Lab Highlights

Dr. Omagamre was awarded a $499,328 Major Grant through the 2026 Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) PFAS Fund program. The Major Grant category included a select group of awardees from leading institutions such as the University of Maine, Dartmouth College, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The award program represents one of the nation’s most visible state-led investments in agricultural PFAS research, supporting high-impact projects aimed at addressing PFAS contamination challenges affecting farming communities. Dr Omagamre's research will advances innovative, soil-specific intervention strategies designed to reduce PFAS transfer into agricultural systems.

The EnviToxIn Lab, in collaboration with scientists from University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science(UMCES), is leading a nearly $200,000 research project investigating long-term PFAS accumulation trends and ecosystem impacts in the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland Coastal Bays.

The project combines sediment geochronology, PFAS analysis, microbial DNA sequencing, and shellfish monitoring to reconstruct decades of PFAS contamination history and examine how chronic PFAS exposure may influence sediment microbial communities and benthic ecosystem processes. The research will also generate practical risk assessment tools and science-based resources to support environmental management, aquaculture planning, and coastal ecosystem resilience in Maryland.

The EnviToxIn Lab received nearly $120,000 in funding from the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology to investigate PFAS movement from contaminated soils into food crops and develop practical strategies to reduce that transfer. Working directly with farmers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the project supports science-based approaches for managing PFAS contamination in agricultural systems while maintaining farm productivity.

Dr. Omagamre’s PFAS remediation technology was selected as one of only three finalist nominations in the Physical Sciences category for the University of Maryland UM Ventures Invention of the Year Awards. The annual competition highlights breakthrough technologies with strong potential for scientific, societal, and commercial impact across the University of Maryland system.  

The recognition highlights the EnviToxIn Lab’s development of a patent-pending, innovative, and sustainable biochar modification strategy that significantly improves short-chain PFAS immobilization.

We are excited to welcome Sumantee Baidya to the EnviToxIn Lab at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) as a new graduate student. Sumantee will play a key role in our Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology funded project focused on developing strategies to reduce PFAS uptake in crops grown in biosolid-impacted agricultural soils.

Prior to joining UMES, Sumantee conducted research on the phytoremediation potential of Paulownia plants, investigating their ability to tolerate and accumulate heavy metals such as arsenic and lead under controlled hydroponic conditions. Her work involved histochemical staining to visualize metal localization, alongside scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to evaluate tissue-level accumulation and surface morphological responses to contaminant exposure.

At the EnviToxIn Lab, Sumantee will contribute to both field and laboratory investigations examining practical approaches for limiting PFAS transfer from contaminated soils into agricultural crops. Her background in plant contaminant interactions and analytical imaging techniques brings valuable expertise to the lab’s expanding environmental toxicology and agricultural remediation research efforts. Outside of research, she enjoys reading novels, exploring, and traveling to new places.