Indian American students sweep the National Geographic Bee, Rishi Nair from Florida takes first place

WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — This year’s edition of the National Geographic Bee resulted in a clean sweep for a trio of Indian American students, where Rishi Nair, Saketh Jonnalagadda and Kapi Nathan earned first-, second- and third-place honors.

Nair, a sixth grade student from Florida, took home top honors at the bee. He received the grand prize of a $50,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society. His victory marks for the fifth consecutive year an Indian American has emerged victorious at the event.

Rishi’s championship question was: “A new marine sanctuary will protect sharks and other wildlife around Isla Wolf in which archipelago in the Pacific Ocean?”

The correct answer was the Galapagos Islands.

Rishi became the second winner from the state of Florida — in 2010, eighth grade student Aadith Moorthy won the competition.

Jonnalagadda, an eight grade student from Massachusetts, was the recipient of a $25,000 college scholarship as the runner-up. Nathan, a sixth grade student from Alabama was awarded a $10,000 scholarship for finishing third.

Seven of the 10 finalists were Indian Americans, each of whom were awarded $500 for their efforts. Those finalists were: Grace Rembert of Montana, Rishi Kumar of Maryland, Pranay Varada of Texas, Lucas Eggers of Minnesota, Samanyu Dixit of North Carolina, Thomas Wright of Wisconsin and Ashwin Sivakumar of Oregon.