecticut Sea
Grant; Rhode Island Sea Grant; URI Friends
of Oceanography; the URI President's
Office; the Continental Sloop
Providence; and the Slater Center
for Ocean Technology and Biotechnology.
For more information about the
competition, contact Gail Scowcroft in the
URI Office of Marine Programs at (401)
874-6211 or visit the Quahog Bowl website
at
http://omp.gso.uri.edu/edu/nosb/nosb.htm.
Contact:
Lisa
Cugini, (401) 874-6642,
Gail
Scowcroft, (401) 874-6211
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