Texas Tech has named Impa Somayanda as an associate professor in the Department of Plant & Soil Science, strengthening its commitment to advancing research in water-efficient agriculture. The appointment, announced by university officials, took effect on Sept. 1.
Somayanda, a crop physiologist with a specialized background in abiotic stress physiology, will work in a newly defined faculty role focusing on irrigation technology, as a part of the newly constituted agricultural, food, nutrition and biosystems science and engineering cluster. Her research will target improved water use efficiency in crop systems, with emphasis on developing advanced phenotyping tools, precision irrigation methods, and machine learning-based decision support systems.
“In West Texas, water scarcity and poor-quality irrigation water pose significant challenges for producers, and my role will be to explore cropping systems that thrive under limited water, and improve crops tolerance to poor-quality water with a focus on salinity tolerance,” Somayanda said.
With over a decade of experience spanning crop response to drought, extreme temperature, and nutrient stress, Somayanda brings a multidisciplinary approach to agricultural sustainability. She has previously led work in abiotic stress physiology of different cereals including rice, wheat, sorghum, and corn, and changes in grain micronutrients composition under stress conditions. Her research portfolio includes 51 peer-reviewed publications.
At Texas Tech, her program has centered on enhancing yield potential, quality and abiotic stress resilience in grain and forage sorghum; implementing sorghum-cotton rotations to conserve groundwater, enhance water use efficiency and addressing high-temperature stress in cotton.
Somayanda’s academic career includes prior appointments as a research assistant professor at Texas Tech and research roles at Kansas State University and the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. She also served as a visiting fellow at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, contributing to global efforts in environmental systems science.
She earned both her master’s degree and Ph.D. in crop physiology from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India, and completed postdoctoral research in drought physiology and soil science at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños, Philippines. Her work was most recently recognized with the 2024 Dean’s Research Grant Award from Davis College and is the recipient of 2025 Davis College International Impact Award.
CONTACT: Darren Hudson, Combest Endowed Chair, Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or Darren.Hudson@ttu.edu
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