**George Kontakiotis**

George Kontakiotis achieved a Ph.D. degree in Paleoceanography in 2012 at the University of Athens, where he later worked as Laboratory and Teaching Staff in the fields of Marine Geology and Sedimentology. His major research contributions include developing novel approaches on the distribution and pathways of diagenesis in Mg/Ca paleothermometry. He has further worked on sedimentological and paleoceanographic reconstructions at different time scales by means of marine cores and land sections and related processes. His main research topics are summarized as follows: environmental sedimentology; marine petroleum systems and the exploitation of natural energy resources; integrated bio-cyclo-tephro-stratigraphy; coastal engineering; calibration–validation and the application of geochemical proxies for sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS); applied environmental micropaleontology as a bio-monitoring tool; Holocene sea-level variations; and ocean/climate changes during the Quaternary Period.

#### **Assimina Antonarakou**

Assimina Antonarakou is a Professor of Marine Geology–Micropaleontology–Didactics on Geosciences, and Vice President of the Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment at the University of Athens. Her PhD Thesis dealt with Miocene cyclic sedimentary successions of the eastern Mediterranean in terms of orbital periodicities and paleoclimatic variations based on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages. Her main research topics are summarized as follows: planktonic foraminiferal eco-biostratigraphy, geobiology and paleoceanography; astronomical frequencies in paleoclimates; extreme geological events; marine environmental monitoring; ocean dynamics and sea-level changes; natural and human environmental stressors; and foraminiferal trace metals and stable isotopes. She has participated in several national and international projects focused on multiproxy ecosystem responses to past and present environmental events, and she is the co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in international journals.
