UMW students Ricky Muñoz, left, and Kaleb Dunlap, third from left, pose with Southeast Division AAG teammates at the recent World Geography Bowl in Denver. They were selected for the team based on their showings at a fall 2022 SEDAAG competition.
In the World Geography Bowl competition held recently in Denver, Colorado, UMW geography students Kaleb Dunlap and Ricky Muñoz displayed a solid strategy: Don’t buzz in on a question till you’re sure what’s being asked.
Long, roundabout questions threw some contestants for a loop, but Dunlap and Muñoz dodged those pitfalls en route to an excellent performance at the bowl, held during the American Association of Geographers (AAG) annual meeting March 23-27.
The UMW students teamed up with other undergraduates and graduate students from the AAG’s Southeast Division (SEDAAG) to place second overall in the geography trivia bowl competition. They also performed notably in the individual rankings of the 40-plus participants. Muñoz, a senior double major in geography and history from Centreville, placed sixth, and Dunlap, a junior geography major from Virginia Beach, tied for eighth.
“This is extremely respectable for two undergraduate students in the national competition,” noted Professor of Geography Dawn Bowen. In fact, among undergraduates, Muñoz placed second and Dunlap third. Read more.