Washington State University

Washington State University’s Metropolitan Center for Applied Research and Extension (Metro Center) and its Puyallup Research and Extension Center have placed WSU at the forefront of land-grant universities seeking to better serve metropolitan areas, while providing faculty with a means to further their research and engagement in metropolitan issues.

Established in 2015, the Metro Center puts ‘the people’s university’ to work for Washington’s cities. Drawing upon the many experts at WSU’s five campuses, Extension offices and research stations across the state, the Metro Center leverages applied research, cutting-edge analysis, and a deep understanding of place-based solutions to help communities thrive. Every Metro Center project is unique, designed to cultivate new ideas and produce actionable results for each of our clients. Using a project-based and client-centerer approach, the Metro Center acts as a conduit and single point of contact to the expertise at WSU, providing comprehensive project management services to metropolitan leaders wanting to access the unbiased knowledge and research capacity of Washington’s land grant university to address issues facing their cities.

Located within 50 miles of more than 60% of the state’s population, the Puyallup Research and Extension Center has played a vital role in Washington since 1894, providing world class research and extension programs, as well as statewide Extension and outreach programs. These programs support technological innovation, food production, natural resource stewardship, and enhance the places Washingtonians live through scientific inquiry and education. The 160-acre main campus is comprised of laboratories and offices, state-of-the-art greenhouses, a Master Gardener demonstration garden, the Washington Stormwater Center and associated Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) research installations, six acres of certified organic farmland, several acres of agricultural and natural resource plots, plus an additional 112 acres of research plots at a farm off campus.