Francine M. G. McCarthy,^1,*,** Matea Drljepan,^1,2,*** J. Bradford Hubeny,^3,**** Andrea M. Krueger,^1,***** Paul Michael Pilkington,^1,****** Nicholas L. Riddick,^1,4,******* Michael D. MacKinnon<sup>5,********

1</sup>aEarth Sciences Department, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada
²1Present address: Department of Earth Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada
³bDepartment of Geological Sciences, Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA
⁴2Present address: School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
⁵cOSPM Solutions, Hamilton, ON, Canada

^*CONTACT Francine M. G. McCarthy fmccarthy@brocku.ca
^**Francine M. G. McCarthy is a Professor of Earth Sciences at Brock University. She has studied several microfossil groups, including pollen, dinoflagellate cysts and other non-pollen palynomorphs, planktonic foraminifera and testate amoebae, in marine, lacustrine and wetland sediments of Miocene to Recent age. Current projects include examining the transition to fresh water in several dinoflagellate clades, relating phytoplankton in the water column to the palynological record, and highlighting the potential of dinoflagellate cysts and other algal palynomorphs as palaeolimnological indicators.
^***Matea Drljepan is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario) studying Cretaceous shallow marine clastic sedimentology with Dr. A. G. Plint. Matea has a BSc and MSc from Brock University (St. Catharines, Ontario). Her MSc research (with Dr. F. M. G. McCarthy) dealt with the anthropogenic impact on lake sediments using palynology and micropaleontology.
^****J. Bradford Hubeny is an Associate Professor of Geological Sciences at Salem State University, USA. He runs the Viking Environmental Stable Isotope Lab and teaches a range of undergraduate geology courses. Brad's research focus is on the geochemical and geophysical records of environmental change preserved in lake and estuarine sedimentary archives. He earned his PhD in Geological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island in 2006 and his BS in Geology from Bates College in 1997.
^*****Andrea M. Krueger is a PhD candidate in Biological Sciences at Brock University, supervised by Drs. Francine McCarthy and Liette Vasseur. Her dissertation explores the relationship between phytoplankton in the epilimnion and algal palynomorphs on lakebeds, assessing the roles of ecology and taphonomy on the fossil record.
^******Paul Michael Pilkington completed his studies at Brock University with a degree in Environmental Geosciences. Paul Michael is currently a Masters candidate in Earth Sciences with Dr. Francine McCarthy. He is currently studying algal palynomorphs as a proxy of anthropogenic impact in fresh water ecosystems.
^*******Nicholas L. Riddick is a PhD student at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). He is interested in the field of geoarchaeology and is currently studying changing prehistoric coastal environments at Liman Tepe, Turkey with Dr. Boyce. Nick completed his BSc (Geography-Geomatics) and MSc (Earth Science, studying palynology and anthropogenic impact on Lake Simcoe) at Brock University.
^********Michael D. MacKinnon is an environmental chemist who worked in the oil sands of Alberta for 30 years. Mike continues to consult for the oil sands industry and he has been teaching oceanography at Brock University since 2010.