Spoonbill
Spoonbill Volunteers
Volunteers who join the event each year are from the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, USGS Coastal & Marine Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, Florida Marine Science Educators Association, Florida Sea Grant, Duke Energy, USF College of Marine Science, USF St. Petersburg, Eckerd College, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Florida Aquarium, Mote Marine Labs & Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo, Oceanography Camp for Girls Alumnae and Ocean Optics.
BE A VOLUNTEER
Upwards of 60 volunteers are needed for the Spoonbill competition. Volunteer Roles include Moderators, Science Judges, Rules Judges, Scorekeepers, Timekeepers, Runners, Expert Science Judges, Logistics, and Regional Coordinators. Volunteers receive a Spoonbill t-shirt, snacks and meals, inspiration as teams compete, and an ocean of fun.
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Registration Forms
What is Spoonbill?
- One of 25 regional NOSB Sites
- Sponsored by Consortium for Ocean Leadership
- 1-day academic bowl focusing on disciplines in oceanography
- Teams of 5 High School students compete for regional title
- Regional winners move on to advance to the National Competition in April
Who: Teams of 4 students, an alternate, and a coach from high schools from along the west-central
coast of Florida.
What: The Spoonbill Bowl consists of a round-robin and single-elimination formats for teams
of high school students. The format involves a timed competition of multiple-choice
or short-answer questions within the broad category of the oceans. Questions are drawn
from the scientific and technical disciplines used in studying the oceans (physics,
chemistry, geology, atmospheric science, biology, etc.) as well as topics on the contributions
of the oceans to national and international economics, history, and culture.
Where: USF College of Marine Science, Â鶹ÊÓƵ St. Petersburg, and Florida
Marine Research Institute. .
Why: The goals of this competition are to have fun while increasing understanding about
the oceans, advancing ocean literacy, and raising the visibility of ocean-related
research.
Volunteer Roles
Follow the links and read the details below about Volunteer Roles including, Moderators, Science Judges, Rules Judges, Scorekeepers, Timekeepers, Runners and Expert Science Judges.
Please visit for additional competition information
Interested in Volunteering?
Sign up here to be a Volunteer
Training Dates: January and February
Regional Competition: February each year
Questions - Contact
Teresa Greely, greely@usf.edu
Volunteer Responsibilities and Rules
Moderator Documents
- What does a Moderator do?
- Moderator Instructions
- Important Rules for Moderator
- Diagram for Moderator
Rules Judge Documents
Room Runner Documents
Science Judge Documents
Scorekeeper Documents
- What does a Scorekeeper do?
- Scorekeeper Instructions
- Official Score Sheets
- Sportsmanship Scoresheet New Version
- Scoring Matrix for Scorekeepers