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In Palau — a Micronesian archipelago home to coral reefs and scores of marine animal species — locals didn’t always pursue jobs in the marine or environmental sciences.

Instead, those high-paying position went to people from overseas who worked on short-term contracts, says Robert Richmond, a professor and principal investigator at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s who’s been involved in conservation efforts throughout Micronesia.

“There was never really any capacity development that was occurring at the local level,” Richmond said.

But things have changed over the past decade. Thanks in part to a public, multi-use that offers facilities ranging from a rentable classroom to a research library, local children are getting engaged in science from a young age, Richmond said.

Richmond points to a local man who now serves as director of that very center: Yimnang Golbuu. Once a young boy who was merely interested in coral reefs, Golbuu went on to get bachelor’s and master’s degrees and become the first Palauan to get a Ph.D. in the marine sciences.

Hawaii, Richmond said, has a lot to learn from Palau.

Palau, he says, is a testament to the power of the STEM movement, which is calling on K-12 schools and universities to boost their science, technology, engineering and math programs and promote an educational philosophy that involves hands-on, project-based learning. And advocates say that given STEM’s focus on integrated, out-of-the-box thinking, it can apply to all subject areas, including literature and the arts.

The goal is to get students engaged in STEM from a young age — possible through programs such as those offered at Palau’s coral reef center — so that they’ll carry those interests into college and pursue high-paying, high-tech jobs.

But STEM education in Hawaii is nowhere near the level it should be, Richmond said.

He points to a recent study showing that 92 percent of the 3,000 STEM-related positions in Hawaii went to mainland hires.

Locals “all have a connection to the natural world because they grow up on islands and atolls … surfing, swimming, snorkeling. But they’re never told that that’s a career path,” Richmond said. “But compare our students to any student from an Ivy League school. They’re just as bright, if not brighter — they just never have had the kind of experiences that a STEM education would give them.”

That sentiment reflects what’s rapidly becoming national policy.

President Barack Obama has called on schools to strengthen their STEM programs and equip students with the skills they need to land jobs in those fields and ultimately bolster the country’s economy. STEM would help K-12 schools students for under-staffed science and tech positions.

Obama’s 2013 budget invested more than in efforts geared at and fostering collaboration between high schools and colleges.

That national educational push has trickled down to state initiatives, including in Hawaii. That’s in part because Hawaii’s $75 million Race to the Top grant requires the Hawaii Department of Education to . The DOE in its grant proposal also committed to ensuring that all new STEM teacher hires in high-poverty schools are highly qualified.

The UH and other local universities also see the need to invest in those efforts, offering and various STEM-focused partnerships with K-12 schools.

K-12: ‘Random Acts of STEM’?

Advocates say STEM is about more than offering high-quality math and science courses. It’s about training kids to turn their observations into scientific inquiries, to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to the real world.

And in many ways that emphasis contradicts the way today’s K-12 classes are structured, experts say. Advocates say that public education revolves too heavily around testing and one-size-fits-all instruction.

“Knowledge disciplines have value and substance, but the real world does not divide them that way,” said James Shon, director of the , who highlighted the growing tendency among charter schools to incorporate the STEM philosophy into lesson plans. “The focus needs to be on problem-solving, inquiry-based learning, creativity.”

DOE officials point to a slew of STEM-related initiatives ranging from the and programs to the purchase of — mobile science labs of sorts — for two Big Island schools.

Sen. Jill Tokuda, who chairs the education committee, also cited programs such as the federally funded Smaller Learning Communities, which organizes students around career interests, and the state-funded , which offers space simulation experiences for children.

“It’s part of a very progressive, coordinated effort that’s connected to the post-secondary level,” Tokuda said, adding that programs are especially strong in the natural sciences and digital media arenas. “We’re making sure high schoolers know what the workforce needs throughout the pipeline.”

Tokuda also pointed to a resolution that was recently adopted by the Legislature that requests the Board of Education to consider incorporating sustainability education and environmental stewardship into the state’s classrooms. was by a high school senior from the Big Island.

But most critics argue that STEM education at the K-12 level is occurring primarily in isolated pockets or extracurricular programs in which only a small percentage of students participate.

“It’s like guerrilla warfare around the edges,” Shon said.

Advocates say secondary schools have had a hard time implementing STEM largely because of limited resources and funding agreements that impose numerous requirements and relegate STEM development to the sidelines.

Ken Kaneshiro, who directs the UH’s Center for Conservation Research and Training and has long advocated for stronger STEM programs in Hawaii, said state and federal requirements — through assessment benchmarks and programs such as No Child Left Behind — make it difficult for teachers to encourage authentic STEM education.

“A lot of the teachers feel like their hands are tied — both nationally and in Hawaii,” he said. These requirements “are preventing (kids) from thinking outside of the box. They’re locked into a particular curriculum.”

Some teachers, however, have managed to overcome the so-called institutional barriers.

Ed Ginoza, a retired Maui High School teacher who taught courses ranging from chemistry to math, has been credited for Maui High’s consistent victories in the . The school’s team in January captured its fifth state title since 2002. It’s also won several , in large part thanks to Ginoza.

Ginoza cited his focus on teaching students the “big picture,” on making the lessons hands-on and relevant to kids’ lives.

“They actually learn to learn on their own, which is really what is required of you when you go on to college,” said Ginoza, who still coaches the science bowl teams though he retired 15 years ago. “They don’t succeed because of their study habits. They’re taking more responsibility for themselves.”

Ginoza took that philosophy to the classroom, too.

Chemistry, for example, is so much more than the atom, he said. It also takes into account other real-world disciplines such as oceanography, evolution, astronomy and geology — subject areas whose relevance extends beyond a classroom’s doors.

He said schools like Maui High would benefit from offering college-level courses in those subjects, but, like other STEM advocates, pointed to the incessant lack of adequate funding.

“There’s a lot of room for improvement, but you also need the resources and support, which is sometimes not there,” he said, noting that additional course offerings would require more staff. “Teaching is very, very time-consuming, and those of us that succeed succeed despite the system.”

Priming the Pipeline

Higher education STEM advocates would like nothing better than to encourage the smooth flow of science and technology education between K-12 and college.

Sharon Ziegler-Chong, director of research partnerships and community engagement at UH Hilo, says collaboration among different players is key to establishing a cohesive, statewide STEM system that can really affect change in Hawaii.

“There are a lot of random acts of STEM, but they’re isolated from each other,” Ziegler-Chong said.

Advocates say the UH for its part has sought to engage local students in STEM disciplines, harnessing strategies such as “traditional ecological knowledge” — Native Hawaiian systems of handling natural resources — to develop a uniquely Hawaiian STEM industry.

“The cultural connection with the ocean has been there but not necessarily that leap to the next level,” Richmond said. “Part of this is trying to prime the pipeline.”

Ziegler-Chong pointed to the — a UH Hilo project-based program that she founded nearly two decades ago in an effort to feed more locals into marine sciences and other STEM positions.

“A lot of the positions here were not filled by locals,” she said. “I approached a lot of the organizations that were hiring, and they said they’re (locals) not applying, or they’re not qualified.”

Ziegler-Chong wanted to change that.

PIPES places kamaaina students — especially Native Hawaiians — in internships with organizations involved in local and Pacific environmental issues. And according to Ziegler-Chong, the program has had a lot of success stories.

“It really changes how they frame their science questions,” she said. “Once you get them in the door, it’s going to change how they’re approaching their work.”

The community colleges are also engaging in STEM, Tokuda said.

The state’s community colleges consortium, for example, is through a federal grant receiving nearly $25 million each year for its initiative, which develops and supports programs that lead to jobs in the agriculture, energy and health industries.

But Richmond said the STEM effort needs to start at the K-12 level.

“This is something that’s got to be ingrained in (kids) much earlier,” he said.

Still, a number of partnerships between the DOE and UH, including the initiative and the pre-academy, suggest that Hawaii’s STEM “pipeline” is developing.

Kaneshiro said UH Manoa’s former — National Science Foundation-funded graduate fellowship opportunity which ran for nearly a decade, between 2000 and 2009 — is a good example of how such partnerships can work in STEM’s favor.

Over the span of the fellowship, GK-12 through the federal grant hired 35 graduate students who had been admitted into the university’s program. The fellows, whose annual pay totaled a competitive $30,000, partnered with schools across the state, recruiting K-12 students to help them collect data.

“It was a way to not only attract students to UH, but the impact that we made through the K-12 science curriculum was significant,” said Kaneshiro, who directed the program. “(The kids) become hungry for scientific discovery.”

Kaneshiro cited a number of particularly successful GK-12 projects, including one in which students from six Hilo schools helped a fellow discover two incipient fire ant populations. The data was eventually provided to the state Department of Agriculture, which Kaneshiro said wouldn’t have otherwise had the resources to address the problem, and the populations were eradicated before they got out of control.

How Does Hawaii Spread STEM Statewide?

Advocates say the key to building a strong, local high-tech workforce is institutionalizing the STEM education that’s already happening on the fringes and in charter schools.

Ziegler-Chong pointed to Ohio’s as an example of what Hawaii should strive to achieve.

The Ohio network STEM schools and educators to each other and national resources, “driving STEM innovations through a national approach.”

A status report on Hawaii’s Race to the Top efforts show that the DOE had intended to convene a STEM Learning Network starting in 2011. But the department has lagged in those efforts, the report shows.

A group of STEM advocates and community planners, including Richmond and Kaneshiro, have long pushed for the development of a STEM Research and Education Center in Kakaako Makai, much like Palau’s International Coral Reef Center.

Supporters say the Kakaako center would be able to harness all of the STEM resources already available on the property, including seawater system that brings in water from 200 feet from shore. It would house informal science seminars and hands-on exercises open to people of all ages and backgrounds, including at-risk kids and grandparents.

But a resolution that would’ve secured the Legislature’s support for the center — — died in committee this year.

“Our ocean environment should be available to every keiki to understand the unique ecosystem of our ocean and marine resources,” said Donna Wong, executive director of the environmental group , who testified in support of HCR 98. “There are big pukas in our core values.”

Kaneshiro said an initiative being led by the state adjutant general, Major General , could be the first step to institutionalizing STEM in Hawaii. The initiative, dubbed Exemplary State, would recruit K-12 students statewide to collect data that would help Wong develop a disaster management system in the case of a catastrophic event.

If such an event occurred, Hawaii would have less than two weeks-worth of food to sustain the community statewide, according to Kaneshiro, who’s also leading the Exemplary State effort.

“What can we do to be a lot more resilient to these catastrophic events?” Kaneshiro said. “We would be engaging the community in collecting data and information that he (Wong) would be able to use to allow him to do his job better.”

Exemplary State would in many ways be modeled after the GK-12 program. It would aim to foster the pipeline between the K-12 and higher education chapters, engaging kids in inquiry-based learning and getting them excited for STEM careers.

The UH Hilo’s Ziegler-Chong also emphasized the importance of community dialogue. In order for program organizers to collaborate and put their heads together, they need to be aware of what their peers are doing, she said.

Ziegler-Chong is trying to close that gap and has partnered with P-20 Executive Director Karen Lee to conduct a survey of schools and other agencies to see what they’re doing to promote STEM.

“How do we connect people? How do we make sure that what the university is doing is linked to what the DOE is doing?” she said. “STEM needs to be a statewide conversation.”