WHAT: Eighteen local high schools will compete in the 12th annual Los Angeles “Surf Bowl,” a regional ocean sciences competition to be held Saturday, Feb. 5, at the University of Southern California. USC’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., co-host the academic competition.

The competition is based on the ocean sciences and focuses on four main disciplines: biology, chemistry, geology, and the physical properties of the marine/coastal environment. In a timed game-show format, teams must answer multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Each team has four students.

The winning student team will compete against 24 other regional champions at the National Ocean Sciences Bowl at Texas A&M University at Galveston, April 29 through May 1. About 2,000 students from more than 300 high schools nationwide participate in this academic competition. The theme for this year’s competition is “Human Responses to Ocean Events.”

The competition was developed to foster the next generation of marine scientists, researchers and environmental advocates. The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is a program of the nonprofit Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, based in Washington, D.C.

WHO: Students from 18 local high schools (see list on second page).

WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 5, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Final match begins at about 4:30 p.m. The awards presentation begins around 5 p.m.

WHERE: University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Taper Hall, first floor, 3501 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, 90089. Enter campus through Gate 3 on Figueroa Street. Parking is free in Parking Structure X with valid media credentials.

More information about JPL is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov .

More information and a map of USC is at: http://www.usc.edu .

High Schools Competing in Los Angeles ‘Surf Bowl”

Animo Leadership Charter High School, Inglewood
Arcadia High School, Arcadia
Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Hills
Crescenta Valley High School, La Crescenta
Culver City High School, Culver City
Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada Hills
Herbert Hoover High School, Glendale
Huntington Beach High School, Huntington Beach
North Hollywood High School, North Hollywood
Palos Verdes High School, Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rolling Hills Estates
San Dimas High School, San Dimas
Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica
Temple City High School, Temple City
University High School, Irvine
Wilson High School, Long Beach
Woodbridge High School, Irvine