Daniel is very passionate about how organisms interact with their environment and how the environment influences those interactions. His PhD research was a multi-disciplinary project investigating contrasting fresh water fungal communities aimed at understanding the community composition, drivers of species distribution, and functional roles of each species. During his 2019 Schmidt Science postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University he learned about the fate and environmental distribution of pollutants. He applied this knowledge to investigate the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on root-associated archaea, bacteria, and fungal communities of two widespread marsh plants (Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora), in addition to investigating the effects of various pesticides on aquatic fungal species.