The 28th annual National Geographic Bee was held between May 22–25, 2016 in Washington, DC. For the first time, the bee was moderated by the American humorist, journalist and actor Mo Rocca and featured a grand prize of a $50,000 college scholarship. The champion was Rishi Nair of Williams Magnet Middle School in Tampa, Florida, who won the $50,000 scholarship, lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society, and a Lindblad expedition to southeast Alaska. The 2nd-place winner was Saketh Jonnalagadda of Stony Brook Middle School in Westford, Massachusetts, who won a $25,000 scholarship. The 3rd-place winner was Kapil Nathan of Brock's Gap Intermediate School in Hoover, Alabama, who won a $10,000 scholarship. Rishi was also the First sixth-grade National Champion since 2008.
2016 State Champions State Name School City/Town Grade PlaceKapil NathanBrock's Gap Intermediate SchoolHoover6th3rdBen NgFloyd Dryden Middle SchoolJuneau8thAri MehtaExplorer Middle SchoolPhoenix8thD. J. QuezadaHaas Hall AcademyBentonville8th Atlantic TerritoriesMatthew HaughtonAntilles SchoolSt. Thomas, VI7thNishaanth KrishnanUtt Middle SchoolTustin8thCooper HanleyLouisville Middle SchoolLouisville7thRitwik BoseScotts Ridge Middle SchoolRidgefield8thEric SmithPostlethwait Middle SchoolCamden8th Department of DefenseConnor BuchheitWiesbaden Middle SchoolWiesbaden, Germany7thMax GaronSidwell Friends Middle SchoolWashington, DC6thRishi NairWilliams Magnet Middle SchoolTampa6thChampionJerome PereraTaylor Road Middle SchoolJohns Creek7thMika IshiiKaimuki Middle SchoolHonolulu8thNicholas MonahanPayette Lakes Middle SchoolMcCall7thMantra DaveChiddix Junior High SchoolNormal8thSimon MolenaarHighland Christian SchoolHighland7thPatrick TaylorNorthwest Junior High SchoolCoralville8thAviral MisraPrairie Star Middle SchoolLeawood8thShyam RavishankarNoe Middle SchoolLouisville8thLuke Andel Isidore Newman SchoolNew Orleans8thHaden BuzzellMassabesic Middle SchoolEast Waterboro6thRishi KumarWorthington Elementary SchoolEllicott City5thT-4Saketh Jonnalagadda Stony Brook Middle SchoolWestford8th2ndPranav ArunandhiReuther Middle School Rochester Hills8thLucas EggersSTAR Homeschool AcademyMinnetonka7th7thEdmund DoerksenOxford Middle SchoolOxford7thNikhil KrishnanRockwood South Middle SchoolFenton8thGrace RembertSacajawea Middle SchoolBozeman8thT-4Deeksha SridharMillard North Middle SchoolOmaha6thSpencer GabeLas Vegas Day SchoolLas Vegas8thAbhinav Govindaraju Shaker Road SchoolConcord6thVeda BhattaramRobert R. Lazar Middle SchoolMontville6thLakshay SoodManzano Day SchoolAlbuquerque5thEthan TsvaygMark Twain Intermediate School 239Brooklyn/Staten Island 7thSamanyu DixitJay M. Robinson Middle SchoolCharlotte6thT-8Jonathan FarnsworthValley Middle SchoolGrand Forks8thSaket Pochiraju Olentangy Orange Middle SchoolLewis Center6thKeane VanTreaseJenks Middle SchoolJenks8thAshwin SivakumarOregon Episcopal SchoolPortland6thT-8 Pacific TerritoriesVictoria Nicole SantosMarianas Baptist AcademySaipan, MP7thBenjamin FischerVida Charter SchoolGettysburg5thEli FultonRhode Island of Home EducatorsRumford8thJoshua WoodfinGreenville County Home EducatorsSimpsonville8thOwen FinkBridgewater-Emery SchoolBridgewater5thJohn WebsterEvangelical Christian SchoolCordova8thPranay VaradaDeWitt Perry Middle SchoolCarrollton7th6thAnkit GargBear River Charter SchoolLogan6thIsaac KrementsovShelburne Community SchoolShelburne7thVishvesha SridharBlacksburg Middle SchoolBlacksburg8thSatvik KabburBear Creek Elementary SchoolWoodinville4thSurya PerlaAndrew Jackson Middle SchoolCharleston8thThomas WrightUniversity School of MilwaukeeMilwaukee7thT-8 Degory DayEvanston Middle SchoolEvanston7th
Preliminary rounds
Ten preliminary rounds held on May 23, 2016. Each State Champion had to answer ten oral questions, and prior to their arrival in Washington, D.C., had to submit a video related to a topic. The video was worth up to six points, hence the highest possible number of points was 16. One 16 and 4 15s were scored. A 9-way tie for 14 pts was broken with 4 exiting the competition. The ten finalists were announced around 11:30. The top ten finalists were as follows: Kapil Nathan- from Alabama; 14/16 (9/10 + 5/6) Rishi Nair- from Florida; 15/16 (10/10 + 5/6) Rishi Kumar- from Maryland; 14/16 (8/10 + 6/6) Saketh Jonnalagadda- from Massachusetts; 14/16 (9/10 + 5/6) Lucas Eggers- from Minnesota; 16/16 (10/10 + 6/6) (only one with a perfect score in the preliminary rounds) Grace Rembert- from Montana; 15/16 (10/10 + 5/6) Samanyu Dixit- from North Carolina; 15/16 (10/10 + 5/6) Ashwin Sivakumar- from Oregon; 15/16 (9/10 + 6/6) Pranay Varada- from Texas; 14/16 (9/10 + 5/6) Thomas Wright- from Wisconsin; 14/16 (9/10 + 5/6)
Final rounds
The finals consisted of questions regarding the U.S. through Rounds 1–5, with 4 eliminated once Round 5 was over. A tie existed between Rishi Kumar and Lucas Eggers, with the latter exiting the competition. After that, questions regarding the world appeared. A three-way tie existed between Grace Rembert, Rishi Kumar again, and Kapil Nathan with the latter entering the final three. After Nathan was eliminated, the final two moved on to the Championships – Jonnalagadda and Nair. The latter won the competition.
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