Lexington High School Ocean Bowl Team Takes 4th Place in National Contest

Cambridge, MA ¤ MIT Sea Grant is pleased to announce that the winning team from the Blue Lobster Bowl took 4th place in the 15th annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl Finals, held April 19-22, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. The team from Lexington High School, in Lexington, MA, also received a special recognition of excellence for achieving the highest score in the Scientific Expert Briefing component of the finals competition. This component requires students to take on the roles of various scientific and legislative stakeholders and present scientific testimony to a panel of judges. This is the team¡s second trip to nationals in two years under the guidance of team coach and Lexington High teacher Dr. Sarah Damassa. In addition to participating in the two-day competition, the team had a chance to tour the National Aquarium at Baltimore, meet a wide variety of ocean science professionals during a speed-careerŒ search, take part in field trips that included opportunities to investigate marine debris pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, and perform hands-on experiments at the University of Maryland¡s Center of Marine Biotechnology. For their fourth prize trip, the Lexington High School team will be taking an all-expenses-paid journey to the coast of North Carolina. Over the course of the 4-day trip, the team will SCUBA dive and explore the Shackleford Banks barrier island system aboard the R/V Susan Hudson. The team will also tour research labs at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University and Duke University.For more information about the Blue Lobster Bowl, visit/blb.php .ABOUT MIT SEA GRANTThe mission of the MIT Sea Grant College Program is to employ innovative research, education and outreach strategies to responsibly use and sustain the vital marine resources of Massachusetts. The issues we address manifest locally but many are global in nature. Compelling challenges demand our attention as a solo entity and in partnership with other groups living and working on the coasts and at sea. MIT Sea Grant brings the substantial intellectual abilities of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and our sister universities to bear on ocean-related challenges requiring an extraordinary technical contribution. In meeting these challenges, we expand human understanding of the ocean and establish the infrastructure to sustain the initiatives and talent pool needed to address complex issues of critical and fragile marine resources.ABOUT THE BLUE LOBSTER BOWLThe Blue Lobster Bowl is organized by Rachel VanCott, educator and ocean science literacy communicator for the MIT Sea Grant College Program. Every year, the event engages 120 students and more than 50 community volunteers including volunteers from People Making a Difference; staff from MIT Sea Grant; students from MIT, Northeastern University, Boston University, Harvard University, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Tufts University; as well as many NOSB alumni.ABOUT THE NATIONAL OCEAN SCIENCES BOWL The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is run by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, representing leading oceanographic institutions universities and aquaria. The NOSB was created in 1998, in honor of the International Year of the Ocean. Each year, approximately 2,000 students from 300 schools across the nation compete. NOSB goals include increasing high school students¡ knowledge of the oceans, enhancing public understanding and stewardship of the oceans, and opening students¡ eyes to ocean-related careers.