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Bowlers touring WHOI

High-school students tour the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility (NOSAMS) lab as WHOI research specialist Ann McNichol (center) explains how a carbon sample is extracted from a variety of sources such as a bottle of water, bulk soil, or a collection of shells. The sample is then converted into the solid carbon required for a radiocarbon measurement. WHOI and Woods Hole Sea Grant annually host winners of the regional Blue Lobster Bowl academic competition for a daylong tour of WHOI facilities. Regional competitions culminate in the National Ocean Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. In December 2008, The Massachusetts winning team from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, was accompanied by the team from the Maritime Academy of Science and Technology, Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The Lincoln-Sudbury team also won the full National Ocean Science Bowl competition. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)