Mid-Atlantic Team with SU Students Wins AAG World Geography Bowl
SALISBURY, MD---What two rivers make up the Fertile Crescent? What country leads the world in shrimp aquaculture?
Two Salisbury University students, Zachery Radziewicz and Daniel Milbrath, were part of a Mid-Atlantic team that correctly answered questions like these to win first place at the 2018 World Geography Bowl in New Orleans.
The American Association of Geographers (AAG) has held the annual competition for teams of college-level geography students for nearly three decades.
The Mid-Atlantic and Southeast teams advanced to the championship after proving themselves the best of 10 divisional teams competing in AAG’s preliminaries. (They represented eight regions, plus two spoiler teams: Longitude and Latitude).
According to AAG, “After a neck and neck round of toss-up questions, Mid-Atlantic pulled out the victory in the team question portion of the final.”
The Mid-Atlantic “all-star” team was advised by Dr. Fulbert Namwamba, faculty in SU’s Geography and Geosciences and Environmental Studies departments. The two SU students were selected based on their individual scoring performances at the regional competition for AAG’s Middle Atlantic Division. The winning team also included two students from the University of Maryland, College Park, and another from George Washington University.
“I enjoyed the final round the most,” said Radziewicz, a senior from Easton, MD. “It was intense because we were playing against the other top team, which drew a large crowd and many spectators. It was most exciting when the judges announced the final scores!”
“I enjoyed meeting the other students on the team and other teams,” said Milbrath, a sophomore from Dickerson, MD. “The team came from all over, so building a relationship quickly and having a winning mentality made it fun.”
He recalled questions about current political geography, and others that involved using heat maps to identify locations that people were running, biking and boating around the world. “It was quite unique,” he said.
Both SU students are majoring in geography, and specializing in geographic information science. Radziewicz said the win will hopefully help him when applying for jobs. Milbrath’s interest in pursuing research in graduate school was piqued by meeting other students at the conference.
Both applauded new and veteran faculty of the Geography and Geosciences Department for “cultivating learning” and preparing them for the competition. The department supported the students in traveling to the regional final in Washington, D.C., and the national championship in Louisiana.
For more information, call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.