CORVALLIS, Ore. - High school teams from around the country will compete April 20-23 at Oregon State University in the finals of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, an academic quiz-bowl style competition focusing on knowledge of issues relating to the world's oceans. 

Competitors are the winning teams from 25 regional bowls held in February and include the first-place finishers at OSU's regional contest, the Salmon Bowl. The winner of that bowl, hosted by the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, is Rockaway Beach's Neah-Kah-Nie High School. A full list of competing teams is available here: http://bit.ly/2pBj5Kb.

This national competition, sponsored by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership based in Washington, D.C., is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. 

Students will be quizzed on their knowledge of ocean science and related issues, including a diverse range of scientific disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, geology, technology and policy. The theme for this year's Finals is "Blue Energy: Powering the Planet with our Ocean."

Designed to test students' knowledge and encourage careers in ocean sciences, this year's competition will cover basic ocean science questions such as "What effect does the El Niño Southern Oscillation have on the fishing industries in the Northern Hemisphere?" and explore topics relevant to the theme. Among them:

  • Technologies used to harness energy from waves, tides, currents, wind and other sources;
  • Challenges to implementing marine renewable energy;
  • Potential impacts of marine renewable energy on ecosystems and marine life;
  • Challenges of deploying, retrieving and maintaining ocean instruments and technologies;
  • Permits and regulatory policies;
  • Organizations and groups involved in marine renewable energy research and commercialization. 

Oregon State University is home to the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, a consortium of universities, faculty and students that conducts research and tests technologies to harness ocean power.

The 25 teams convene on the evening of Thursday, April 20, for a career mentoring event and spend Friday on eight different marine science-focused field trips to the Oregon coast ahead of the weekend's competition. 

The welcome and competition will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday in the LInC Room 128. The event concludes with the awards ceremony from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit nosb.org.

Major sponsors include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Office of Naval Research; Schwab Charitable Fund made possible by the generosity of Wendy and Eric Schmidt; Deerbrook Charitable Trust; Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management; Shell; Eastman Foundation; Lockheed Martin; and Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. A complete list of sponsors can be found here: http://nosb.org/about-nosb/sponsors/.

 


 

About National Ocean Sciences Bowl: The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is a program of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership based in Washington, D.C. Now in its 20th year, the NOSB inspires students to pursue a college degree and future career in the ocean sciences. Through this educational forum, the NOSB introduces students, teachers, schools, and communities to ocean sciences as an interdisciplinary field of study and a possible career path. Most high school students do not have the opportunity to study ocean science as part of their formal coursework, which makes the NOSB one of the only ways students gain exposure to this field. Many past NOSB participants have moved on to pursue college degrees and careers in ocean science, helping to solve the growing environmental, economic and security issues facing our ocean and planet. 

About Consortium for Ocean Leadership: The Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL) is a Washington, D.C. nonprofit organization that represents the leading public and private ocean research education institutions, aquaria, and industry with the mission to shape the future of ocean science and technology. In addition to its advocacy role as the voice of the ocean research and technology community, COL manages a variety of community-wide research and education programs in areas of ocean observing, ocean exploration, and ocean partnerships.

Source: 

Allison Hays, 941-962-9266, [email protected]; Flaxen Conway, 541-737-1339, [email protected]

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