Winston Salem Times

Gov. Roy Cooper got a grand tour of Winston-Salem State recently, learning about some of the cutting-edge programs the university is running. One highlight is its partnership with NASA on crop production in space, or astrobotany.

“The astrobotany that is going on here at Winston-Salem State I have no doubt will bring yield to people right here on earth and I’m certain usually when you’re working with issues in space, you also find ways to help people right here,” Cooper said in a release last week.

Cooper is a self-professed space nerd, so it’s fitting that he enjoyed his time in the astrobotany lab. He also visited students who are participating in the Next Generation Black STEM Teacher Network program, which aims to increase the number of Black teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

“We know that studies show overwhelmingly that not only do Black students do better when there’s diversity among their teachers, all students do better,” Cooper said. “Seeing these young, bright, talented students who obviously are smart in stem and who are willing to be public school teachers and maybe forgoing the higher salaries that they could get in the stem field, that is inspiring to me.” 

Cooper said it's a point of pride that North Carolina has more four-year HBCUs, as well as more students enrolled in HBCUs than any other state.

“Innovative STEM programs like these are helping to strengthen and diversify our workforce, so our students can take on the jobs of the future,” he said in the release.