Cochran doesn't credit a classroom for her career path. She remembers catching horned lizards in the fields outside her childhood home and sketching Palo Duro Canyon over and over, filling notebooks with drawings of the land. Texas Tech says those outdoor experiences, not a textbook, sparked her love of science and eventually led her to the top job at the Junction center.
She isn't the only new hire there. Alongside her, Texas Tech alumnus Kody Robinson joined the center's team, part of what the university calls a strategic push to build up leadership focused on outreach.
The shakeup signals a shift for the Center at Junction, a Texas Tech site now sharpening its focus on connecting programs with people across Texas. For Tech alumni and anyone tied to the university's outreach efforts, new leadership often means new priorities, even if the exact changes haven't been spelled out yet.
Cochran can't remember the answers on her first science test. She still remembers every horned lizard she ever caught.