We demonstrate a successful strategy for identifying extremely metal poor galaxies .
Our preliminary survey of 24 candidates contains 10 metal poor galaxies of which 4 have \log ( { O / H } ) +12 < 7.65 , some of the lowest metallicity blue compact galaxies known to date .
Interestingly , our sample of metal poor galaxies have systematically lower metallicity for their luminosity than comparable samples of blue compact galaxies , dIrrs , and normal star-forming galaxies .
Our metal poor galaxies share very similar properties , however , with the host galaxies of nearby long-duration gamma-ray bursts ( GRBs ) , including similar metallicity , stellar ages , and star formation rates .
We use H \beta to measure the number of OB stars present in our galaxies and estimate a core-collapse supernova rate of \sim 10 ^ { -3 } yr ^ { -1 } .
A larger sample of metal poor galaxies may provide new clues into the environment where GRBs form and may provide a list of potential GRB hosts .