University of Alaska Fairbanks SCHOOL OF FISHERIES AND OCEAN SCIENCES  
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SFOS Newsletter
Spring 2008

National Ocean Sciences Bowl
High school competition headed to Seward April 25

Later this month, 125 marine science experts will converge in Seward, Alaska, to share their knowledge of the world’s oceans. These experts aren’t professors or graduate students. They are teenagers, and they could challenge any oceanographer in a trivia game about ocean science.

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl, a rigorous high school marine science competition, will be held in Seward April 25-27. For the first time in competition history, the NOSB will bring twenty-five teams from high schools around the country to Alaska.
To compete in the national finals of NOSB, high school students compete in regional competitions across the United States, including Alaska. The winning five-member team from each region earns a free trip to the finals. Last year, the finals were held in Stony Brook, New York.

This year’s high school teams hail from as far away as Florida, New Hampshire and Texas. Other regions that will be represented in Seward include Kona, Hawaii; Long Beach, Mississippi; Cranston, Rhode Island; Dexter, Michigan; Sandy Hook, New Jersey; and more.

Alaska’s own winning team, the Juneau-Douglas High School “Naughty Nautilli”, will compete in Seward for the national title. Team members include Ross Douglas, Stephen Kubota, Kayla Harrison, Molly Emerson and Trentyn Days. The team is coached by Juneau-Douglas coach Ben Carney.

Since other regional teams won a trip to Alaska, UAF is sending the Juneau-Douglas team to California in late May for visits to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The team will receive the trip as a reward for winning Alaska’s regional NOSB competition.

NOSB organizers estimate that the national event will bring more than 250 students, volunteers, judges and family members to Seward. Among the activities planned for the students include a naturalist-guided trip on the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward, behind-the-scenes tours of the Alaska SeaLife Center and a Kenai Fjords cruise in Resurrection Bay donated by Renown Tours.

This year marks the eleventh year of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. This event is supported by multiple sponsors from within Alaska and around the nation. Learn about our generous NOSB donors at www.sfos.uaf.edu/nosb/donors.html.