Eugene F. Stoermer is a past-President of the Phycological Society of America and the International Association for Diatom Research. He has worked at the University of Michigan since 1965 where he is Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, studying various aspects of diatom biology and ecology.
John P Smol co-heads the Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Queens University, Ontario, where he is Professor in the Department of Biology. He is editor-in-chief of the journal of Paleolimnology.