ISSE Staff
Amanda McKenna
Research Associate, Center for Clean Products
Office Phone: (865) 974-4583
Email: amckenna@utk.edu
M.S., Environmental Engineering—Water Resources, University of Tennessee, 2007
B.S., Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 2005
Amanda McKenna has been a Research Associate for the Center for Clean Products since August 2007. She endeavors to promote and implement proactive, environmentally neutral approaches in the practices of industry and in the daily lives of individuals by applying engineering concepts to improve current habits.
Amanda’s resume includes a broad array of experience. She has been a researcher for the National Science Foundation, modeling the fate and transport of toxics in a constructive wetland. She has worked in an industrial facility developing an Environmental Management System and maintaining compliance with applicable legislation. She has also held a position with the Minnesota Department of Health, conducting pilot-scale field studies on small community drinking water treatment systems. Most recently, Amanda’s graduate work entailed characterizing groundwater-surface water interactions in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park using hydrologic, geochemical, and isotopic data.
In her free time, Amanda can usually be found outdoors; her favorite activities include camping, playing basketball, and hanging out with her dog. She also volunteers at the Young-Williams Animal Center.
Current Projects
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Amanda is collaborating with the Natural Stone Council (NSC) to characterize the stone industry’s environmental profile and identify best management practices in quarrying and processing activities. The goals of the project are to understand the natural stone industry’s current position in the green building movement and to develop a proactive sustainability plan to continually improve that status.
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Amanda is also working with the Weeden Foundation to compare the environmental impacts of tree-based paper to those of kenaf-based paper. Kenaf is an annual, cane-like crop that can supply fiber used for pulp and paper production. This research aims to resolve the claim that kenaf-based paper induces a smaller environmental burden than tree-based paper.