Maine and the other New England states have long been leaders in higher education. The richness of our science, technology, engineering and mathematics enterprise encompasses our public and private research universities, where scientists and engineers are developing new treatments for diseases, new green building products, alternative energy sources and other discoveries that contribute to quality of life in communities.

This spirit of innovation in these critical disciplines extends to the private sector, where technology-based firms and medical research facilities foster discovery, leading to a more rigorous education system and prospects for a brighter economic future.

As Maine works to build our innovation economy, we are becoming aware of the need for a free-flowing pipeline of scientists and engineers. Sadly, too few students from kindergarten through high school are excited about science, technology, engineering and math, and not enough college students major in these vital fields. And far fewer girls than boys enter careers in those fields, so we are missing an opportunity by not encouraging their interest when they are very young.

A gathering focused on science, technology, engineering and math – known as Maine’s STEM Summit – is scheduled for Thursday at the Augusta Civic Center. It aims to crystallize statewide discussion of the importance of STEM education to Maine’s future and to raise awareness of the vital connection between STEM education and our state’s future economic prosperity.

Sponsored by the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, the summit represents the first event in Maine’s multifaceted STEM Initiative. Maine and New England are falling behind in science, technology, engineering and math education, and this initiative is designed to bring together the people and organizations interested in those fields to move Maine toward a leadership position.

In Maine, we have recognized that traditional natural resource-based industries – forests, fisheries and farms – are no longer assuring us a robust economy. Ten years ago, the “Faculty Five” professors at the University of Maine began to educate Maine’s Legislature about the necessity for serious investment in research and development. That investment, mostly through the Maine Economic Investment Fund, has enabled Maine researchers, especially at UM, to leverage millions of dollars in research funds from outside the state. Maine’s economy has benefited from this investment, and the new opportunities for Maine students to learn in a research environment will have a lasting effect.

UM scientists and engineers are developing new materials for boat building and defense and conducting research on using waste from the papermaking and potato fields to make biofuels and plastics. One exciting research project was celebrated less than two weeks ago in East Boothbay, when Hodgdon Yachts and the U.S. Navy launched a new Navy boat, Mark V.1. The vessel, made from composites by UM’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, is for Navy SEAL use and is a shining example of how the university and private industry collaborate to develop good jobs.

But even the most inspiring success in research will be fleeting unless we strengthen the STEM pipeline. Maine’s public universities, public schools and private colleges should work with the business community and private research institutions to explore ways to spark young people’s interest in science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on learning. This will require teachers with extensive knowledge of these subjects who are able to get students excited through vital research projects and real-world problem-solving. Without those teachers, Maine will lack the skilled work force we need to prosper.

UM is addressing this shortage of well-qualified STEM teachers through its Master of Science in Teaching program with a goal of improving student learning in secondary science and math. The multidisciplinary master’s degree program, which also involves cooperating scientists from The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor and other institutions, educates people with STEM backgrounds, developing them into well-qualified teachers. UM’s Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research offers a Summer Academy to foster collaborations between STEM teachers from kindergarten through high school and university faculty and students. Participants model best-teaching practices and learn to integrate exciting research projects into the classroom.

National Science Foundation-funded initiatives, such as its Research Experience for Teachers program, provide mechanisms for states such as Maine to discover ways to educate teachers who will inspire students in science, technology, engineering and math. UM’s RET program brings middle-school and secondary teachers to UM for intensive education in science and engineering related to sensors. A related NSF program, GK-12 Sensors!, places outstanding UM graduate students in local schools, and also brings teachers to campus to work with research faculty and graduate students.

Maine must also support initiatives to get more girls excited about STEM fields. For 20 years, UM has offered Expanding Your Horizons annually to hundreds of middle-school girls. Recently, our Women’s Resource Center was chosen to coordinate the regional National Girls’ Collaborative Project, which will create a statewide network of organizations that serve girls to develop more collaboration based on research and “best practices,” and also connect Maine’s programs to similar efforts across the United States.

Despite these initiatives and others like them, Maine inspires only a small percentage of teachers and students to love science and math. More must be done, and Thursday’s STEM Summit represents a starting point, from which Maine can nurture the programs and initiatives that will integrate teacher education and build on our existing STEM capacity.

The result will be a generation of Maine people prepared for the challenges of the innovation economy.

Mary R. Cathcart is chair of the New England Board of Higher Education. She is a senior policy associate at the University of Maine Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and former four-term state senator. She may be contacted at maryorono@verizon.net.