Last updated March 7, 2010

The MIT Club of Northern California is encouraging its members (who are mainly in the Bay Area) to volunteer as judges for their nearest local science fair. However, we have organized these pages to be useful for other potential science fair volunteers in California. See also our information on what is expected and specific judging guidelines.

Return to MITCNC Science Fair home page.

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This page contains contact information for all the regional science fairs for California secondary schools, as well as schedule information for the larger fairs. Please contact the MITCNC Science Fair Coordinator with any questions or corrections.

Here is a list of California regional science fairs by region:

	Bay Area: San Francisco Peninsula, South Bay, East Bay, and North Bay
	Sacramento and points north
	Central California: Fresno, Central Valley, and Central Coast
	Southern California

In most cases, each fair

• seeks volunteer judges for a one-day visit to meet exhibitors and view the projects
• is for grades 6-12
• covers all public, private and charter schools in a given county or geographic region
• sends its best projects to the California State Science Fair

The fairs listed below with § are regional qualifying events for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Bay Area Science Fairs

San Francisco Peninsula

San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair §

Location:	San Francisco County Fair Building
Region Served:	San Francisco, Napa County; Alamada County (see also Tri-Valley fair); Contra Costa County (see also Contra Costa, Tri-Valley fairs); San Mateo County; Solano, Yolo Counties (for both, see also Sacramento fair)
Judging Date:	March 24, 2010	Fair Dates:	March 22-25, 2010
Website:	http://www.sfbasf.org
Remarks:	To volunteer for judging, contact Greta Mayfield <greta.mayfield@chevron.com>

 

South Bay

Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship §

Location:	San José Convention Center
Region Served:	Santa Clara County
Judging Date:	March 17, 2010	Fair Dates:	March 16-17, 2010
Website:	http://synopsys.championship.googlepages.com/
Judging page:	http://synopsys.championship.googlepages.com/judges
Remarks:	Biology and chemistry judges are especially needed.

Santa Cruz County Science Fair§

Location:	Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
Region Served:	Santa Cruz County
Judging Date:	March 13, 2010	Fair Dates:	March 12-14, 2010
Website:	http://science.santacruz.k12.ca.us
Judging page:	http://science.santacruz.k12.ca.us/judges.html
Remarks:

 

East Bay

Tri-Valley Science and Engineering Fair §

Location:	Livermore Community Center
Region Served:	Public, private, and parochial schools within the Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Sunol school districts
Judging Date:	March 31, 2010	Fair Dates:	March 30-April, 2010
Website:	http://tvsef.llnl.gov/
Volunteering page:	https://tvsef.llnl.gov/tvsef_volunteers.html
Remarks:	See also Contra Costa and San Francisco Bay Area science fairs

Contra Costa County Science & Engineering Fair§

Location:	Heald Conference Center, Concord
Region Served:	Contra Costa County
Judging Date:	March 26, 2010	Fair Dates:	March 25-27, 2010
Website:	http://www.cccsef.org/
Judging page:	http://www.cccsef.org/judges.html
Remarks:	Serves students Grades 7-12.

Oakland Unified School District's Science Fair

Location:	Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland
Region Served:	Oakland Unified School District
Judging Date:	n/a	Fair Dates:	May 24-26, 2010
Website:	http://science.ousd.k12.ca.us/sciencefair.htm
Remarks:	A non-competitive event to showcase local projects from grades K-12.

 

North Bay

For Napa County, see the San Francisco Bay Area science fair; for Solano County, see the San Francisco Bay Area or Sacramento science fairs.

Marin County Secondary Science Fair

Location:	Bay Model Visitor Center, Sausalito
Region Served:	Marin County
Judging Date:	March 1, 2010 (evening)	Fair Dates:	March 1-4, 2010
Website:	http://mcoeweb.marin.k12.ca.us/es/sciencefair/SecSci/SecScience.htm
Remarks:	To volunteer for judging, contact Robin Gerrity <rgerrity@marin.k12.ca.us>

Sonoma County Science Fair

Location:	Sonoma County Office of Education, Santa Rosa
Region Served:	Sonoma County
Judging Date:	Feb. 24, 2010	Fair Dates:	Feb. 23-24, 2010
Website:	http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/science-fair.html
Remarks:	Volunteer form available at website

 

Elsewhere in California

Northern California

For Solano and Yolo counties, see the San Francisco Bay Area or Sacramento science fairs.

Sacramento Regional Science and Engineering Fair §

Location:	Rosemont High School, Sacramento
Region Served:	Sacramento, Amador, El Dorado, Sutter, Yolo, Placer, San Joaquin, Yuba Counties and portions of Solano County
Judging Date:	March 26 (evening), 27	Fair Dates:	March 26-27, 2010
Website:	http://www.srsefair.org/
Judging page:	http://www.srsefair.org/Headings/General_Information/judges
Remarks:

North of I-80

County science fairs are held in Humboldt, Trinity, Siskiyou, Lassen/Modoc, Plumas, Mendocino, Lake, Glenn, Butte, Nevada, Placer and Calaveras counties. (Some students in these counties are also eligible for the Sacramento Regional Science and Engineering Fair).

The California State Science Fair maintains a complete list of California science fairs (and a list of the fairs sorted by county). For those counties without a fair, the CSSF will also provide materials for those seeking to start a new fair.

 

Central California

For Mono and Inyo counties, see Southern California.

Central California Regional Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Fair§

Location:	Commerce Building, Fresno County Fairgrounds
Region Served:	Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced and Tulare Counties
Judging Date:	March 22, 2010	Fair Dates:	March 22-25, 2010
Website:	http://www.fcoe.k12.ca.us/smefair
Remarks:

Other Central Valley Fairs

In the Central Valley, science fairs are also run by the county education department in San Joaquin County (Stockton), Stanislaus County (Modesto), Tuolomne County (Sonora), Tulare County (Visalia) and Kern County (Bakersfield). (San Joaquin County students are also eligible for the Sacramento Regional Science and Engineering Fair). See the California State Science Fair list of fairs, sorted north-to-south or by by name of county.

Central Coast

On the Central Coast, two county fairs have their own websites:

• Monterey County Science and Engineering Fair §
• Santa Barbara County Science Fair

CSSF also provides contact information for the San Benito County Science Fair.

Southern California

Five fairs serve the counties south of the Tehachapi Mountains (as well as the southern part of the Eastern Sierra).

Fair	Counties	Location	Judging Date	Fair Date
Ventura County	Ventura	Ventura	April 14, 2010	April 13-15, 2010
Los Angeles County Science Fair	Los Angeles	Los Angeles	April 15-16, 2010	April 14-16, 2010
Inland Counties Science Fair	San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo and Mono	San Bernardino	April 13, 2010	April 13-14, 2010
Orange County Science and Engineering Fair §	Orange	Costa Mesa	April 7, 2010	April 5-7, 2010
Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair §	San Diego, Imperial	San Diego	March 24, 2010	Mar. 23-28, 2010