Several students from the University of Florida Department of Food and Resource Economics traveled recently to the Southern Applied Economics Association’s (SAEA) annual meeting in Oklahoma City, where they competed on the national level to showcase their knowledge of applied economics topics in a timed-trivia competition format.

Currently, the team consists of Nehemie Cyriaque, Shelby Sumner, Eleni Stilian, Nathaniel Douglas, Matthew Friedman, Matthew Ongel, and Wyatt Basen.

“Quiz Bowl has helped me a ton throughout my time as a member of the team,” said Matthew Friedman. “I have been able to better understand concepts and ideas taught in my previous classes, as well as new ones that were taught in my future and current classes. I have also gained experience in networking going to the SAEA and AAEA conferences by making connections with the students I compete with as well as the professors who attend the conferences as well.”

For this competition, they were paired up with students from different universities. Shelby Sumner was on a team that placed second, while Matthew Friedman was on a team that placed fourth.

“My teammates were Tyson Schneider from West Texas A&M University and Clayton Antwine from Oklahoma State University, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team,” said Shelby Sumner. “The SAEA competition is my favorite because the focus of the event is networking and meeting people from other schools, and it forces you to adapt your strategies and strengths to best work with your new team.”

This summer, they will travel again to compete at the Applied and Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) conference in Washington, DC, in July. However, this time they will be competing together with their teammates from the University of Florida, as opposed to being split up.

“I loved seeing my students competing with students all over the United States at SAEA, and it was nice to see that they were the ones who often were the leaders or who buzzed in the most on their teams,” said Dr. Misti Sharp, advisor to the Quiz Bowl team.  “I think they are going to perform exceptionally well together this summer, as the experience at SAEA really motivated them to kick their studying into high gear, and they requested longer and more directed practices to prepare. This is an incredibly competitive group, and I think they are well-poised to take on the best teams of our rival schools.”

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