
Orianna Bretschger
Orianna Bretschger received a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Northern Arizona; and after a career in aerospace and government consulting, she completed a Ph.D. in Materials Science at the University of Southern California. Bretschger launched Aquacycl with her partners after 12 years of technological development and validation. Dr. Bretschger is a 2021 Cartier Women’s Initiative Science and Technology Pioneer Laureate, a 2019 Fellow in the National Academy of Sciences New Voices in Science, Engineering and Medicine Program, a 2022 Unreasonable Fellow, and Aquacycl was a Finalist for the 2023 Earthshot Prize for their work to decarbonize wastewater treatment.
Aquacycl was founded in November 2016 and the company provides industrial wastewater treatment as a service to help companies support healthy watersheds and communities worldwide with offices in the United States and Aquacycl Europe B.V. in the Netherlands. Aquacycl technologies and services guarantee permit compliance, greenhouse gas mitigation, reliable performance in variable production environments, and operational savings. Customers served by Aquacycl, including PepsiCo, have realized up to a 30% reduction in wastewater management costs and over 100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions mitigated per month.