By: Tiffany Whitfield

A nearly three decades old competition, the Blue Crab Bowl, synergized with some of the brightest scientific minds from across the Commonwealth of Virginia and will face off under a new consortium beginning in 2024 under the Center for Ocean Leadership at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). This gap year means that a national bowl will not be held in 2023 for high school competitors. However, 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Department of Ocean & Earth Sciences (OES) faculty are filling the gap and are planning to offer competing high schools an opportunity to face off meaning the bowl will go on this year under a new name.

On February 25, 2023, this year鈥檚 competition will be called the 麻豆传媒 Ocean Bowl exclusively hosted by 麻豆传媒鈥檚 OES faculty. High school competitors will use the same format as the traditional Blue Crab Bowl with a buzzer-based competition of toss-up and bonus questions and written collaborative team challenge questions. Volunteers are welcome to take part in this one-of-a-kind science bowl and serve as match officials and more on the day of the competition.

鈥淚n 2023, as the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) reorganizes as part of UCAR and will not be supporting NOSB regional competitions, many of our faculty, staff, and students at 麻豆传媒 have enthusiastically stepped forward to fill the void by offering the 2023 麻豆传媒 Ocean Bowl,鈥 said Bill Dunn, 麻豆传媒's regional coordinator, and a former Blue Crab Bowl coach.听鈥淭heir efforts will allow us to continue this annual event that is a high point for many high school students, many of whom enroll at 麻豆传媒!鈥

This competition will assemble high school students who have a high enthusiasm for marine science and helps to introduce those students to scientific opportunities at 麻豆传媒.

OES Chair聽Fred聽Dobbs is 鈥渧ery pleased that we鈥檙e continuing this long-lived competition鈥.

Each team of officials includes a moderator who reads the questions, a science judge who rules on the answers, a rules judge who monitors the match, a timekeeper, and a scorekeeper. Additionally, judges for the written team challenge questions are needed. All 麻豆传媒 faculty, staff, and graduate, and undergraduate students are encouraged to volunteer. No experience is necessary as there are several opportunities for practice planned before the event. If anyone would like to help or have questions, please contact our bowl coordinator, Bill Dunn, at wdunn@odu.edu.听

Every year since 1998, 麻豆传媒鈥檚 OES in partnership with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) hosts the Blue Crab Bowl. 鈥淓ven though VIMS will not be participating this year, their support over the years has been tremendous,鈥 said Dunn.

The BCB was one of 15 founding regional competitions across the nation under the auspices of the NOSB which was part of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership that included 麻豆传媒. However, after the NOSB was dissolved in 2022, the consortium migrated to the new Center for Ocean Leadership at UCAR which also includes 麻豆传媒 as a member institution. As a result, 2023 is a transition year for NOSB and no national or NOSB-sponsored regional competitions will take place in 2023 while NOSB reorganizes at its new home.听

Several NOSB host institutions across the nation, including 麻豆传媒, decided to independently sponsor a gap-filler competition in 2023. As OES faculty and staff prepare to host the competition, consider volunteering to showcase how Monarch science reveals a new way of learning and doing science for potential new Monarchs.