For more information visit Dr. Brant's Research Homepage

Education:

• B.S. Civil Engineering, Virginia Military Institute 1998
• M.S. Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno 2000
• Ph.D. Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno 2003

Professional Affiliations:

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE (EWRI)
• American Water Works Association (AWWA) - Student Chapter President 2001-2002
• North American Membrane Society (NAMS)
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
• Water Environment Federation (WEF)
• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)

Recent Projects:

• Office of Naval Research (ONR BAA# 05-005), "Development of Ceramic Membranes for Thermally Driven Membrane Processes", Co-principal Investigator.
• AwwaRF (RFP#-4102), "Evaluation of Membrane Characterization Methods", Co-principal Investigator.
• WateReuse Foundation (WRF-06-010A), "State of the Science Review of Membrane Fouling: Organic, Inorganic, and Biological", Co-principal Investigator.

Refereed Journal Publications:

• Brant, J.A. and Wiesner, M.R., “Surface Modification of Nanostructured Ceramic Membranes for Direct Contact Membrane Distillation”, in preparation.

• Brant, J.A., Kwan, P., and Chang, Y.J., “Energy Consumption and Optimization of Low- and High-Pressure Membrane Processes: Case Study Evaluations”, in preparation.

• Brant, J.A., Robichaud, C., and Wiesner, M.R., “Aggregation Behavior of Fullerene (C60) Colloids in the Presence of Natural Organic Matter”, in preparation.

• Brant, J.A., Koyuncu, I., Lecoanet, H., Veerapaneni, S., and Wiesner, M.R., "Characterization and Occurrence Ultrafine Particles in Drinking Water Filter Effluents", submitted.

• Wiesner, M.R., Hotze, E.M., Brant, J.A., and B. Espinasse, "Nanomaterials as possible contaminants: the fullerene example", Water Science & Technology, Vol 57 No 3 pp 305-310.

• Mortensen, E., Cath, T.Y., Brant, J.A., Dennett, K., and Childress, A.E., "Evaluation of Membrane Processes for Reducing Total Dissolved Solids Discharged to the Truckee River", Journal of Environmental Engineering, 133 (12), 2007, pages 1136-1144.

• Escobar I., Hoek, E., Gabelich, C., F. DiGiano, Y. Le Gouellec, Berube, P., K. Howe, J. Allen, K. Atasi, M. Benjamin, P. Brandhuber, Brant, J.A., Chang, Y., Chapman, M., A. Childress, W. Conlon, T. Cooke, I. Crossley, G. Crozes, P. Huck, S. Kommineni, J. Jacangelo, A. Karimi, J. Kim, D. Lawler, Q. Li, L. Schideman, S. Sethi, J. Tobiason, T. Tseng, S. Veerapaneni, and A. Zander, "American Water Works Association Membrane Technology Research Committee Report: Membrane Fouling - Recent Advances and Research Needs", Journal American Water Works Association, 97 (8), 2005, pages 79-89.

• Xia, T., Kovochich, M., Brant, J.A., Hotze, E.M., Semp, J., Oberley, T., Yeh, J., Sioutas, C., Wiesner, M.R., and Nel1, A., "Comparison of the Abilities of Ambient and Commercial Nanoparticles to Induce Cellular Toxicity According to an Oxidative Stress Paradigm", Nano Letters, Vol. 6 (8), 2006, pages 1794-1807

• Labille, J., Brant, J.A., Villiéras, F., Pelletier, M., Wiesner, M.R., Bottero, J.-Y., "Affinity of C60 Fullerenes with Water", Fullerenes, Nanotubes, and Carbon Nanostructures, Vol. 14 (2-3), 2006, pages 307-314.

• Brant, J.A., Labille, J., Bottero, J.-Y., Wiesner, M.R., "Characterizing the Impact of Preparation Method on Fullerene Cluster Structure and Chemistry", Langmuir, Vol. 22 (8), 2006, pages 3878-3885.

• Koyuncu, I., Brant, J.A., Lüttge, A., and Wiesner, M.R., "A Comparison of Vertical Scanning Interferometry (VSI) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) for Characterizing Membrane Surface Topography" Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 278 (1-2), 2006, pages 410-417.

• Brant, J.A., Johnson, K.M., Childress, A.E., "Examining the Electrochemical Properties of a Nanofiltration Membrane with Atomic Force Microscopy", Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 276 (1-2), 2006, pages 286-294. d

• Brant, J.A., Johnson, K.M., and Childress, A.E., "Characterizing NF and RO Membrane Surface Heterogeneity Using Chemical Force Microscopy", Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, Vol. 280, 2006, pages 45-57.

• Dalton, S.K., Brant, J.A., Wiesner, M.R., "Chemical Interactions between dissolved organic matter and low molecular weight organic compounds: impacts on membrane separation", Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 266 (1-2), 2005, pages 30-39.

• Brant, J.A., Lecoanet, H., Wiesner, M.R., "Comparison of Electrokinetic Properties of Colloidal Fullerenes (n-C60) Formed Using Two Procedures", Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 39 (17), 2005, pages 6343-6351.

• Brant, J.A., Lecoanet, H., Wiesner, M.R., "Aggregation and Deposition Characteristics of Fullerene Nanoparticles in Aqueous Systems", Journal of Nanoparticle Research, Vol. 7 (4), 2005, pages 545-553.

• Brant, J.A. and Childress, A.E., "Colloidal Adhesion to Hydrophilic Membrane Surfaces", Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 241 (2), 2004, pages 235-248.

• Whisman, N.D., Manning, Y.L., Childress, A.E., Brant, J.A., Dyer, R., Marchand, E.A., Adams, J.D., "Probing Microplatform for the Study of Biological Adhesion Forces", Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 74 (10), October 2003, Pages 4491-4494

• Brant, J.A. and Childress, A.E., "Membrane-Colloid Interactions: Comparison of Extended DLVO Predictions with AFM Force Measurements", Environmental Engineering Science, Vol. 19 (6), December 2002, pages 413-427

• Brant, J.A. and Childress, A.E., "Assessing Short Range Membrane-Colloid Interactions Using Surface Energetics", Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 203 (1-2) June 2002, pages 257-273.

Book Chapters:

• Brant, J.A. and Kauffman, G., Water Resources and Environmental Depth Reference Manual for the Civil PE Exam 1st Edition, Professional Publications, Inc., May 2008,

• Brant, J.A., Labille, J., Jean-Yves Bottero, J.-Y., and Wiesner, M.R., "Nanoparticle Fate and Transport in the Environment", Nanomaterials, Environment and Sustainability, McGraw Hill.

• Rose, J., Thill A., Brant, J.A., Labille, J., Jean-Yves Bottero, J.-Y., and Wiesner, M.R., "Methods for structural and chemical characterization of nanomaterials", Nanomaterials, Environment and Sustainability, McGraw Hill.

• Brant, J.A. and Childress, A.E., "Low-Fouling Membranes: Evaluating Performance from a Thermodynamic Perspective", Membrane Treatment for Drinking Water and Reuse Applications: A Compendium of Peer-Reviewed Papers, AWWA Publications.

Reports:

• "Evaluation of the Dynamic Energy Consumption of Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment Technologies", Report to the America Water Works Association Research Foundation, 2007

• "Characterization of Particles in Filter Effluents", Report to the America Water Works Association Research Foundation and US Environmental Protection Agency, 2007

• "Characterization of the Hydrophobicity of Polymeric Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Membranes: Implications to Membrane Fouling", Phase 2 Final Report to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Desalination Research and Development Program for Agreement No. 98-FC-81-0057, May 2002.

• "Characterization of the Hydrophobicity of Polymeric Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Membranes: Implications to Membrane Fouling", Phase 1 Final Report to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Desalination Research and Development Program for Agreement No. 98-FC-81-0057, May 2000.