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Informal STEM education will accelerate the bioeconomy

Nature Biotechnology volume 37, pages 103–104 (2019)Cite this article

The bioeconomy demands special approaches for attracting youth to science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines and cultivating the multidisciplinary skills needed for a future workforce.

The economic activity derived from biotechnology and bioprocessing, also known as the bioeconomy, represents the next major economic wave in human activity. It has singular importance in providing new strategies for sustainability and environmental health, essential for a stable and ethically responsible emerging global society. An obstacle now looming is the shortage of workplace talent needed to realize these goals. How will the emerging bioeconomy secure the necessary people in light of impending retirements, work age gaps, and lack of youth interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)? Any resolution will require innovation because conventional approaches will not meet the global needs. To meet this need, we can develop informal education platforms that represent powerful and innovative modes of creating talent. Such an initiative will require the cooperation of academia, industry and government. A diverse workforce is needed to maximize relevance and efficiency and to ensure that the leaders of the workforce represent the global society.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to R. Sederoff for his contributions and generous advice in the construction of this article. The authors are grateful to the National Science Foundation for their advice and support leading up to this work.

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  1. Marko Hakovirta & Lucian Lucia are in the Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.,

    Marko Hakovirta & Lucian Lucia

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  1. Marko Hakovirta
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  2. Lucian Lucia
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Correspondence to Marko Hakovirta.

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Hakovirta, M., Lucia, L. Informal STEM education will accelerate the bioeconomy. Nat Biotechnol 37, 103–104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4331

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