Dr. Eguono “Wayne” Omagamre is an environmental toxicologist whose research integrates chemistry, molecular biology, and environmental science to investigate the fate, biological impacts, and mitigation of PFAS in agricultural and natural ecosystems. His work spans PFAS uptake and stress responses in plants and insects, microbial and ecosystem-level interactions, and the development of innovative remediation strategies involving engineered biomaterials and sustainable intervention approaches. Beyond research, Dr. Omagamre is deeply committed to teaching, mentorship, and building interdisciplinary research experiences for students at all levels. Through the EnviToxIn Lab at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), he leads collaborative projects with researchers at institutions including UMCES, the University of Florida, Brown University, and North Dakota State University, advancing studies that range from landfill and agricultural PFAS contamination to estuarine and ecosystem health.

Fariba joined the EnviToxIn Lab in Winter 2025, bringing valuable experience in plant research and environmental stress biology. Her research focuses on advancing our ongoing soybean–PFAS project by investigating how different PFAS exposure pathways influence contaminant uptake, bioavailability, plant physiology, and rhizosphere responses in soybean systems. Using a comprehensive greenhouse framework, Fariba will examine whether PFAS accumulation and phenotypic effects differ when exposure occurs through contaminated soil, PFAS-containing irrigation water, or a combination of both pathways. Her project will also evaluate how biochar amendments and nitrification inhibition strategies influence PFAS mobility, precursor behavior, microbial community structure, and soybean root transcriptomic responses. Through the integration of plant phenotyping, soil chemistry, microbial ecology, PFAS analysis, and transcriptomics, Fariba’s work aims to generate mechanistic insight into how exposure route and soil management strategies shape PFAS behavior in agricultural systems and influence crop health and food-relevant tissue accumulation. 

Sumantee Baidya joined our lab in Spring of 2026 with the goal of contributing to our development of a practical, field-based management solution for PFAS contamination in agricultural systems. In the EnviToxIn Lab, she is working directly with farmers and agricultural fields with documented histories of biosolid application to investigate how PFAS move from contaminated soils into edible crop tissues under real Maryland farming conditions. Her work will advance understanding on how soil properties such as organic matter, pH, and texture influence PFAS mobility, crop uptake, and transfer into food systems under real field conditions. Her research will integrate soil chemistry, crop analysis, and biochar-based mitigation strategies to evaluate scalable approaches for reducing PFAS bioavailability while maintaining crop productivity and nutritional quality. She will also develop PFAS uptake risk models and science-based best management frameworks designed to help farmers make informed decisions about mitigation strategies in PFAS-affected soils. 

Monae Hancock joined the EnviToxIn Lab through a Maryland Sea Grant Fellowship to support ongoing research investigating long-term PFAS accumulation and ecological impacts in Chesapeake Bay and Maryland Coastal Bay sediments. Her work focuses on reconstructing historical PFAS contamination trends using sediment geochronology while examining how chronic PFAS exposure may influence sediment microbial communities and benthic ecosystem processes over time. In the EnviToxIn Lab, Monae will contribute to sediment core sampling & processing, PFAS analysis, microbial DNA sequencing, and environmental data integration to help generate multi-decade records of PFAS deposition across estuarine systems. Her research will combine environmental chemistry and microbial ecology approaches to better understand how legacy contamination shapes biological responses within aquatic sediments. Through this work, Monae will contribute to the development of science-based environmental monitoring tools and risk assessment frameworks that can support coastal ecosystem management, aquaculture planning, and long-term environmental resilience in the Chesapeake Bay region.