Mid-Atlantic Team, Lead by UMD Students, Takes 2018 World Geography Bowl Title
"Which countries import the most coffee per capita?" "What type of soil, which starts with the 3rd letter in Louisiana, is most common in the state?" "What two rivers make up the Fertile Crescent?" "An ingredient in the popular hurricane drinks of New Orleans, the invention of rum is credited to what country?"
Two University of Maryland Geographical Sciences students, PhD student Matthew Cooper and sophomore Brian Slobotsky, were part of the Mid-Atlantic Divison team that answered the above questions, and more, correctly to win the 2018 World Geography Bowl in New Orleans. (In case you're wondering, Finland imports the most coffee per capita, Ultisols are most common in Louisiana, the Tigris and the Euphrates flow through the Fertile Crescent, and Barbados invented rum!)
Matthew Cooper and Brian Slobotsky.
From the AAG, "The World Geography Bowl is an annual quiz competition for teams of college-level geography students representing the AAG’s regional divisions. The 2018 event marked the 29th year for hosting during the AAG Annual Meeting. Ten teams representing eight of the regional divisions as well as two ad hoc spoiler teams competed in the 9 round preliminary match up. The eight divisions represented were: Mid Atlantic, East Lakes, West Lakes, Southwest, Southeast, Great Plains/Rocky Mountain, New England-St. Lawrence Valley, and Middle States Divisions. The two spoiler teams were aptly named Longitude and Latitude.
The championship round challenged the top two teams from the round-robin preliminaries: Southeast and Mid Atlantic. After a neck and neck round of toss-up questions, Mid Atlantic pulled out the victory in the team question portion of the final. AAG President Derek Alderman was on hand during the final round to serve as the guest judge and grantor of the prize atlases courtesy of National Geographic Society to the winning team."
The team consisted of an all-star selection of students from across the region. While Matthew and Brian represented UMD, Christine MacKrell represented George Washington University, and Zachery Radziewicz and Daniel Milbrath represented Salisbury University. The team was advised by Dr. Fulbert Namwamba from Salisbury's Geography and Geosciences and Environmental Studies departments. The team brought with them an enthusiastic group of fans, who cheered them on from the first round at 7:30 PM, to the final question at 12:45 PM!
The team preparing to answer the final team questions.
Congratulations to the entire Mid-Atlantic Team, as well as Matthew, who earned the team's MVP status. We are very proud of you!
Check out videos from the competition on our Facebook page: Early Round Againt SEDAAG & Final Question.
Published on Tue, 06/05/2018 - 16:43