An Ohio State doctoral candidate in geography took first place in the National Geography Bowl March 27 in Boston. Jon Moore, who won the individual championship for the second time, captained this year’s East Great Lakes region team that won the national championship.”It is a great professional achievement,” Moore said.The National Geography Bowl is held every year at the Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers. Nine regions from all over the country compete with each other for one individual and one team championship.Moore’s team represented universities in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, including students from the University of Miami and the University of Toledo. “Questions are related to human, physical and scientific geography, and places and regions,” he said. “A broad knowledge of the subject is necessary.”Moore, who has been a doctoral student at OSU since fall quarter, outscored the closest opponent by 10 points. Individual scores are tallied after seven matches and one person is selected as the champion.Moore won atlases and mapping software from the sponsors, which included the National Geographic Society, Rand McNally and Hammond Corporation.Moore prepared for the competition by teaching geography at OSU, reading maps, and keeping in touch with regional information. “I have been studying world geography all my life,” he said. “Just like reading novels or watching your favorite shows on TV, geography allows my mind and imagination to travel all over the world.” A total of 42,000 geographers, including college faculty and graduate students from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, attended this year’s conference.Jeffery Rogers, professor of geography at OSU, said the entire department is happy for Moore. “It is good to know that we have a lot of sharp people over here,” he said. “This gives the department good recognition.”In the future, Moore plans to teach geography at the college level.