(RALEIGH, N.C.)  – The Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences (MATES) team from Manahawkin competed at the 2019 National Conservation Foundation (NCF)-Envirothon recently. MATES, the New Jersey State Champion, finished 15^th out of 53 teams in the international environmental and natural resources education competition for high schoolers at North Carolina State University.

The MATES team members were Brady Nichols, Jillian Peslak, Anastasia Shehady, Erin Forman and Steven Holmberg.

Teams across the U.S., Canada and China traveled to this year’s competition, hosted by North Carolina Envirothon. Throughout the week-long competition, students demonstrated their knowledge on soils and land use, aquatic ecology, current environmental issues, forestry and wildlife management through written tests and interactive stations featuring North Carolina’s natural resources. The teams also prepared oral presentations on this year’s current issue, “Agriculture and the Environment: Knowledge and Technology to Feed the World.”

The top eight teams were awarded scholarships and prizes, with the top three scoring teams receiving $30,000 in total, thanks to the support of Smithfield Foods, Inc. 

The top 5 teams from the competition were from: Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York and Mississippi.

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