29th National Geographic Bee


The 29th annual National Geographic Bee was held in Washington, D.C. It was sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The State Bees were held on March 31, 2017, where the 54 finalists were determined. The 2017 Champion, Pranay Varada, received a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society, and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition for two to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour ll.

2017 State Champions

On March 31, 2017, the National Geographic State Bees were held across the 50 states, Washington, D.C., the Atlantic Territories, the Pacific Territories, and the Department of Defense. Fifty-four State or Territory level Champions were determined.
StateNameSchoolCity/TownGradePlace
Jason DiRussoLouis Pizitz Middle SchoolVestavia Hills8th-
Andres AriasNicholas J Begich Middle SchoolAnchorage8th-
Aditya NarayananSonoran Sky Elementary SchoolScottsdale5th-
Denis CarranzaElmwood Middle SchoolRogers7th-
Atlantic TerritoriesMatthew HaughtonAntilles SchoolSt. Thomas, VI8th-
Ahilan EraniyanDiablo Vista Middle SchoolDanville6thT-7th
Henry HalgrenLiberty Common High SchoolFort Collins6th-
William FosterIndependent Day SchoolMiddlefield8th-
Rohan KanchanaNewark Charter SchoolNewark8thT-7th
Department of DefenseConnor BuchheitWiesbaden Middle SchoolWiesbaden, Germany8th-
Max GaronSidwell Friends Middle SchoolWashington7thT-7th
Jacob SilverCypress Lake Middle SchoolFt. Myers6th-
Vishal SareddyRiverwatch Middle SchoolSuwanee7th-
Logan KakugawaHawaii Baptist AcademyHonolulu8th-
Nicholas MonahanPayette Lakes Middle SchoolMcCall8th4th
Sahan YalavarthiTwin Groves Middle SchoolBuffalo Grove7th-
Dylan SchutteSunman-Dearborn Middle SchoolBrookville8th-
Grant PedersenCardinal Middle SchoolEldon7th-
Sathvik KasarabadaCalifornia Trail Middle SchoolOlathe7th-
Evan WinklerMorton Middle SchoolLexington8th-
Issac JabaleyLusher Charter SchoolNew Orleans6th-
Joseph Theodore LuchsingerBerwick AcademySouth Berwick7th-
Nabhoneel Sil UpadhyayKingsview Middle SchoolGermantown8th-
Theodore Z. BattyJenkins Elementary SchoolScituate6th-
Peter Deegan-KrauseFerndale Middle SchoolFerndale6th-
Lucas EggersSTAR Homeschool AcademyMinnetonka8th6th
Edmund DoerksenOxford Middle SchoolOxford8th-
Rohan RaoGentry Middle SchoolColumbia7th-
Ian WilliamsSussex SchoolMissoula8th-
Brendan PenningtonPrairie Lane Elementary SchoolOmaha8th-
Maia MarshallSt Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic SchoolLas Vegas8th-
Abhinav GovindarajuRoss A. Lurgio Middle SchoolBedford7th10th
Veda BhattaramRobert R. Lazar Middle SchoolMontville7th3rd
Lakshay SoodAlbuquerque AcademyAlbuquerque6th-
Tayler AndersonNyack Middle SchoolNyack7th-
Max DyerPhoenix AcademyHigh Point6th-
Krishna KamalakannanDiscovery Middle SchoolFargo7th-
Saket PochirajuOrange Middle SchoolLewis Center7th-
Antonino LibarnesOak Hill Episcopal SchoolArdmore5th-
Ashwin SivakumarOregon Episcopal SchoolPortland7th-
Pacific TerritoriesJoanah JimenezMarianas Baptist AcademySaipan, MP7th-
Eshan SinghCharles H Boehm Middle SchoolYardley7th-
Isaiah SuchmanNathan Bishop Middle SchoolProvidence8th-
Connor FraleyWilliams Middle SchoolFlorence8th-
Owen FinkBridgewater-Emery SchoolBridgewater6th-
Simeon BetapudiEvangelical Christian SchoolCordova7th-
Pranay VaradaDeWitt Perry Middle SchoolCarrollton8thChampion
Ankit GargBear River Charter SchoolLogan7th-
Anshuta BeeramFrederick H Tuttle Middle SchoolSouth Burlington6th-
Anish SusarlaBelmont Ridge Middle SchoolLeesburg6th5th
Arjun NathanPine Lake Middle SchoolSammamish8th-
Hunter MidcapSt. Michael Parish SchoolWheeling8th-
Thomas WrightUniversity School of MilwaukeeMilwaukee8th2nd
Preston BuehlerStar Valley Middle SchoolAfton7th-

Preliminary Rounds

The Preliminary Competition was held on Monday, May 15, 2017. It consisted of two parts: a written part and an oral part worth 16 points total. In the written part, contestants were asked to write a sentence about why preserving oceans is important, identify places on a map that had been part of National Geographic's "pristine seas" project, and write an paragraph about which place needed to have steps taken for its preservation first: The Rio de la Plata estuary, the Sundarbans, or the Great Barrier Reef. It was graded out of six points total. The oral part consisted of ten rounds about world geography and National Geographic Explorers. All 54 State Champions participated, and after a tiebreaker ten finalists were determined:
The Final Competition was held on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. The top 10 Finalists out of the 54 State Champions participated. Humorist, journalist, and actor Mo Rocca moderated the Competition for the second year in a row. The Champion was Pranay Varada of Texas. Thomas Wright of Wisconsin came second, and Veda Bhattaram of New Jersey came third. The GeoChallenge for the top three was about a new home country for the Maldivian people if their country becomes flooded after sea level rises. The choices were Indonesia, Turkey, and the Solomon Islands, in order of best to worst answer. In fourth place was Nicholas Monahan from Idaho. The fifth place finisher was Anish Susarla of Virginia, and Lucas Eggers of Minnesota came in sixth. Tying for seventh place were Rohan Kanchana of Delaware, Ahilan Eraniyan of California, and Max Garon of D.C. They were tied with Lucas Eggers, but in the tiebreaker question, asking for the distance between Washington D.C. and London, they were eliminated after Eggers guessed closer to the correct answer than them and he moved on. In tenth place was Abhinav Govindaraju of New Hampshire. The first eliminations took place after round 5, a lightning round, where four left the competition. The next three eliminations were after round 9, another lightning round.