The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) goal is to ensure that Minnesotans have healthy air, sustainable lands, clean water, and a better climate through the prevention and reduction of air, land, and water pollution. Two achieve this objective, the MPCA employs dedicated scientists, technicians, attorneys, and support staff and collaborates with other Minnesota agencies, local partners, academics, other states, and federal agencies. I will discuss my career as an aquatic entomologist, water quality standards rule coordinator, and scientist employed by the agency responsible for implementing the Clean Water Act in Minnesota. The focus of my work at the MPCA is the development and adoption of water quality standards and their implementation within the state’s aquatic resource management programs (e.g., permitting, total maximum daily loads). I will provide an overview of some projects in which I have been involved including the development and adoption of biological criteria, Tiered Aquatic Life Uses, eutrophication standards, and site-specific standards. In addition to research, my position at the MPCA also includes writing rule language and navigating a maze of administrative procedures to promulgate water quality standards into Minnesota rules. This includes collaboration and input from state, federal, local, and academic partners which complicates but also strengthen the final rules. The administrative work can be challenging for a scientist, but this step translates the science to implementable standards that directly protect and restore water quality. My presentation will discuss the challenges and rewards of working in a non-academic career that includes technical, scientific research and collaboration with diverse stakeholders to develop protective water quality standards that directly benefit the quality of aquatic resources and the lives of the public.