Feb. 12, 2011 — For the third year in a row, Dos Pueblos High School of Goleta won the Kern County Regional Science Bowl today at California State University, Bakersfield. Second place went to Stockdale High School and third place went to Centennial High School, both in Bakersfield.

The Dos Pueblos team will now advance to the National Science Bowl sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., April 28-May 2.

The speedy final round included many buzzes by the competitors before moderator Miles Muzio, meteorologist for KBAK-29 Eyewitness News, finished giving the multiple choice answers.

"I'm always impressed by the level of knowledge of the students here," Muzio said during the awards ceremony. "Congratulations to all."

This year marks the 14th year the Science Bowl has been hosted by CSUB, and the 19th year Kern County has hosted the regional competition. The event featured 150 students from 15 high schools competing in a question-answer quiz format that covers biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, Earth science and astronomy. The event is sponsored by Occidental of Elk Hills and Aera Energy.

Dos Pueblos team captain Ilan Goodman said the students put a lot of energy into preparing for the competition.

"We've been practicing all year. We have meetings every week and more than once a week since New Years. We mostly do practice questions and read textbooks on subjects we haven't had classes on," he said.

The final question of the day was: "What oceanic plate sits west of the South American Plate, forming a convergent boundary?" The answer, given correctly by the Dos Pueblos team, was the Nazca Plate.

Thomas Meyer, CSUB professor of physics and computer science and coordinator of the event, said he was pleased by the good sportsmanship of all the students in today's competition.

"They're amazing. That's why we do it. These are such fantastic kids. Every time I participate in this, I think, 'The future of America is in good hands – scientifically speaking, that is,'" he said.

To learn more about participating in, sponsoring or volunteering for next year's Science Bowl, contact Penny Lampkins at (661) 654-3082 or plampkins@csub.edu.