By Grace Hasley, WMEAC’s Eco-Journalism Intern
After PFAS had been spilling into the city of Rockford, Michigan for decades, AJ Birkbeck rounded up a team to push the federal government into action. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of contaminants that can be found coated on several household items like cookware, shoes, and paper. Birkbeck pushed for the government to make this public knowledge and formed the PFAS Alliance. The PFAS Alliance provides a community for those affected by PFAS and gives them resources and support.
After Birkbeck’s passing in 2021, the AJ Birkbeck Scholarship was created in his honor to award Michigan students up to $3,000 to complete a PFAS research project. This year, the scholarship was awarded to a Michigan State University PhD student, Holden Nelson.
Nelson got his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics from Westfield State University in Westfield, Massachusetts. In his first year at MSU as a PhD student in the Department of Integrative Biology, Nelson is already making waves with his research. He has a passion for the environment and solving puzzles, making him the ideal candidate for the scholarship. When asked about his feelings toward his newly awarded scholarship and upcoming research, Nelson replied, “I’m excited. This is really my jam.”
During his first year at Michigan State, Nelson has had the opportunity for his research to gain some momentum. “A lot of the assignments and the work that you do, you’re encouraged to kind of tailor it towards your own research,” he explained. During these development stages, Nelson has been supported by his advisor, James Moran. A project as big as this one needs supporters such as Moran to help with certain areas of expertise and funding. Moran is also an expert on stable isotope analysis and chemical forensic methods, scientific techniques Nelson is trying to utilize in his research.
This scholarship will give Nelson the funding needed to help uncover how much PFAS contamination in an area is coming from different potential sources. In doing so, these PFAS polluters can be held responsible, and changes can be made to avoid further contamination. “[This] would hopefully expedite the process of getting water supplies in communities and soils in farms and whatever is contaminated, getting that cleaned up,” Nelson says.
Nelson envisions a wide range of applications for his research, some of which extend beyond his graduate studies. For example, he expresses a future desire to do human studies that would trace where people are picking up PFAS contamination in their daily lives and further get to the root of this problem. It’s safe to say that Holden Nelson is passionate about protecting the environment and those living in it, and with this scholarship he will be able to make a positive environmental impact through his research.
