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 experience in plant research and environmental stress biology. Her research advances our soybean–PFAS program by investigating how PFAS exposure and soil management practices shape contaminant behavior, plant responses, and rhizosphere interactions in agricultural systems. Integrating plant phenotyping, PFAS analysis, soil chemistry, microbial ecology, and transcriptomics, her work seeks to better understand the factors governing PFAS–plant interactions and crop health.

Isabela joined the EnviToxIn Lab in Fall 2026, bringing an interdisciplinary background in biochemistry, sustainable materials, and materials design. Her research focuses on developing our lab's next-generation materials for PFAS binding and transformation, informed by an understanding of the physicochemical processes that govern contaminant retention, mobility, and interactions with engineered surfaces. Integrating environmental chemistry and materials science, her work aims to advance innovative material platforms for more effective and sustainable PFAS management.

Sabiha Sammi Sultana joined the EnviToxIn Lab in Fall 2026. Her research examines how PFAS exposure influences biological plasticity, stress responsiveness, and organismal resilience. Using Drosophila melanogaster, she integrates phenotypic and molecular approaches to explore how contaminant exposure shapes biological performance across different physiological and environmental contexts. Her work contributes to our broader Adaptive Toxicology program aimed at understanding the complexity and longer-term consequences of environmentally induced biological responses.

Tayseer Mohamed joined the EnviToxIn Lab in Fall 2026. Her research in the Lab explores the intersection of PFAS exposure, metabolic plasticity, and physiological resilience. Using Drosophila melanogaster, she integrates organismal, metabolic, and molecular approaches to investigate how environmental exposures influence the regulation and adaptability of metabolic function. Her work contributes to our broader efforts to understand the regulatory biology underlying environmentally induced physiological states and their implications for metabolic health.

Sumantee Baidya joined the EnviToxIn Lab in Spring 2026 to advance our research on practical management solutions for PFAS-impacted agricultural systems. Her research investigates PFAS fate and crop uptake under real-world farming conditions and the soil factors that shape contaminant mobility and food-system transfer. Integrating field research, soil and crop chemistry, and mitigation approaches, her work aims to develop science-based strategies that can help farmers reduce PFAS risks while supporting productive agricultural systems.

Monae Hancock joined the EnviToxIn Lab through a Maryland Sea Grant Fellowship to advance our research on the long-term history and ecological impacts of PFAS in coastal sediments. Her research integrates sediment geochronology, environmental chemistry, and microbial ecology to reconstruct historical PFAS contamination and examine how legacy pollution may shape sediment ecosystems over time. Her work aims to strengthen our understanding of contaminant dynamics and support science-based monitoring and management of coastal ecosystems.

Jadlyn Taylor joined the EnviToxIn Lab as a summer research intern investigating how environmentally relevant PFAS exposures influence mosquito development. Using Culex pipiens as a model, her work examines concentration-dependent changes in developmental timing and explores the potential for low-dose PFAS exposures to produce unexpected biological responses. Following promising findings from her summer research, Jadlyn will continue with the lab as an undergraduate researcher through the fall, expanding this work through additional experimental validation and contributing to our broader efforts to understand the ecological implications of PFAS exposure.