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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, met today with five students from the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) High School in Sandy Hook. The students were visiting Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) Finals Competition, which were held from April 25 to April 27.
The New Jersey congressman met with Max Kornek, a senior from Oceanport attending the Florida Institute of Technology next year, Nicholas Dona, a senior from Freehold going into the U.S. Air Force next year, Danielle Delp, a junior from Manasquan, and Robert Gaffey from Locust and Alexander Kloo from Manasquan, both sophomores at MAST.
In February, MAST defeated 12 teams from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania in the Regional Competition held at Rutgers University. The MAST team then advanced to the finals where they competed against 25 other teams. The competition covers topics related to the study of oceans and marine sciences including biology, chemistry, physics and geology.
"I congratulate the students from the MAST team for winning the regional competition in New Jersey and for advancing to the National Ocean Sciences Bowl," Pallone said. "It was a pleasure to meet with these students who take such an active interest in ocean issues and I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors."
During his 20 years in Congress, Pallone has been a champion on issues pertaining to keeping our waters clean and safe. The congressman recently reintroduced the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism Anti-Drilling (COAST) Act to permanently extend the moratorium on oil and gas drilling of the Jersey Shore and all North and Mid-Atlantic states from Maine to North Carolina.
Pallone also introduced the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 to reauthorize grants awarded to states through the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACHES) Act. The legislation requires tough new beach water quality testing and notification standards and expands the scope of the BEACH Act to include pollution source tracking and prevention efforts.
The NOSB finals competition is run by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, representing leading oceanographic institutions, universities and aquaria. The NOSB was created in 1998 in honor of the International Year of the Ocean. Since its inception, the competition has grown to include 25 regional competition locations with 300 schools and more than 2,000 students participating annually.
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