Contact Dr Patrick McKenna
- Email: P.Mckenna@cranfield.ac.uk
- ORCID
Background
Dr Patrick McKenna is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Water, Energy and Environment. He carries out agronomic and soil science research on field trials in Pakistan which seek to understand the impact of wastewater irrigation on soil properties and the transmission of gastroenteritis. This project is known as GASTROPAK, is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and covers the agricultural, environmental and public health impacts of wastewater irrigation in Pakistan. The project is a collaboration between universities and institutes in the United Kingdom and Pakistan and at Cranfield is lead by Prof Ruben Sakrabani.
Research opportunities
Patrick has research interests in how farmers can improve productivity whilst maintaining environmental integrity and mitigating climate change. He has conducted long-term field trials looking at the reintegration of leys and sheep grazing into arable systems, with a view to understand if arable farmers can adopt mixed crop-livestock systems in order to maintain soil quality and reduce reliance on mineral fertilizer. He has also conducted research into the capacity of a 'circular economy' of waste-derived nutrients to mitigate climate change. He is also interested in how livestock methane emissions can be mitigated and how our understanding of the warming impact of atmospheric methane can be improved.
Current activities
He is currently working as an agronomist and soil scientist on a Prosperity Partnership project between Cranfield University and Lipton Teas and Infusions. The goal of this project is to develop regenerative tea production systems with better climate resilience and lower greenhouse gas emissions and is lead by Prof Andrew Thompson and Prof Paul Burgess.
Publications
Articles In Journals
- McKenna P & Banwart S. (2024). Reassessing the warming impact of methane emissions from Irish livestock using GWP*: historical trends and sustainable futures. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 62(1)
- Carter LJ, Dennis S, Allen K, McKenna P, Chen X, .... (2024). Mitigating Contaminant-Driven Risks for the Safe Expansion of the Agricultural─Sanitation Circular Economy in an Urbanizing World. ACS ES&T Water, 4(4)
- Bibi A, Rasul F, Shahzad S, Sakrabani R, Din WU, .... (2024). Toxicity, bioaccumulation and mitigating strategies of heavy metals stress on morpho-physiology of spinach. Discover Plants, 1(1)
- McKenna P, Zakaria F, Guest J, Evans B & Banwart S. (2023). Will the circle be unbroken? The climate mitigation and sustainable development given by a circular economy of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and water. RSC Sustainability, 1(4)
- McKenna P & Banwart S. (2023). Reassessing the warming impact of methane emissions from Irish livestock using GWP*: historical trends and sustainable futures. IRISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD RESEARCH, 62(1)
- McKenna P, Cannon N, Conway J & Dooley J. (2018). The use of red clover (Trifolium pratense) in soil fertility-building: A Review. Field Crops Research, 221
- McKenna P, Cannon N & Conway J. (2018). Soil mineral nitrogen availability predicted by herbage yield and disease resistance in red clover (Trifolium pratense) cropping. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 112(3)
- McKenna P, Cannon N, Conway J, Dooley J & Davies WP. (2018). Red clover (Trifolium pratense) in conservation agriculture: a compelling case for increased adoption. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 16(4-5)
