Olukayode Jegede

Dr. Olukayode (Kayode) Jegede is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Toxicology and Cooperative Extension Specialist at the University of California, Davis, with a joint appointment in the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Environmental Toxicology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. His program integrates environmental toxicology, soil science, and One-Health frameworks to advance sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems. 

Dr. Jegede’s research focuses on how agricultural toxicants and emerging contaminants, including pesticides, metals, microplastics, and complex mixtures interact with soil ecosystems, affect biodiversity, and alter ecosystem services. His work spans soil ecotoxicology, contaminant fate, and biological responses using key soil organisms such as oribatid mites, earthworms, and springtails. In addition to invertebrate-focused studies, his program increasingly incorporates impacts on livestock, wildlife, and human health under a comprehensive One-Health perspective.  

He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Zoology from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, a Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research and served as a research scientist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. There, he contributed to a major international project in Europe, assessing pesticide mixtures across human, animal, aquatic, and terrestrial systems, leading some of the soil ecosystem component. 

In his Cooperative Extension role, Dr. Jegede develops evidence-based tools, risk-assessment frameworks, and outreach programs to support farmers, ranchers, regulatory agencies, and communities in addressing environmental and agricultural chemical risks. 

Dr. Jegede is actively engaged in professional societies. He represents North America on the Steering Committee of the Global Soils Interest Group of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). He serves as Secretary-Treasurer for the Toxicologists of African Origin (TAO), a special interest group of the Society of Toxicology (SOT). He is also a Guest Editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science (“Multi-stressor Effects on Soil Ecosystem Biodiversity”), where he oversees manuscript calls, screening, and editorial decisions. He is very passionate about mentoring students at all levels to acquire interdisciplinary research skills relating to agriculture and environmental health.