Brendan F. O'Leary
Dr. Brendan O'Leary, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Leadership in Environmental Awareness and Research (CLEAR) at Wayne State University in Detroit. Dr. O'Leary's research focuses on the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater, air and soil, with particular emphasis on human health and exposure risks in urban environments. Currently, he is developing field screening techniques and numerical modeling approaches to understanding the subsurface transport of volatile organic compounds. Dr. O’Leary received a dual titled Ph.D. in civil engineering and urban sustainability with Dr. Carol Miller at Wayne State University. He received his master's in geology with Dr. Larry Lemke at Wayne State University and an undergraduate degree in geology and environmental science from Allegheny College.
Research interest(s)/area of expertise
- Urban hydrology
- Fate and transport of contaminants in urban settings
- Geostatistical modeling
- Environmental remediation
- Environmental justice
Education
- B.Sc. in Environmental Science and Environmental Geology, Allegheny Collage, 2011
- M.Sc. in Geology, Wayne State University, 2014
- Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and Urban Sustainability, Wayne State University, 2023
- Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Leadership in Environmental Awareness and Research, Wayne State University, 2023-Present
Selected publications
- Straughen, J.K., Loveless, I., Chen, Y., Burmeister, C., Lamerato, L., Lemke, L.D., O’Leary, B.F., Reiners, J.J., Sperone, F.G., Levin, A.M. and Cassidy-Bushrow, A.E. (2024) The Impact of Environmental Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene Exposure on Blood-Based DNA Methylation Profiles in Pregnant African American Women from Detroit. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(3), p.256. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21030256
- O'Leary, B.F. (2023) Evaluating volatile organic compound exposure pathways in urban landscapes Detroit, MI. (Doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University). [Order No. 30309578]
- O’Leary, B.F., Hill, A.B., Linn, C., Lu, M., Miller, C.J., Newman, A., Sperone, G.F., and Zang, Q. (2023) Exploring the association of Brownfield remediation status with socioeconomic conditions in Wayne County, MI. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 1-9. doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26666-2
- Erickson, M., Hoysh, S., O’Leary, B.F., Van Stempvoort, Dale, (In Review) Chapter 6: Urban groundwater issues related to Great Lakes Water Quality, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Annex 8 – Groundwater
- Raheja, G., Harper, L., Hoffman, A., Gorby, Y., Freese, L., O’Leary, B.F., Deron, N., Smith, S., Auch, T., Goodwin, M., Westervelt, D.M. (2022) Community-based participatory research for low-cost air pollution monitoring in the wake of unconventional oil and gas development in the Ohio River Valley: Empowering impacted residents through community science. Environmental Research Letters. 2022 May 25;17(6). doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac6ad6
- Steinman, A.D.; Uzarski, D.G.; Lusch, D.P.; Miller, C.; Doran, P.; Zimnicki, T.; Chu, P.; Allan, J.; Asher, J.; Bratton, J.; Carpenter, D.; Dempsey, D.; Drummond, C.; Esch, J.; Garwood, A.; Harrison, A.; Lemke, L.D.; Nicholas, J.; Ogilvie, W.; O’Leary, B.F..; Sachs, P.; Seelbach, P.; Seidel, T.; Suchy, A.; Yellich, J. (2022) Groundwater in Crisis? Addressing Groundwater Challenges in Michigan (USA) as a Template for the Great Lakes. Sustainability 2022, 14, 3008. doi.org/10.3390/su14053008
- O’Leary, B.F., Hill, A.B., Akers, K.G., Esparra-Escalera, H.K., Lucas, A., Raoufi, G., Huang, Y., Mariscal, N., Mohanty, S.K., Tummala, C.M., Dittrich, T.M. (2022) Air quality monitoring and measurement in an urban airshed: Contextualizing datasets from the Detroit Michigan area from 1952 to 2020. Science of the Total Environment, Volume 809, 152120, doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152120
- Teimoori, S.; O’Leary, B.F.; Miller, C.J. (2021) Modeling Shallow Urban Groundwater at Regional and Local Scales: A Case Study in Detroit, MI. Water, Volume 13, 1515. doi.org/10.3390/w13111515
- Cassidy-Bushrow, A.E., Burmeister, C., Birbeck, J., Chen, Y., Lamerato, L., Lemke, L.D., Li, J., Mor, G., O'Leary, B.F., Peters, R.M. and Reiners Jr, J.J., Gianluca Sperone, F., Westrick, J., Wiewiora, E., Straughen, J. K. (2021) Ambient BTEX exposure and mid-pregnancy inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant African American women. Journal of reproductive immunology, 145, 103305
- Miller, C.J., Runge-Morris, M., Cassidy-Bushrow, A.E., Straughen, J.K., Dittrich, T.M., Baker, T.R., Petriello, M.C., Mor, G., Ruden, D.M., O’Leary, B.F. and Teimoori, S., 2020. A Review of Volatile Organic Compound Contamination in Post-Industrial Urban Centers: Reproductive Health Implications Using a Detroit Lens. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Volume 17, Issue 23, 8755. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238755
- Cassidy-Bushrow, A.E., Burmeister, C, Lamerato, L, Lemke, L.D., Mathieu, M., O'Leary, B.F., Sperone, F.G., Straughen, J.K., Reiners, J.R. Jr. (2020) Prenatal Airshed Pollutants and Preterm Birth in an Observational Birth Cohort Study in Detroit, Michigan, USA, Environmental research, 189, 109845. doi.org/10.1016/j.jri.2021.103305
- O’Leary, B.F., Reiners J.J. Jr., Xu, X., Lemke, L.D. (2016) Identification and influence of spatio-temporal outliers in urban air quality measurements, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 573, Pages 55-65, ISSN 0048-9697 doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.03
- Howard, J.L., O’Leary, B.F., Shuster, W.D, (2015) Corrigendum to “Experimental Order 1 soil survey of vacant urban land, Detroit, Michigan, USA, Catena, Volume 126, 220–230, ISSN 0341-8162. doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2014.11.019
- O’Leary, B.F., (2014) Evaluating spatial outliers and integrating temporal data in air pollution models for the Detroit-Windsor airshed. (Thesis, Wayne State University). ID: 1564791
- O’Leary, B.F. and Lemke, L.D. (2014) Modeling Spatiotemporal Variability of Intra-Urban Air Pollutants in Detroit: A Pragmatic Approach, Atmospheric Environment, Volume 94, Pages 417-427, ISSN 1352-2310. doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.05.010
Other qualifications directly relevant to courses taught
- Pharmacology 7650: Volatile Solvents in the Environment
- ESG 5650: Applied Geologic Mapping