Lawrence graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 and later earned a master's degree in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joint program. Before NASA, she served as a Navy helicopter pilot and shipboard aviation officer.

NASA selected Lawrence with Astronaut Group 14 in 1992. She flew STS-67, STS-86, STS-91, and STS-114, giving her a flight record that includes astronomy research, Shuttle-Mir docking operations, and the first shuttle return-to-flight mission after the Columbia accident.

Lawrence was the first female graduate of the United States Naval Academy to fly in space. Her background also made her part of a notable aviation family: her father, Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence, was a naval aviator, prisoner of war, Naval Academy superintendent, and Project Mercury finalist.

Her career reads as more than four shuttle flights. It shows a Navy officer who helped bridge the shuttle's science era, the Shuttle-Mir partnership, and NASA's return to flight after one of the program's defining accidents.