BIDDEFORD — Inquisitive minds came alive at Biddeford Middle School on Wednesday, as students participated in a number of activities to celebrate Maine BioScience Day.

The Bioscience Association of Maine organized the event to inspire young people to pursue science-based careers at Maine companies. Twelve middle schools across southern Maine took part in the event, in which scientists, researchers and staff from science companies gave presentations and demonstrations to about 1,750 students.

“The Bioscience Association promotes the bioscience industry, which is extensive, and they wanted to promote awareness of the different companies and research institutions throughout the state,” said Ed Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president for research and scholarship at the University of New England, which hosted the event at BMS.

“There’s a lot of biotech companies in Maine and they hire people out of high school, out of college, and you can have a really good career in that,” he said.

Bilsky said the middle school was selected because of its recent establishment of a science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, academy in which students may enroll for a more focused core of classes.

About 15 faculty, staff and university student volunteers spoke to the 400-plus sixth- and eighth-grade students at BMS on Wednesday, on topics ranging from drug addiction to mouse trials of medications.

One of the highlights of the day was a presentation by Dr. James Sulikowski, a professor of marine sciences at UNE whose work on shark reproduction was featured on Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” special programming this past summer.

Sulikowski told students about his studies, including his novel approach of using ultrasound technology to determine if sharks are pregnant, much like is done with humans. Historically, sharks have been sacrificed to determine their pregnancy statuses.

For Sulikowski, the opportunity to share his research with students of young ages was, as he said, “amazing.”

“The group that we’re working with now are the young minds of our future,” he said. “We really want to get them excited about STEM and science and about the ocean and about medicine, just to become our liaisons for the future.”

Sulikowski said he and others who work for UNE believe outreach is critical in inspiring young minds to pursue careers in science or related fields, and the chance to visit area schools is an opportunity he couldn’t’t turn down.

“You make time in your schedule because it’s just so important to get the message out to the kids,” he said. “I think that there’s opportunities for them, and they can take those opportunities and do great things with them. We’re here to help them get on the right path.”

And, after Wednesday’s event, some students may already be hitting the trail.

“I’ve always been interested with underwater life, and we have a fish tank with a bunch of fish, so I like learning all kinds of other stuff about it,” said Ellie Fournier, 12, who was particularly interested in looking at a set of shark teeth passed around during Sulikowski’s presentation.

Through the presentation, Fournier said she learned what the biggest and smallest sharks were and where they lived in Maine, and said she is considering entering the field of marine biology when she’s older.