By building connections between K-12 students and the marine environment using STEM activities, DIIDM inspires youth to become leaders in their communities and stewards of the resources on which those communities depend.

1
Developing Infrastructure for
Innovation in Downeast Maine
University of Maine at Machias
Environmental and Biological Sciences
PI Brian F. Beal
Co Pis David P. Markow,
Sherrie A. Sprangers, Stuart G. Swain, Susan
White

NSF Award 08-583 3 Year Award
Start Date 1 April, 2009
Key Attributes of our Innovation Ecosystem


PFI Project Overview The rugged landscape of
the Downeast coast defines both the challenges
and the achievements of the Maine communities
that call the region home. Nestled between
seemingly endless tracts of spruce and granite
and the rich, cold waters of the North Atlantic,
these communities reap the benefits of a coastal
landscape that has been spared the pressures of
growing populations and industrial development.
Downeast towns and villages support uniquely
rural populations that are highly dependant on
the vast resources of a marine environment that
is beyond the reach of New Englands urban
centers. The regions geographic isolation is not
without its problems, however. The areas low
population density and high rates of poverty and
unemployment demand a fundamental change in the
way Downeast coastal towns approach local
education and economics. The innovation economy
can play a pivotally important role in this
change. To develop the human and physical
infrastructure necessary to reverse the downward
trend in local Downeast economies, the Developing
Infrastructure for Innovation in Downeast Maine
(DIIDM) project will encourage area youth to
enter science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) fields. The coast, with its
diversity of habitats, species, and fisheries
continues to be underrepresented in public school
curricula. The DIIDM project will create place-
and inquiry-based curricular tools for local
teachers and their students that focus on the
marine environment the life-blood of Downeast
coastal communities. Through hands-on,
field-based projects with students and teachers,
summer camps, teacher workshops and informal
mentoring, DIIDM will inspire scientific
curiosity and encourage scientific exploration in
local schools, enhancing the number of young
people in our region pursuing STEM fields in
college and beyond.
Questioning Curiosity
Place-based, experiential education is at the
heart of DIIDM. Students are encouraged to
develop their own questions and pursue their own
path toward discovery. DIIDM harnesses students
natural curiosity and puts it into a context that
creates deeper understanding of key concepts and
investigative processes.
Picture or Logo from your project here
Risk Taking
As participants in DIIDM programs,
students learn that risk and discovery are
inseparable. The experience provides students
with the tools to reach beyond their comfort zone
to achieve their goals. The skills learned
through this process will support the type of
innovative, forward-thinking citizenry needed to
lead the region toward long-term economic and
environmental stability.
Openness
To truly affect change in Downeast Maine,
educational programs and innovation initiatives
need to be able to operate effectively on
multiple levels. PFI seeks to encourage a true
paradigm shift, breaking the cycle of poverty in
the region by creating new opportunities from
within. DIIDM programs will reach out to youth
from a variety of learning levels and
socioeconomic backgrounds, encouraging them to
work together to solve real problems that face
their communities.
By building connections between K-12 students and
the marine environment using STEM activities,
DIIDM inspires youth to become leaders in their
communities and stewards of the resources on
which those communities depend.
Top Contributions 1. Broadening of STEM
skill set for participating teachers and
students 2. Increased interest in STEM careers
through a deeper understanding of local needs and
opportunities 3. .Increased economic stability
for local communities
Program Activities
Collaboration Across Fields The unique
partnerships that have been created within DIIDM
not only bring together multiple disciplines,
they unite multiple forms of education as well.
Both students and instructors from state
universities, community colleges, public schools
and other educational institutions work together
in DIIDM to create a versatile and dynamic
program, capable of evolving to meet the changing
needs of Maines coastal communities.

• DIIDM is a dynamic, multifaceted program that is
  designed to adapt to the changing needs of its
  constituencies. Through experiential, place-based
  training in foundation skills relevant to STEM
  disciplines, DIIDM is building a flexible
  framework for ongoing support of Downeast
  students, teachers, schools and communities. Key
  activities to this end include
• Facility development that includes the creation
  of a 1,200-square-foo, state-of-the-art t marine
  education classroom at Black Duck Cove, Great
  Wass Island, Beals, Maine.
• Place-based experiences in field science and
  laboratory research that directly connect
  students to the challenges and opportunities that
  exist in their local communities and inspire them
  to pursue STEM careers.
• Classroom outreach intended to inspire students
  to explore by supporting student research
  projects and fostering a more comprehensive
  understanding of the dynamics of coastal
  environments.
• Professional development opportunities that
  provide K-12 teachers with field and laboratory
  experiences and curriculum materials that inspire
  confidence in classroom teachers and encourage
  them to utilize marine-based scientific inquiry
  in their classrooms.

Top Challenges 1. Identifying most
effective methodologies for inspiring
disenfranchised youth 2. Overcoming scheduling
and other obstacles to providing regular
professional development opportunities
3.Maintaining student momentum toward STEM goals
Placing Partners in New Environments
Playgrounds DIIDMs intention is to reinvent
Downeast Maines relationship with the sea,
creating a new lens with which to view the
environment that sustains coastal communities. By
reconnecting students with the natural resources
surrounding them through STEM activities, DIIDM
will create playgrounds for creative thinking.

Leading/Inspiring for Surprising or Unexpected
Results The primary function of DIIDM is to
bolster the economic and cultural viability of
Downeast and coastal Maine towns by facilitating
the growth of STEM-based opportunities for the
regions youth. Engaging students and teachers in
real, place-based research is at the core of this
effort. Unlike more traditional classroom science
programs, DIIDMs approach highlights the
excitement of discovery, featuring projects in
which the outcome may not be easy to predict. By
guiding students through the exciting, often
surprising nature of research, DIIDM programs
offer them the skills necessary to meet the
ever-changing challenges of life along Maines
coast.
Partners Washington County Community
College, University of Maine Sea Grant College
Program, Downeast Institute for Applied Marine
Science and Education, Maine School Union 103,
Moosabec Community School District
.
PFI
.
.
National Science Foundation Partnerships For
Innovation Grantees Meeting April 25-27,
2010 Arlington, VA