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Physical & Biological Sciences Division
Institute of Marine Sciences
IMS-Fisheries Collaborative Program
Associate Researcher
Staff
Researcher
Long Marine Lab Ocean Health Building
NMFS, 110 McAllister Road, Long Marine Lab
NMFS
Education:
University of California, Davis, California
Ph.D., Epidemiology, 2016
Dissertation title: Protozoal fecal pathogen epidemiology in rural India: human and animal health, water body contamination, and routes of transmission. Advisor: Dr. Woutrina A. Smith
California State University, Monterey Bay, California
M.S., Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy, 2014
Thesis title: Estimating environmental conditions affecting protozoal pathogen removal in surface water wetland systems using a multi-scale, model-based approach. Advisor: Dr. Fred G. Watson
California State University, Monterey Bay, California
B.S., Earth Systems Science and Policy, 2007
* cum laude with mark of distinction in major
Dr. Daniels is an Associate Researcher with the University of California, Santa Cruz Fisheries Collaborative Program and an affiliate of the NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center, where he builds the models that connect what happens in a watershed to who gets sick and what survives. An Epidemiologist and Watershed Scientist by training, he works at the intersection of water and health: tracing waterborne pathogens through wetlands, linking drinking water and sanitation to childhood disease burden in rural India, and untangling how reservoir operations, river temperature, pathogen exposure, and thiamine deficiency impact Chinook Salmon survival in California's Central Valley. He pairs field and laboratory monitoring with simulation modeling, and works to put results in managers' hands to support evidence-based decision making.
Water and health. Waterborne and zoonotic disease, environmental exposure pathways, and landscape epidemiology — how health and environment track together across space and time.
Modeling and inference. Simulation of physical processes in aquatic systems and their consequences for population health and dynamics. Bayesian, information-theoretic (AIC model comparison), and frequentist approaches. Scientific computing.
Data and design. Observational and experimental study design, from in-situ monitoring to remotely sensed data.
Science to practice. Water quality and quantity management, ecosystem services, and sustainable resource management that protects public and environmental health.
Twenty-four publications, 2012–2026, listed reverse chronologically.
2026
• Arai K, Ryan RE, Daniels ME, Willmes M, Whitman GE, Thacher LM, Matsuda N, et al., 2026. Thermal bottlenecks constrain early-life survival of native fish in regulated rivers. Science Advances, 12(34). 10.1126/sciadv.aeg3586
• Osterback AK, Hendrix AN, Daniels ME, Danner E, Henery R, Lindley ST, 2026. Coupling habitat, hydrological and population models to evaluate strategies to recover an endangered salmonid population. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 14. 10.3389/fevo.2026.1778333
2025
• Mantua NJ, Bell H, Todgham AE, Daniels ME, Rinchard J, Ludwig JM, Field JC, Lindley ST, Rowland FE, Richter CA, Walters D, et al., 2025. Widespread thiamine deficiency in California salmon linked to an anchovy-dominated marine prey base. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(26). 10.1073/pnas.2426011122
2024
• Hendrix N, Osterback AK, John S, Daniels ME, Dusek Jennings E, Danner E, Lindley S, 2024. Life cycle modeling framework for Chinook salmon spawning in the Sacramento River. NOAA Institutional Repository. repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/60717
2023
• Michel CJ, Daniels ME, Danner EM, 2023. Discharge-mediated temperature management in a large, regulated river, with implications for management of endangered fish. Water Resources Research, 59: e2023WR035077. 10.1029/2023WR035077
• Abdelrazek SM, Connon RE, Sanchez C, Atencio B, Mauduit F, Lehman B, Hallett SL, Atkinson SD, Foott JS, Daniels ME, 2023. Responses to pathogen exposure in sentinel juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River, CA. Conservation Physiology, 11(1): coad066. 10.1093/conphys/coad066
• Daniels ME, Pradhan A, Odagiri M, Jenkins MW, 2023. Waterborne exposure during non-consumptive domestic use of surface water: a population study across WASH service levels in rural India. Journal of Water and Health, 21(6): 751. publisher page
2022
• Aura CM, Roegner A, Owiti H, Birungi D, Fiorella KJ, Corman J, Kayanda R, Mbullo P, Nyamweya CS, Mchau G, Daniels ME, 2022. Mind the gaps for the best practices: enhancing the management of Lake Victoria fisheries resources. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research & Management, 27(3): e12411. 10.1111/lre.12411
• Hassrick JL, Ammann AJ, Perry RW, John SN, Daniels ME, 2022. Factors affecting spatiotemporal variation in survival of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon out-migrating from the Sacramento River. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 42(2): 375. publisher page
2021
• Dudley PN, John SN, Daniels ME, Danner EM, 2021. Using decades of spawning data and hydraulic models to construct a temperature-dependent resource selection function for management of an endangered salmonid. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 79(1). 10.1139/cjfas-2021-0022
• Bond RM, Kiernan JD, Osterback AK, Kern CH, Hay AE, Meko JM, Daniels ME, Perez JM, 2021. Spatiotemporal variability in environmental conditions influences the performance and behavior of juvenile steelhead in a coastal California lagoon. Estuaries and Coasts. 10.1007/s12237-021-01019-9
2020
• Cordoleani F, Satterthwaite WH, Daniels ME, Johnson MR, 2020. Using life cycle models to identify monitoring gaps for Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon. San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science, 18(4). NOAA repository
• Daniels ME, Danner EM, 2020. The drivers of river temperatures below a large dam. Water Resources Research, 56(5). 10.1029/2019WR026751
2019
• Roegner AF, Daniels ME, Smith WA, Liu J, Schwartz L, Gottdenker N, Campbell A, Fiorello CV, 2019. Giardia infection and Trypanosoma cruzi exposure in dogs in the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua. EcoHealth. 10.1007/s10393-019-01434-2
• Zarri LJ, Danner EM, Daniels ME, Palkovacs EP, 2019. Managing hydropower dam releases for water users and imperiled fishes with contrasting thermal habitat requirements. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56: 2423–2430. 10.1111/1365-2664.13478
2018
• Daniels ME, Smith WA, Jenkins MW, 2018. Estimating Cryptosporidium and Giardia disease burdens for children drinking untreated groundwater in a rural population in India. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 12(1). 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006231
• Daniels ME, Sridharan VK, John SN, Danner EM, 2018. Calibration and validation of linked water temperature models for the Shasta Reservoir and the Sacramento River from 2000–2015. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SWFSC-597. 10.7289/V5/TM-SWFSC-597
2016
• Daniels ME, Smith WA, Schmidt WP, Clasen T, Jenkins MW, 2016. Modeling Cryptosporidium and Giardia in ground and surface water sources in rural India: associations with latrines, livestock, damaged wells, and rainfall patterns. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(14): 7498–7507. 10.1021/acs.est.5b05797
• Daniels ME, Smith WA, Schmidt WP, Clasen T, Jenkins MW, 2016. Correlates of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. contamination in improved drinking water sources in rural India: implications for universal access to improved sanitation and safe water. The Lancet Global Health, 4 (Special Issue): S12.
• Odagiri M, Schriewer A, Daniels ME, Wuertz S, Smith WA, Clasen T, Schmidt WP, Torondel B, Boisson F, Misra PR, Panigrahi P, Jenkins MW, 2016. Human fecal and pathogen exposure pathways in rural Indian villages and the effect of increased latrine coverage. Water Research, 100: 232–244. publisher page
2015
• Daniels ME, Shrivastava A, Smith WA, Sahu P, Odagiri M, Misra PR, Panigrahi P, Suar M, Clasen T, Jenkins MW, 2015. Cryptosporidium and Giardia in humans, domestic animals, and village water sources in rural India. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 93(3): 596–600. publisher page
2014
• Daniels ME, Hogan JN, Smith WA, Oates SC, Miller MA, Hardin D, Shapiro K, Los Huertos M, Conrad PA, Dominik C, Watson FG, 2014. Estimating environmental conditions affecting protozoal pathogen removal in surface water wetland systems using a multi-scale, model-based approach. Science of the Total Environment, 493: 1036–1046. PubMed
2013
• Hogan JN, Daniels ME, Watson FG, Oates SC, Miller MA, Conrad PA, Shapiro K, Hardin D, Dominik C, Melli A, Jessup DA, Miller WA, 2013. Hydrologic and vegetative removal of Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, and Toxoplasma gondii surrogate microspheres in coastal wetlands. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 79: 1859–1865. 10.1128/aem.03251-12
2012
• Hogan JN, Daniels ME, Watson FG, Conrad PA, Oates SC, Miller MA, Hardin D, Byrne BA, Dominik C, Melli A, Jessup DA, Miller WA, 2012. Longitudinal Poisson regression to evaluate the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and fecal indicator bacteria in coastal California wetlands. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 78: 3606–3613. PubMed
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