COLLABORATION
SCIENCE
CENTER
at Stan State Ready to Roll Again By Kristin Platts
Every step in Emily Lawrence’s career began with one question: Where can I make the best impact? Just before the pandemic hit, she was well on her way to answering that question, through a partnership between Stanislaus State and the National Ag Science Center (NASC), which she is the executive director for.
students a chance to experience a unique educational opportunity while working with industry professionals.
The partnership, called Ag Science Center at Stan State, is a collaboration aimed at advancing the agricultural endeavors of both institutions and gives Stan State
“When I worked with Stan State, it really cemented and came together,” she said.
STA N M AGA Z I N E
With the return to fully in-person instruction this spring, those involved in the project are ready to pick up where they left off. Lawrence, who also serves as the director for Ag Science Center at Stan State, sees the collaboration of her organization with the university as a way to put Stan State’s agricultural and science programs on the radar of industry professionals. The partnership began with Lawrence incorporating NASC into a series of CSU science days she held on the Stan State campus and it quickly morphed once she met Dave Evans, dean of the College of Science at Stan State. Having no background in agriculture, but a career in education herself, Lawrence said NASC’s mission to provide education is what appealed to her when she was hired on. But she saw an essential need to affiliate the organization with an educational institution, and she looked to Stan State to fulfill it.
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