Faculty Profile

Daniel is a biologist from Panama, whose research lays in the intersection between community, microbial and disease ecology. During his time as an undergraduate student at the Universidad de Panamá, he witnessed first-hand the dramatic declines of Panamanian amphibians due to outbreaks of the pathogenic chytrid fungus. Such experience strongly shaped his career towards the study of host-pathogen interactions, with an emphasis on the ecological factors influencing amphibian’s susceptibility and population responses to the chytrid fungus. After his undergraduate studies in Panama, Daniel went on to do a master’s in Evolutionary Biology at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain), where he studied the role of developmental plasticity in the infection dynamics of the chytrid fungus in salamanders. Daniel, then, during his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech (USA), expanded the scope of his research by incorporating the study of the ecology of the microbial communities associated with the amphibian skin, and their interaction with the chytrid fungus. After his Ph.D., Daniel worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil) and at Penn State University (USA), where he studied the influence of coinfections by multiple parasites and landscape characteristics in the infection dynamics of the amphibian chytrid. Throughout his academic career, Daniel has also been involved in conservation efforts of Panamanian amphibians’, mainly in the establishment and maintenance of captive colonies and conducting field trials to guide reintroduction efforts.

Professional Activities

• Reviewer for PeerJ, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation and Frontiers in Microbiology.
• Member of the Red Mesoamericana y del Caribe para la Conservación de Anfibios y Reptiles. 2019 - present.
• Member of the Atelopus Survival Initiative (ASI). 2021-present

Research Interests

Daniel broad research interest focuses on understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape and maintain diversity patterns. To do this, he has studied diversity patterns using different contexts (e.g., from species inventories to host-pathogen interactions). For instance, during his undergraduate thesis, he assessed the changes in amphibian diversity and life-history strategies across elevational gradients in Panama. However, having personally witnessed the population declines of Panamanian amphibians due to the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), most of his research interest has aimed at understanding the ecological mechanisms involved in the co-existence of amphibian species with this pathogen. Thus, during his masters he studied how developmental plasticity mediates the persistence, and coexistence, of the amphibian host and the chytrid fungus. Later, during his Ph.D. he became interested in the study of the role of the amphibian skin microbial communities in conferring protection to the amphibians against the chytrid fungus. Overall, his research interest has focused on the study of the relationship between the diversity of these microbial communities and their ability to confer protection, and the ecological factors influencing this relationship. The ultimate goal of his research is to inform current and futures efforts for amphibian conservation, particularly in tropical regions.

Publications