Over spring break, three ITP students – Oscar Torres, Nahana Schelling & Sonaar Luthra – went to the Browning Ranch in Johnson City, Texas, to explore the possibility of a future ongoing collaboration.  The ranch, owned by Ted and Betsy Rogers, is embarking upon an ambitious project to restore the native grassland landscape that has largely disappeared in the wake of drought, overgrazing and unsustainable water management.  The ranch has in the past collaborated with landscape architects, geologists, landowners and environmental scientists, yet it was clear that a collaboration with ITP, which had few precedents, would require careful investigation in order to determine how both could benefit most from working together.  On the trip, the three students were given an in depth tour of the issues facing the hill country as well as a thorough understanding of the groundbreaking work headed by Scott Gardner on the ranch.  Central to the work being done on the ranch is the collection and eventual distribution of data, from the use of sensors to detect weather patterns and water conditions to the use of data visualization in order to eventually communicate findings to the public and policy-makers in the state government.  With hope, the findings of the trip will lead to future collaborations between ITP and Browning that will allow both to explore uncharted territory in the use of communications technology to empower the global sustainability movement in an effort to promote the need for better land stewardship.