About

Rebecca Larson is a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, affiliated with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. She holds a PhD in biosystems and agricultural engineering from Michigan State University, earned in 2010, along with a master's degree (2007) and a bachelor's degree (2005) in the same field from the same institution. Her teaching activities include serving as faculty director of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Learning Community, and she teaches courses such as the WISE seminar and Principles of Environmental Science. Her research and academic focus are centered on environmental studies, with a particular emphasis on biosystems and agricultural engineering, although specific research topics are not detailed on the page.

Research topics

• Environmental science
• Agronomy
• Ecology
• Biology
• Business
• Waste management
• Chemistry
• Engineering
• Animal science
• Environmental planning
• Environmental engineering
• Agricultural engineering
• Economics
• Pulp and paper industry
• Natural resource economics

Selected publications

• Comparing greenhouse gas emission accounting tools for organic dairy stakeholders

  Journal of Cleaner Production · 2026-02-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A multidisciplinary review of emission reductions and adoption potential of livestock manure acidification systems

  Journal of Environmental Management · 2026-05-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Advancing Nitrogen Recovery from Livestock Manure Processing toward a Circular Economy in Agriculture

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2026-05-12

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Livestock manure is a concentrated waste stream that poses significant threats to environmental health. One of the major concerns is the large concentration of nutrients. For example, nitrogen discharged by livestock in feces and urine ranges from 80 to 131 Tg N yr–1 globally. If harnessed entirely, this nitrogen resource could replace a significant portion of the global demand for fertilizer nitrogen applied to crop fields. However, current manure management practices are inefficient and subject to major losses. In this study, we articulate critical challenges in manure nitrogen management and processing, as well as present an overview of recent advancements in technologies aimed at nitrogen reclamation from livestock manure, including membrane-based technologies and electrochemical techniques. The former achieves excellent total ammoniacal nitrogen recoveries of up to 95%, and the latter can be integrated with membranes or used independently to further enhance nitrogen recovery. We analyze the principles of these novel technologies, present a comprehensive understanding of how they work, and provide a critical evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses. This review provides vital insights on nitrogen recovery from livestock manure, paving the way for a more sustainable future for manure management to achieve a circular economy in agriculture.

  PublisherDOI

• Co-Design of Cyanobacteria Mutant Strains and Processes for Phosphorus Recovery from Livestock Wastewater

  ChemRxiv · 2025-02-05

  preprintOpen access

  Livestock agriculture generally operates as a linear economy, consuming large quantities of nonrenewable energy and nutrients while generating waste that often pollutes the environment. In this work, we propose approaches to help mitigate nutrient pollution via the development of cyanobacteria-based processes that capture phosphorus from dairy manure. Using engineered strains of cyanobacteria, we were able to increase biomass phosphorus density 8.5-fold with no impact on growth rate, producing biomass that contained 14% phosphorus by mass. Techno-economic modeling revealed that the dramatic increase in phosphorus density leads to a significantly more cost- and resource-efficient process, with over a 2-fold reduction in total annualized cost (TAC), 8-fold reduction in required land use, 3-fold reduction in energy usage, and fully eliminating the use of freshwater. Further analysis showed that combining the mutant strain with a simplified nutrient recovery process resulted in a phosphorus recovery charge (PRC) of 9.2 USD per kg P, which is 88% lower than an estimated socioeconomic cost of P runoff (75 USD per kg P) and equivalent to a service charge of 0.015 USD/gal of manure processed. By using cyanobacteria biomass as a P-dense biofertilizer, the proposed approach can help facilitate nutrient transportation and the transition to a more circular agricultural economy.

  PublisherDOI

• Corrigendum to “Modeling ammonia emissions from manure in conventional, organic, and grazing dairy systems and practices to mitigate emissions” (J. Dairy Sci. 107:359–382)

  Journal of Dairy Science · 2025-05-21

  erratumOpen accessSenior author

  <h2>ABSTRACT</h2> Emissions per tonne of excreted manure for the manure system (barn, storage, and land application) range from 3.0 to 4.4 <b>kg</b> of NH₃ for conventional farms, 3.5 to 4.4 <b>kg</b> of NH₃ for organic farms, and 3.4 to 3.9 <b>kg</b> of NH₃ for grazing farms.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Techno-economic analysis of an integrated process for cyanobacteria-based nutrient recovery from livestock waste

  Computers & Chemical Engineering · 2025-04-30 · 5 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Co-Design of Cyanobacteria Mutant Strains and Processes for Phosphorus Recovery from Livestock Wastewater

  ChemRxiv · 2025-02-03

  preprintOpen access

  Livestock agriculture generally operates as a linear economy, consuming large quantities of nonrenewable energy and nutrients while generating waste that often pollutes the environment. In this work, we propose approaches to help mitigate nutrient pollution via the development of cyanobacteria-based processes that capture phosphorus from dairy manure. Using engineered strains of cyanobacteria, we were able to increase biomass phosphorus density 8.5-fold with no impact on growth rate, producing biomass that contained 14% phosphorus by mass. Techno-economic modeling revealed that the dramatic increase in phosphorus density leads to a significantly more cost- and resource-efficient process, with over a 2-fold reduction in total annualized cost (TAC), 8-fold reduction in required land use, 3-fold reduction in energy usage, and fully eliminating the use of freshwater. Further analysis showed that combining the mutant strain with a simplified nutrient recovery process resulted in a phosphorus recovery charge (PRC) of 9.2 USD per kg P, which is 88% lower than an estimated socioeconomic cost of P runoff (75 USD per kg P) and equivalent to a service charge of 0.015 USD/gal of manure processed. By using cyanobacteria biomass as a P-dense biofertilizer, the proposed approach can help facilitate nutrient transportation and the transition to a more circular agricultural economy.

  PublisherDOI

• Codesign of Cyanobacteria Mutant Strains and Processes for Phosphorus Recovery from Livestock Wastewater

  ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · 2025-02-08 · 1 citations

  article

  Livestock agriculture generally operates as a linear economy, consuming large quantities of nonrenewable energy and nutrients while generating waste that often pollutes the environment. In this work, we propose approaches to help mitigate nutrient pollution via the development of cyanobacteria-based processes that capture phosphorus from dairy manure. Using engineered strains of cyanobacteria, we were able to increase biomass phosphorus density 8.5-fold with no impact on the growth rate, producing biomass that contained 14% phosphorus by mass. Technoeconomic modeling revealed that the dramatic increase in phosphorus density leads to a significantly more cost- and resource-efficient process, with over a 2-fold reduction in total annualized cost (TAC), 8-fold reduction in required land use, 3-fold reduction in energy usage, and fully eliminating the use of freshwater. Further analysis showed that combining the mutant strain with a simplified nutrient recovery process resulted in a phosphorus recovery charge (PRC) of 9.2 USD per kg of P, which is 88% lower than an estimated socioeconomic cost of P runoff (75 USD per kg of P) and equivalent to a service charge of 0.015 USD/gal of manure processed. By using cyanobacteria biomass as a P-dense biofertilizer, the proposed approach can help facilitate nutrient transportation and the transition to a more circular agricultural economy.

  PublisherDOI

• Techno-Economic Analysis of an Integrated Process for Cyanobacteria-Based Nutrient Recovery from Livestock Waste

  ChemRxiv · 2024-11-07

  preprintOpen access

  The dairy industry largely operates as a linear economy in which large amounts of non-renewable energy and mining resources are used for the production of synthetic chemical fertilizers (e.g., phosphate rock and ammonia). Moreover, significant greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia) and nutrient emissions (phosphorus and nitrogen species) result from the improper management of manure waste, leading to the simultaneous degradation of valuable air, soil, and water resources. In this work, we present a techno-economic analysis (TEA) framework to investigate the viability of an integrated process that aims to recover nutrients from dairy manure. A central tenet of the proposed process (which we call ReNuAl) is that it uses cyanobacteria (CB) as a key integrative component that simultaneously: (i) harnesses renewable energy (solar energy via photosynthesis) to capture waste nutrients and (ii) captures carbon dioxide that results the anaerobic digestion of waste. Moreover, because biogas can be obtained via anaerobic digestion and CB biomass can be used as a concentrated biofertilizer, ReNuAl provides a pathway to a more circular fertilizer economy that helps manage air and water pollution. Our TEA framework is used to evaluate the phosphorus recovery costs and capital/operating expenses under varying levels of process integration. This analysis highlights key aspects of the process that have the most impact on economic/environmental performance and to provide performance targets for new CB strain variants.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bioelectrochemically-assisted ammonia recovery from dairy manure

  Water Research · 2024-02-01 · 13 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Horacio A. Aguirre‐Villegas

  24 shared

• Joseph R. Sanford

  Pioneer (United States)

  15 shared

• Steven I. Safferman

  Michigan State University

  15 shared

• Troy Runge

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  10 shared

• Ví­ctor M. Zavala

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  10 shared

• Susan M. Pfiffner

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  10 shared

• D. L. Mokma

  9 shared

• Mahmoud Sharara

  North Carolina State University

  9 shared

Education

• PhD, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

  Michigan State University

  2010

• MS, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

  Michigan State University

  2007

• BS, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

  Michigan State University

  2005