Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

Dan M. Holiday

University of Southern Mississippi
Gulf Coast Geospatial Center
1203 Broad St
Gulfport, MS 39501
dan.holiday@usm.edu
(PHONE) (228) 276-1725

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Using remote sensing and geospatial technologies toward the detection, monitoring and prediction of harmful algal blooms in the turbid Case II waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico.

EDUCATION

2005 – Present. Ph. D. student at University of Southern Mississippi, College of Science and Technology, Gulf Coast Geospatial Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory campus.
2003. Masters Thesis in Laboratory Medical Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University of Hamden, CT. Masters Thesis Research; Detection and identification of helminths found within coprolites from the Chiribaya culture of southern Peru, and the implications of those findings.
1997-1998. Graduate work in development and medical anthropology at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Instituto Tecnológico de Enginero Superior de Monterrey, in the state of Querétaro, México. Independent study and research done at the Universidad Autonoma de Querétaro, in Querétaro, México. Internship work done with El Grupo Ecológico de las Sierra Gordas in Jalpan, México.
December, 1996 BS Integrated Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Emphasis in Biology (Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology), Applied Anthropology (Ecological and Medical), and World Health Systems.

AWARDS

2007. Second year award to the Graduate Student Research Program, Fellowship Award and internship, working with the NASA Stennis Space Center on HABs in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.
2006. Graduate Student Research Program, Fellowship Award and internship, working with the NASA Stennis Space Center on HABs in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.
2006. Recipient of the Mississippi Space Grant Consortium Internship/Fellowship Program placement award with the Naval Research Laboratory Oceanography Division at NASA Stennis Space Center.
2003. Recipient of the Robert G. Leonard Award for Graduate Research for 2003. Award received from the Quinnipiac Sigma Xi Chapter.
2003. Recipient of the School of Medical Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University Award for Excellence in Graduate Research for 2003. Received for work concerning thesis titled “Archeoparasitology and Paleopathology of the Chiribaya, an Ancient Population of Southern Peru”.
1999. Certificate awarded for excellence in research concerning health science in Peru during the 32nd annual student and faculty research presentations of the Peruvian National School of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Federico Villareal, Facultad de Tecnología Medica, in August, 1999.
1993. Research Education Undergraduate position received from the National Science Foundation, NSF Grant No. DEB-9496263 . Funded work included collection, identification, and museum accession of parasites and the study of disease of mammal populations in the Amazon River basin of Bolivia.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY AFFILIATIONS

Association of American Geographers
American Arachnological Society
American Geophysical Union
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Helminthological Society of Washington
High Plains Society for Applied Anthropologists
Raptor Recovery Foundation
Sigma Xi

PUBLICATIONS

Holiday, D. M., G. Carter, R. Gould, and H. MacIntyre. 2007. Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment, San Jose, Costa Rica. Harmful Algal Blooms in the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay: Using MODIS and In Situ Data for HABs in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.
Carter, G. A., K. L. Lucas, G. A. Blossom, C. L. Lassitter, D. M. Holiday, D. Mooneyhan, D. Fastring, T. Davern and J. Griffith. Remote sensing and mapping of tamarisk along the Colorado River: a comparison of Hyperion, Thematic Mapper and QuickBird Imagery. International Journal of Remote Sensing, in review.

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

2007. International Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Environment, San Jose, Costa Rica. “Harmful Algal Blooms in the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay: Using MODIS and In Situ Data for HABs in the Northern Gulf of Mexico”
2007. Association of American Geographers, San Francisco, CA. “Harmful Algal Blooms in Mobile Bay and the Mississippi Sound: A One Year Comparison of Remote Sensing and In Situ Data”
2006. Alabama-Mississippi Bays and Bayous Symposium. Mobile, AL. “Harmful Algal Blooms in Mobile Bay and the Mississippi Sound: A One Year Comparison of Remote Sensing and In Situ Data.”
2006. Ecological Society of America. Memphis, TN. “Remote sensing of harmful algal blooms in the turbid waters of Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay.”
2006. Louisiana Remote Sensing and GIS Workshop. Baton Rouge, LA. "Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Turbid Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico"
2001. 76th annual meeting of the American Society of Parasitologists. Albuquerque, NM. “Diphyllobothriasis in the Chiribaya Culture of Southern Peru.”
2001. 69th Annual meeting of the Paleopathological Association and the American Association of Physical Anthropology. San Antonio, Texas. "Archaeoparasitological and Paleopathological Studies Involving the Chiribaya Culture of Southern Peru"
2000. Invited guest speaker for the 667th meeting of the Helminthological Society of Washington at the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. "Archaeoparasitology of the Chiribaya Culture of Southern Peru"
1999. Invited guest speaker for the 32nd annual student and faculty research presentations, Universidad Nacional Federico Villareal, Facultad de Tecnologia Medica, Lima, Peru. "Estudio Parasitològico en Restos de Momias"
1998. High Plains Society for Applied Anthropologists, 8th Annual Conference. "Parasites and Public Health-The Ecology of Disease in Urban Mexico"

LABORATORY AND FIELD EXPERIENCE

2005. Remote Sensing of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Northern Gulf of Mexico research project, including analysis of MODIS data and field sampling. Working with the Gulf Coast Geospatial Center, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, and the Naval Research Laboratory at NASA Stennis Space Center.
2003 - 2004. Wildlife disease and amphibian population declines in Southeast USA, working with the USGS and ARMI field offices of the Florida Integrated Science Center in Gainesville, Florida.
2001 - 2002. Development of a specific ELISA test for detection of infections with the tapeworms Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta. Work included protein analysis to determine specific proteins affected by infection with these parasites, and animal husbandry, infection, and necropsy of laboratory rats for collection of tapeworms used in study.
2000 - 2001. Development of PCR amplification techniques for the identification of members of the cestode genus Diphyllobothrium. Identification of specific genetic markers from archival material stored in formalin based solutions has been completed. This work has been done with Dr. Leonard Munstermann of the Yale University School of Medicine and Dr. John Hawdon of George Washington University in Washington D.C. as partial requirement for thesis research at Quinnipiac University.
1999. Conducted survey of coprolite remains from the Chiribaya culture archaeological sites in the Osmore River valley of the state of Moquegua, in Southern Peru. All laboratory procedures and initial identification of parasite remains were conducted at the Bioanthropology Center in El Algarrobol, Peru. Laboratory was established in cooperation with members of the Centro Mallqui Bioanthropology Research Group of Lima, Peru. Training of personnel was conducted concerning the use and storage of laboratory equipment and chemicals.
1998. Interviews conducted with migrant and immigrant populations of Latin-American workers and families in the city of West Point, Nebraska. Study was directed toward public health accessibility of English as a second language or non-English speaking migrant and immigrant workers in the USA.
1997. Ethnobotanical and Public Health survey work done for the Universidad de Autónoma de Querétaro. Conducted interviews in the homes of local residents located within the watershed basin district of the Huimilpan-Querétaro River, near the city of Querétaro, Querétaro, México. Interviews were conducted to learn of availability and use of public health care services as well as traditional healing methods used in the home. Included in the study was a survey of the types of plants used in alternative medicine practices and methodologies for their use by local residents.
1997. Internship work done with El Grupo Ecologico de las Sierra Gordas, in the district of Jalpan, state of Querétaro, México. Work included teaching biology and ecology in both municipal school systems and adult education programs for the parents of those children in the Sierra Gorda Mountains, and development of teaching programs for the awareness of ecological problems facing the people of the region. Work also included aiding in the development of long-term economic and health care improvement programs.
1995. Ecological research at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Reserve Long Term Ecological Research Site of the University of New Mexico. Work was done in cooperation with the Division of Parasitology at the University of Nebraska State Museum, National Science Foundation, and University of New Mexico Department of Parasitology for partial fulfillment of REU study requirements. Focus of research was the investigation of potential hosts for the life cycle of cestodes (Platyhelminthes: Cyclophillidea), and nematodes (Nematoda: Spirurata). Work included the capture and identification of potential intermediate hosts of the coloeopteran family Tenebrionidae for purpose of performing dissections in order to obtain survey data for life cycle investigation. Trapping, animal husbandry, and necropsy of 10 species of desert rodents was conducted to complete study of life cycle developmental stages of helminth parasites found within the body cavity. Geospatial technology used to monitor and map occurrence of rodent endoparasites.
1994. Volunteer work done for the Raptor Recovery Center of Lincoln, Nebraska. Collected sick and injured birds from private individuals and public organizations. Assisted in the nursing, care, and euthanasia of sick and wounded birds. Performed necropsies to determine causes of death. Performed necropsies in order to collect, preserve, and identify ectoparasites, helminths, and blood parasites for parasitic survey of Midwest region raptors.
1993. Survey and laboratory work with Dr. John J. Janovy Jr. involving endoparasites of Tenebrionid beetles. Investigated host specificity of the genus Gregarina (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinorida) within grain storage beetles of the genus Oryzaephilus (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) and the genus Tribolium (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Survey and experimental work performed at both The Cedar Point Biological Station, research station for the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in Ogallala, Nebraska, and the laboratories of Dr. Janovy in the Biological Sciences building on campus in Lincoln, Nebraska.