Her mother died when Brenna was young, forcing her to take a leadership role within the colony during a time when the planet's climate was warming, and food and other resources becoming scarce. In 2365, she was among the Bringloidi colonists evacuated from the planet by the USS Enterprise-D. Despite having lived all her life in an agrarian society, Odell advocated letting the Bringloidi children be schooled by the Enterprise teachers. While aboard she had a brief romantic encounter with Commander William T. Riker.