Detection dogs trained to sniff out the scat of an endangered lizard in California’s San Joaquin Valley, combined with genetic species identification, could represent a new, noninvasive sampling technique for lizard conservation worldwide.

Local leaders were on hand Wednesday as UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Aggie Square’s new launch headquarters on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento. Aggie Square is an innovation hub planned for the university’s Sacramento campus.