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CORVALLIS - Seventy high school students from across the state will compete at the Oregon State University Salmon Bowl on Feb. 5.

The OSU event, which is hosted by the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, is one of 25 regional competitions being held across the nation as part of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education's National Ocean Sciences Bowl. Regional winners will travel to the national competition in Mississippi in April.

Teams include The Dalles-Wahtonka Union High School, McMinnville High School, South Medford High School, Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Grant High School in Portland, Newport High, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Scappoose High School, West Salem High School, Neah-Kah-Nie High School in Rockaway Beach, McKay High School in Salem and Benson High School in Portland.

Last year, Neah-Kah-Nie won the regional competition and advanced to the national finals with Newport taking second.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium team is composed of high school students from several cities who do volunteer work at the aquarium.

At OSU, as well as on the national level, the questions given the teams will be in a rapid-fire format and will test knowledge of how the oceans affect climate, economic well-being, history, culture and quality of life.

The round-robin schedule begins at 9 a.m. in Burt and Wilkinson halls on the OSU campus, and is free and open to the public. The top four teams compete in semi-final rounds at 2:45 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. Finals begin at 4 p.m.

Topics will include biology, chemistry, geology, physics, history and economics of the ocean and ocean-related current events.

The Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education represents 74 oceanographic institutions, universities and aquaria. The first National Ocean Sciences Bowl was first conducted in 1998 in honor of the International Year of the Ocean. In the past, teams winning the national competition have earned trips to the Southampton Oceanography Centre in England; Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies on Catalina Island, California; the Florida Keys; cruises on research vessels; visits to oceanographic institutions and aquaria; scholarships; scientific equipment and books.