PFAS and experts in emerging contaminants bring McKenzie Pearson to Minneapolis

Recent graduate adds her name to research on ‘forever chemicals’

As a master’s student at the University of Minnesota, McKenzie Pearson grew bacteria. Not just any bacteria, but the kind that could someday, cost-effectively eat up per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) at an industrial scale.

“I chose the University of Minnesota because it was a match of my interests as well as who I was able to work with,” said Pearson, who successfully defended her thesis on the engineered biodegradation of PFAS this August. “My advisor, Professor Bill Arnold, is an expert in the field of emerging contaminants and environmental chemistry and having the opportunity to work with him was really exciting.”

Aqueous water chemistry has held Pearson’s attention since her days as an undergrad, majoring in environmental engineering at Valparaiso in Indiana. Zeroing on PFAS for her graduate research was an outgrowth of all the attention the pollutant has received.

“PFAs are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because their strong bonds of carbon and fluorine make them hard to degrade,” she explained. “They’re in a wide variety of consumer products—nonstick pans, rain jackets, microwave popcorn bags—and they've been found in our drinking water systems and natural environments. This is something that's going to affect generations to come from a health and safety standpoint. So, being part of that conversation right now was important to me.”

Pearson, now a consultant with Geosyntec, was a recipient of the Otto G. Bonestroo & Robert W. Rosene Graduate Fellowship.