NAU professor Marti Canipe is Arizona's first to compete in 'Jeopardy!' Professors Tournament

Marti Canipe is an assistant professor of elementary science education at Northern Arizona University. On Tuesday night, Canipe will become Arizona's first professor to compete in the first "professors tournament" on "Jeopardy!"

Hosted by neuroscientist and "Big Bang Theory" star Mayim Bialik, the tournament runs weeknights at 7:30 p.m. Phoenix time from Monday, Dec. 6, until a winner is announced on Friday, Dec. 17.

NAU is hosting a tournament watch party for students to root for Canipe on campus and via Zoom on Tuesday, when Canipe will appear on the show. Crystal Jennings, member of the NAU communications team, said the college is already expecting at least 60 students, along with the professor herself, at the socially-distanced watch party.

"We just want everybody to come and show their support," Jennings said. "There's never been a professor tournament on 'Jeopardy!' before, believe it or not."

Canipe is just as excited as her students to watch the competition unfold in front of the world and to finally let go of the secret she's had to keep since taping in late October.

"I'm super excited for other people to get to watch, and for people to know what happens so I don't have to keep that secret anymore," Canipe said with a chuckle.

Professor's dream since high school

As a professor of elementary science education, Jennings said Canipe might have an edge on the rest of the competition.

"I really do think teachers are kind of this jack-of-all-trades when it comes to knowledge, and I think she's proof of that. Just her diverse knowledge really helps her in a game like 'Jeopardy!'," Jennings said.

"I think being a professor kind of prepares you for it, because most professors are people who really like to learn, and 'Jeopardy!' is really all about learning and celebrating learning, so I think that definitely helps," said Canipe.

Though her diverse range of interests helped Canipe in the game, she said her "Jeopardy!" skills really came from a grueling month of training she did after she was selected to be on the show in September.

"It was a longtime dream of mine to be able to be on 'Jeopardy!'," she said, recalling her love for the show after a high school quiz bowl coach recommended it to her for practice.

Soon after taking an online test in July, Canipe was selected for the next two rounds of testing, including an audition through Zoom. But because there was another month between her audition and ultimate selection for the show, it seemed unlikely to Canipe that she'd made the cut.

"Then they said 'OK, so you'll be in the contestant pool, and you could get called anytime in the next 18 months, or not at all.' So it's kind of like, 'OK! You've made it but'..." said Canipe.

Canipe said she was in shock when she finally got the call from the producers.

"I didn't hear anything, and I was kind of feeling like 'OK, well, you know, it's probably not going to happen', and I haven't heard anything. So then I was just really surprised, and I think I was really shocked when I was on the phone with her (a 'Jeopardy!' producer), she was like 'This is really good news!' and I was like, 'I know! I just can't quite believe it!'" Canipe said.

Practicing buzzing in with a pen

Already a lifelong fan, Canipe started to spend every night religiously watching episodes of "Jeopardy!" with a pen as a makeshift buzzer, developing proficiency in both knowledge and timing according to the rules of the show.

"Everybody who gets on 'Jeopardy!' knows a lot of things, and so I felt like one of the things it would really come down to is being able to buzz in fast enough," she said.

Luckily, Canipe said, she got to practice with the buzzer speed at a rehearsal, where there are also visual cues in the studio that let contestants know when their buzz will be registered. The penalty for buzzing in too early is the loss of an all-too precious quarter of a second.

"Which is forever in 'Jeopardy!' time," Canipe laughed.

Canipe said meeting and becoming friends with a diverse group of co-competitors was "one of the most fun things" about being on the show.

"We all really enjoyed each other, and we came from really different kinds of universities... and lots of different fields, so it was this really diverse group in terms of institutions and fields," said Canipe.

Canipe said that more than anything, she will remember her "dream come true" because of the people she was able to meet on the set of "Jeopardy!," including both contestants and crew working on the show.

Ken Jennings, "Jeopardy!" legend and co-host said, “I think by the numbers it’s ten times harder to get on Jeopardy! than to get into Yale," but Canipe said getting her Ph.D. and becoming an assistant professor in her department was slightly more difficult than competing on "Jeopardy!", partly because filming the show was "so much fun."

Reach breaking news reporter Athena Ankrah at athena.ankrah@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @AthenaAnkrah.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NAU professor to compete in 'Jeopardy!' Professors Tournament