Record number of teams set to compete in state Ocean Sciences Bowl

Submitted by Carin Stephens
Phone: 907-322-8730
12/12/08

If the numbers hold up, Seward will host the largest number of Alaska high school teams in the event’s history when the annual Alaska Region National Ocean Sciences Bowl takes place in February.

Up to 17 teams representing 13 Alaska high schools plan to compete in the Alaska Region NOSB competition in Seward Feb. 6-8, 2009. The schools represent both large and small communities, both urban and rural, from Southeast Alaska to the Arctic Circle.

"Last year we had 15 teams and this year we have 17 signed up," said organizer Phyllis Shoemaker of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. "If no team drops out, we’ll beat last year’s record, so we are going in the right direction."

The winner of the Alaska Region NOSB competition will compete in the NOSB finals, scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. April 25-27, 2009.

The Alaska Region NOSB, also called the Tsunami Bowl, consists of two equally weighted parts: a tournament-style academic competition designed to challenge students’ knowledge of ocean sciences; and a research project that has both written and public speaking components. This year students must identify the affects of ocean acidification on Alaska communities, considering the atmosphere, ice, ocean and land. Teams must then propose policy changes or actions to deal with the specific problem or hazard the team identifies as most critical.

2009 Alaska NOSB Teams

• Anchorage; South Anchorage High School (two teams)
• Copper Center; Kenny Lake High School
• Cordova; Cordova High School (two teams)
• Eagle River; Eagle River High School (two teams)
• Juneau; Juneau-Douglas High School and Thunder Mountain (two teams)
• Kodiak; Kodiak High School
• Mountain Village; Ignatius Beans Memorial School Complex (two teams)
• Petersburg; Petersburg High School
• Seward, Seward High School
• Wasilla; Mat-Su Career and Technical High School and Wasilla High School (two teams)
• White Mountain; White Mountain School

Sponsors of the Alaska competition include the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Alaska Sea Grant, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, the University of Alaska Southeast, Alaska SeaLife Center, Prince William Sound Science Center, the Unalaska Divers Association and more.

CONTACT: Phyllis Shoemaker, UAF SFOS Seward Marine Center, by phone at 907-224-4312 or via e-mail at fnpas1@uaf.edu OR Carin Stephens, public information officer, by phone at 907-322-8730 or via e-mail at stephens@sfos.uaf.edu.