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NEWS RELEASE
MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
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Applications are now open for the 2025 AJ Birkbeck Scholarship—and for the first time we’re awarding not one, but TWO students with funds to support critical PFAS research.
This scholarship honors AJ Birkbeck, an attorney and PFAS advocate. Under his guidance, a grassroots group of citizens convinced our federal and state governments to force shoe company Wolverine Worldwide to clean up the PFAS it spilled into the city of Rockford.
This put PFAS—a group of chemicals tied to cancers, liver disease, and cardiovascular problems—in the American consciousness and spurred Michigan to adopt among the first PFAS regulations in the nation.
When AJ Birkbeck passed away in late 2021, the PFAS Alliance and the Michigan Environmental Council came together to form the AJ Birkbeck Scholarship Fund.
This year, we're awarding two students attending Michigan colleges or universities $3,000 to work on PFAS projects. One award will be for a graduate student conducting PFAS-related research in environmental science, engineering, social science or policy. The second award will be for an MS Public Health student conducting a PFAS research project and/or practicum in health education, epidemiology or communications.
Projects and research much embody the spirit of AJ Birkbeck himself: a collaborator, a strategist, a protector, and a mentor.
To apply, click here.
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