Daniel is presently working in the lab of Mauricio R. Papini at Texas Christian University. The overarching goal of his research is to advance the study of how behavior and ecology interact to produce adaptive behavioral responses, which is key to understanding the driving forces in evolution. Currently, his research is centered upon exploring the adaptive significance and origins of frustration. By examining the effects of drugs, artificial selection, and various other manipulations on successive negative contrast, Daniel seeks genetic components and developmental pathways involved in the emergence of frustration.