For the first time at Marshall University, an Earth Science Bowl will occur Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. as part of the celebration for the National Earth Science Week.

The overall winning team at each level will win a $150 gift certificate, and second place teams will win a $75 gift certificate.

Trophies will also be awarded to each member of the first and second place teams.

The contest is being sponsored by the Marshall College of Science and department of geology and will be held on the second floor of the Science Building, Room 276.

There will be three levels of competition, the first being high school students. High schools within a 60 mile radius of Marshall have been invited to the competition.

“High school programs are developing their earth science,” Ron Martino, professor of geology and chairman of the geology department, said.

“It’s a chance for high schools to show how good their students are.”

The second tier of the competition is for college who are not geology majors. All tiers of teams must be made of three individuals.

“Our second tier will be made up of non-geology majors,” Martino said.

“It could be a science major, an English major, a history major… Anybody who’s had a first semester course in geology would be in a really good position to compete.”

The third tier of competition will be geology majors.

Concord University and Morehead State are among the other universities who have been invited to compete against Marshall’s geology majors.