WHO/WHAT: 2017 National Geographic Bee
The preliminary round of the 29th annual National Geographic Bee was held today, Monday, May 15. The top 10 finishers — from the field of 54 state-level champions who took part in the prelims — will compete in the final round to be held at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, May 17. First prize is a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society, including a subscription to National Geographic magazine, and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour ll. Travel for the trip is provided by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. The final and championship rounds will air on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Friday, May 19.
The 10 finalists are:
- Ahilan Eraniyan- California
- Rohan Kanchana- Delaware
- Max Garon- District of Columbia
- Nicholas Monahan- Idaho
- Lucas Eggers- Minnesota
- Abhinav Govindaraju- New Hampshire
- Veda Bhattaram- New Jersey
- Pranay Varada- Texas
- Anish Susarla- Virginia
- Thomas Wright- Wisconsin
Questions and answers from the preliminary round of the competition are available upon request.
WHEN/WHERE:
Final and championship rounds
Moderated by Mo Rocca
Wednesday, May 17, 10 a.m.
Doors open to media at 8:30 a.m. and close at 9:30 a.m.; mult-box provided
*All cameras must pull bugged HD feed from mult-box for final round/question
National Geographic Society, 1145 17th St NW
*Contestants as well as National Geographic spokespersons will be available for interviews directly after the competition.
CONTACTS:
Farley Fitzgerald, National Geographic, 202-807-3132, ffitzgerald@ngs.org
Lexie de los Santos, National Geographic, 202-807-3100, ldelossantos@ngs.org
ONLINE PRESS ROOM: bit.ly/NatGeoBeePress
Photos from the competition are available via Dropbox (required caption and credit info enclosed).