PD Prof. Dr Marco Cantonati is a freshwater scientist and environmental botanist specialized in the taxonomy and ecology of benthic microalgae with particular attention to diatoms. His main research interests include: ecohydrogeology, long-term ecological research, effects of climate and environmental change, paleolimnology. He is tenure-track Prof at the Alma Mater – University of Bologna, formerly Section Head (Limnology) at the MUSE – Museo delle Scienze. He is also an Associate Researcher at ANSP PCER Drexel University (PA, USA). He has been coordinator / work package coordinator of >30 projects, tenders, consultancies. He has published 120 articles in ISI international journals with IF. He is / has been Associate Editor / EBM of 4 international journals (Phycologia, Wetlands, Water, Journal of Limnology), ad hoc reviewer for 91 journals, Guest Editor of 9 special volumes (STOTEN, ECOLIND, Freshwater Science). He discovered and described genera and species of algae and cyanobacteria new to science and has been the lead editor of one of the most widely used diatom identification texts internationally. He holds a Central European Habilitation (venia docendi) in Limnology (University of Innsbruck), Habilitations (ASN) in Italy (Botany and Ecology), and has been Contract Professor of 'Biology of Photoautotrophic Organisms' (University of Trento).