Contact Dr Patrick McKenna
- Email: P.Mckenna@cranfield.ac.uk
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.
