Dan received a B.S. degree in Biology from Bradley University and a M.S. in Geology from Northeastern Illinois University. Dan is working towards a PhD under the advisement of Christopher Romanek. Dan's research interest is focused on sediment diagenesis in ancient marine deposits within a sequence stratigraphic framework. The identification of geochemical signatures preserved in authigenic minerals at sequence boundaries and other surfaces of chronostratigraphic significance can aide in the interpretation of sea-level change over time. Preliminary work on this topic has been carried out in Northwest Georgia and Alabama.