About

Kerri Hickenbottom is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona. She completed her BS degree in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, and her MS and PhD degrees in environmental science and engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Her research centers on the development of novel engineered systems for resource recovery and reclamation of concentrate streams. She has investigated the technical, economic, and environmental life cycle impacts of hybrid, membrane-based processes such as pressure retarded osmosis-membrane distillation for energy generation from low-grade heat, forward osmosis for advanced treatment and recovery of drilling wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, and membrane distillation for concentrate stream management. She aims to continue her interdisciplinary research by collaborating with other researchers across campus to address grand environmental challenges.

Research topics

• Environmental engineering
• Chromatography
• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Environmental science
• Chemical engineering
• Biology
• Environmental chemistry
• Virology
• Nuclear chemistry
• Biochemistry

Selected publications

• Targeted chemical cleaning preserves high water flux and water quality in long-term pilot-scale membrane distillation for potable water reuse

  Desalination · 2025-03-23 · 8 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Synergistic Solutions: Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Configurations for Efficient Brackish Water Desalination

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Energy and water dynamics in data center cooling: Insights from a modeling study in hot-arid climates

  Applied Thermal Engineering · 2025-05-12 · 4 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Energy and Water Dynamics in Data Center Cooling: Insights from a Modeling Study in Hot-Arid Climates

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Synergistic solutions: reverse osmosis and nanofiltration configurations for efficient brackish water desalination

  npj Clean Water · 2025-08-28 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Pilot testing using feed water sourced from the Yuma Desalting Plant (~2 g/L) (Arizona, USA), an inland brackish water desalination facility, was conducted using either tight Dupont Filmtec Nanofiltration (NF) NF90 membranes or looser NF270 membranes as integrated, pre-treatment, or brine recovery for Reverse Osmosis (RO). The hybrid configurations that include both NF270 and RO membranes exhibited the highest RO water flux, 37– 41 Lm−2 h−1, with over 99% salt rejection. However, the cost was strongly influenced by the volume of brine produced compared to the energy consumption, resulting in the lowest cost in the NF270 brine recovery configuration. Both the pilot study and modeling data indicate that NF270 and RO membrane hybrid configurations are an economically viable treatment for water purification in inland areas where brackish water is a prevalent water source.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Public risk perceptions of advanced water purification in an arid urban region of the U.S. southwest: A mixed methods study

  The Science of The Total Environment · 2025-09-26 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparative life cycle assessment of membrane distillation for inland concentrate management

  Journal of Cleaner Production · 2025-05-05 · 6 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Targeted Chemical Cleaning Preserves High Water Flux and Water Quality in Long-Term Pilot-Scale Membrane Distillation for Potable Water Reuse

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Productivity, selectivity, and energy consumption of pilot-scale vacuum assisted air-gap membrane distillation for the desalination of high-salinity streams

  Desalination · 2024-03-21 · 17 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Productivity, Selectivity, and Energy Consumption of Pilot-Scale Vacuum Assisted Air-Gap Membrane Distillation for the Desalination of High-Salinity Streams

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Tzahi Y. Cath

  13 shared

• Andrea Achilli

  University of Arizona

  12 shared

• Johan Vanneste

  Colorado School of Mines

  10 shared

• Varinia Felix

  University of Arizona

  9 shared

• Luke K. Presson

  University of Arizona

  8 shared

• Leslie A. Miller

  Colorado School of Mines

  8 shared

• Mukta Hardikar

  7 shared

• Michael B. Heeley

  5 shared

Labs

• HER LabPI

  Focus on novel membrane processes, resource recovery, and reclamation of waste streams.