Born in Iran, Fardin Oliaei came to the United States to pursue higher education, earning advanced degrees in environmental science. She joined the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), where she served as a senior scientist. Her research exposed widespread contamination from perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in Minnesota’s waterways. As one of the first scientists in Minnesota to trace PFC contamination in fish and groundwater, Oliaei’s willingness to speak publicly about these findings led to professional backlash. She faced retaliation from the agency and ultimately filed a whistleblower lawsuit in 2005. Oliaei left the MPCA in 2006, an end to her 16-year tenure. Her testimony and research were later recognized, and cleanup plans and filtration systems were instituted in response to the issues she highlighted. In 2008, Oliaei received a Bush Foundation fellowship to pursue a Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School, focusing on environmental health policy. Her story is part of the documentary Everywhere & Forever: Blood. Water. And the Politics of PFAS.
