Daniel is an expert in freshwater fishes and has a long background in museums. He worked for the Florida Museum of Natural History and The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for a decade in the United States where he studied I fish systematics and taxonomy of these groups using both morphological and molecular analyses. His research interests are Asian pelagic minnows and other cypriniform fishes from the area as well as ricefishes and gobies from Sulawesi. He has described numerous new freshwater fish species, from the Rasbora spp. to Oryzias spp., and also involved in popular science communication efforts, engaging with internet influencers to preach about biodiversity in the hope of increasing ecological literacy and awareness in Indonesia.
