This story was first published on Texas Tech Today. See the original article here.
Love, Tito's, the philanthropic branch of Austin-based Tito's Handmade Vodka, gave a $1.2 million gift to the Davis College Water Center, making Tito's the leading supporter of the center.
“Tito's Handmade Vodka donates funds to a variety of promising research projects working on solving some of the world's most urgent problems,” said Sarah Everett, Ph.D., Director of Global Impact and Research at Tito's Handmade Vodka. “Innovative and sustainable solutions for water issues are critically important on a local and global scale. We are thankful for – and are happy to further support – the research and work the team at Texas Tech University is leading.”
Through innovative research, high-quality education and robust outreach, the Davis College Water Center is at the forefront of addressing a wide spectrum of local and global water issues pertaining to agriculture and the environment.
“Texas Tech and the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources share the same ambition to solve global issues,” said Texas Tech University Vice President for Advancement Byron Kennedy. “With the support of Tito's, we look forward to meaningful research in water quality, availability and sustainability.”
Researchers at the Davis College Water Center are working to ensure the availability of a quality water supply globally and on the Texas Southern High Plains. This semiarid region represents a model for addressing global water issues. Solutions developed for challenges faced in this region with drought, heat stress and declining water resources can be extended to similarly challenged agricultural regions worldwide.
“Davis College is very appreciative of this leading gift from Tito's Handmade Vodka for the Water Center,” said Clint Krehbiel, dean of the Davis College. “To sustain one of the most productive farm belts in the world, the Davis College Water Center aims to develop water-conserving and climate-resilient crop-forage-livestock systems for the Southern High Plains and scaling those systems for global impact. Tito's leading support provides us with resources needed to find innovative solutions critical to the future of sustainable supplies and quality of water.”
Krishna Jagadish, Thornton Distinguished Chair of Plant & Soil Science at Texas Tech, serves as the director of the Davis College Water Center leading research and coordinating the TeCSIS-TAWC program (Texas Coalition for Sustainable Integrated Systems Research and the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation).
Jagadish's research is central to the Davis College Water Center. He focuses on optimizing cropping systems used for livestock feed and grazing by developing new tools to enhance water conservation and improve soil health.
“Support from Tito's Handmade Vodka will catalyze and provide the momentum needed to develop transdisciplinary solutions to challenges related to agriculture water conservation, which will have an impact at the regional and global levels,” Jagadish said.