Rachel Brennan

Affiliate Researcher
Titles and Affiliations
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Research Interests

Ecological solutions for food-energy-water nexus challenges; Advanced ecological wastewater treatment (Eco-MachinesTM); Bioremediation of hazardous wastes and emerging contaminants; Biological, chemical, and physical treatment of acid mine drainage; Nutrient recovery for the sustainable production of fertilizers, fodder, and biofuels.

Water-Energy-Food Nexus at Penn State

Brennan Research Group

In the News

Research Keywords

 These keywords and phrases come from the publications and other research output of this person. See other researchers related to these topics by clicking on any keyword.

Projects

Recent Publications

Maximizing duckweed biomass production for food security at low light intensities: Experimental results and an enhanced predictive model

Femeena, P. V., Roman, B. & Brennan, R. A., Apr 2023, In: Environmental Challenges. 11, 100709.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Spatial optimization of nutrient recovery from dairy farms to support economically viable load reductions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Femeena, P. V., Costello, C. & Brennan, R. A., Apr 2023, In: Agricultural Systems. 207, 103640.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

CREATING A CIRCULAR NITROGEN BIOECONOMY IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS THROUGH NUTRIENT RECOVERY AND UPCYCLING BY MICROALGAE AND DUCKWEED: PAST EFFORTS AND FUTURE TRENDS

Femeena, P. V., House, G. R. & Brennan, R. A., 2022, In: Journal of the ASABE. 6, 2, p. 327-346 20 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

The water–energy–food nexus discovery map: Linking geographic information systems, academic collaboration, and large-scale data visualization

Arenas, M., Femeena, P. V. & Brennan, R. A., May 1 2021, In: Sustainability (Switzerland). 13, 9, 5220.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Duckweed growth model for large-scale applications: Optimizing harvesting regime and intrinsic growth rate via machine learning to maximize biomass yields

Calicioglu, O., Sengul, M. Y., Femeena, P. V. & Brennan, R. A., Nov 15 2021, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 324, 129120.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Techno-economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of an Integrated Wastewater-Derived Duckweed Biorefinery

Calicioglu, O., Femeena, P. V., Mutel, C. L., Sills, D. L., Richard, T. L. & Brennan, R. A., Jul 19 2021, In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. 9, 28, p. 9395-9408 14 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Recovery of waste nutrients by duckweed for reuse in sustainable agriculture: Second-year results of a field pilot study with sorghum

Fernandez Pulido, C. R., Caballero, J., Bruns, M. A. & Brennan, R. A., Oct 1 2021, In: Ecological Engineering. 168, 106273.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Advantageous microbial community development and improved performance of pilot-scale field systems treating high-risk acid mine drainage with crab shell

Lin, Y., Grembi, J. A., Goots, S. S., Sebastian, A., Albert, I. & Brennan, R. A., Oct 15 2021, In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. 420, 126665.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Coupling ecological wastewater treatment with the production of livestock feed and irrigation water provides net benefits to human health and the environment: A life cycle assessment

Roman, B. & Brennan, R. A., Jun 15 2021, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 288, 112361.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Duckweed protein supports the growth and organ development of mice: A feeding study comparison to conventional casein protein

Roman, B., Brennan, R. A. & Lambert, J. D., Mar 2021, In: Journal of Food Science. 86, 3, p. 1097-1104 8 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Project drawdown

Brennan, R. A., Urbina, J., Oliden, J. F. & Rodr­guez, J. M., Jun 22 2020, In: ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings. 2020-June, 1141.

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Crab shell amendments enhance the abundance and diversity of key microbial groups in sulfate-reducing columns treating acid mine drainage

Lin, Y., Newcombe, C. E. & Brennan, R. A., Oct 1 2020, In: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 104, 19, p. 8505-8516 12 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Anaerobic bioprocessing of wastewater-derived duckweed: Maximizing product yields in a biorefinery value cascade

Calicioglu, O., Richard, T. L. & Brennan, R. A., Oct 2019, In: Bioresource technology. 289, 121716.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Duckweed as an agricultural amendment: Nitrogen mineralization, leaching, and sorghum uptake

Kreider, A. N., Fernandez Pulido, C. R., Bruns, M. A. & Brennan, R. A., Mar 1 2019, In: Journal of Environmental Quality. 48, 2, p. 469-475 7 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

A beneficial by-product of ecological wastewater treatment: An evaluation of wastewater-grown duckweed as a protein supplement for sustainable agriculture

Roman, B. & Brennan, R. A., Jun 2019, In: Ecological Engineering: X. 1, 100004.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review