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

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Projects

Recent Publications

Nutrient Cycling with Duckweed for the Fertilization of Root, Fruit, Leaf, and Grain Crops: Impacts on Plant–Soil–Leachate Systems

Fernandez Pulido, C. R., Femeena, P. V. & Brennan, R. A., Feb 2024, In: Agriculture (Switzerland). 14, 2, 188.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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