Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2022
  • M.S., Civil Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2018
Professional Honors
  • National Science Foundation Research Traineeship – Food, Energy and Water Systems, 2020-2021
  • University of California Los Angeles Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2020-2021
  • Los Angeles Urban Center Fellowship, 2020-2021
  • Martin Rubin Scholarship – High Achieving Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate Student, 2020
Professional Affiliations
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • Bay Area Water Works Association (BAWWA)
Languages
  • Italian (Italy)
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Spanish

Dr. Renan Valenca is a Senior Associate in Exponent's Environmental & Earth Sciences practice. Dr. Valenca has a background in chemical and environmental engineering with emphasis on water, including stormwater, surface water and ground water, and green infrastructure.  

Dr. Valenca has extensive experience with contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems within the vadose and saturated zones. Contaminants within his expertise include pathogens, nutrients, metals, and emerging contaminants, such as microplastics, munitions, PFAS, and wildfire-related contamination. Dr. Valenca has experience advising clients about sustainable soil amendments (e.g., biochar, iron filings, compost, fly ash) utilized to improve contaminant removal during water infiltration. Throughout his graduate studies, Dr. Valenca developed climate-resilient stormwater treatment systems through a combination of laboratory and in-situ experiments. He optimized these stormwater systems to enhance the degradation of specific contaminants based on local climate conditions. Dr. Valenca is a registered Chemical Engineer in Brazil, where he worked in the ceramic industry developing waste management and reutilization programs and supporting the QA/QC process of ceramic tile production.