Research Scientist
135 Duke Marine Lab Road
Beaufort, NC 28516
Daniel is an assistant research professor with the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab at Duke University. As an interdisciplinary marine conservation scientist, he strives for an integrative approach bringing together ecology, biogeography, oceanography, conservation, natural resource management and social sciences (particularly with respect to governance). His research focuses on applying ecological and biogeographical theory to develop applied solutions to natural resource management and conservation problems across a range of scales. Specifically, his current work centers on: 1) mismatches between the scale of management and inter- and intra-specific interactions; 2) understanding social and ecological processes that generate pattern in anthropogenic stressors and biodiversity at meso- and macro-scales; and 3) conservation of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). He addresses these topics by developing empirical models using large species observation, fisheries and physical oceanographic datasets and by working with social scientists to understand social-ecological interactions to inform marine policy and governance.
He sits on the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI), the Biology and Ecosystems Panel of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), the Policy Working Group of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI), the Science Council of the Global Ocean Refuge System (GLORES), and the High Seas MPA Specialist Group of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). In these capacities and as a former liaison for the Census of Marine Life to the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), he has been intimately involved in area-based planning in areas beyond national jurisdictions including the description and analysis of (1) the CBD’s Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs); (2) ecological networks for the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS); (3) networks of no-mining areas to support the development of regional environmental management plans by the International Seabed Authority, and (4) all aspects of the UN General Assembly’s negotiations for a new treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions.
