Dr. Francesca Paraschos

Research profile:

The central focus of my research is the interplay between climate variability, environmental change, and early human activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, with a particular emphasis on the Aegean Sea region. My work integrates palaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological perspectives to investigate how environmental dynamics influenced societies and how human presence potentially transformed terrestrial and marine ecosystems. To do so, I use a multiproxy approach that combines sedimentological and geochemical methods, including XRF core scanning, organic biomarker analyses, and complementary sedimentary proxies. Drawing on experience with marine archives from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, I aim to reconstruct environmental change across the Holocene. By linking palaeoenvironmental records with archaeological context, my research contributes to a deeper understanding of climate–human–environment feedbacks in one of the world’s most historically dynamic regions.

Scientific Career and Education:

• 2020–2025: Ph.D. in Marine Geology, University of Patras, Greece
• 2015–2020: Research Assistant, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece
• 2015–2017: M.Sc. in Environmental Chemistry and Technology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
• 2013–2014: Research Assistant, Brock University, Canada
• 2008–2013: B.Sc. in Geology, Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Field Work / Scientific Expeditions:

• 2023: RV METEOR, cruise M195, Ionian and Aegean Seas
• 2021: R/V AEGAEO, EUROFLEETS+ cruise, SW Aegean Sea
• 2018: R/V AEGAEO , HELPE–West Patraikos cruise, Ionian Sea
• 2016: R/V AEGAEO , LEVECO cruise, Libyan and South Aegean Seas
• 2015: R/V AEGAEO , KRIPIS cruise, Aegean Sea
• 2013: R/V AEGAEO, THALIS cruise, North Aegean Sea
• 2011–2013: Bimonthly monitoring and sampling of the Kifissos River, Athens, Greece

Awards:

• 2023: “Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the southern Red Sea during the late Quaternary with the use of molecular biomarker proxies”, Elsevier Organic Geochemistry Research Award (3000 €)
• 2022: “Reconstructing climatic and environmental dynamics in the southern Red Sea during the past 30 ka”, International Union for Quaternary Research (10000 €)
• 2021: “Determining foraminiferal stable isotope and elemental values for the reconstruction of the climatic and sedimentological dynamics that prevailed during the Holocene in the southern Red Sea”, International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) Postgraduate Research Award (1000 €)
• 2019: “Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the southern Red Sea during the late Quaternary with the use of molecular biomarker proxies”, European Association of Organic Geochemistry (EAOG) Research Award (3000 €)

Publications:

(as of 09/2025; * denotes ISI journals)

Google Scholar

[9]* Paraschos, F., Koutsodendris, A., Sergiou, S., Geraga, M., Kaberi, H., Berke, M., Friedrich, O., Iliakis, S., Uy, M.A., Williams, R., Bailey, G., Sakellariou, D., 2025. Coupled sea-level and hydroclimatic controls on the southern Red Sea sedimentation during the past 30 ka. Quaternary Science Reviews 357, 109310.

[8] Pross, J., Bahr, A., Bauersachs, T., Berke, M., Blanchet, C., Bubenzer, O., Ehmke Espinosa, I., Evers, F., Friedrich, O., Gerber, L., Glos, M., Gürer, D., Hecht, S., Herz, F., Köhler, N., Kolb, L., Kotthoff, U., Koutsodendris, A., Müller, D., Paraschos, F., Perrakis, S., Raeke, A., Rheinberger, S., Sakellariou, D., Schmickal, S., Unkel, I., Waldhör, E., Wu, F., 2024. Climate dynamics and ecosystem change during the rise of Mediterranean civilizations, Cruise No. M195, November 11, 2023 – December 2, 2023, Piraeus (Gree­ce) – Piraeus (Italy). METEOR-Berichte, M195, doi:org/10.48433/cr_m195.

[7]* Sergiou, S., Geraga, M., Rohling, E.J., Rodríguez-Sanz, L., Hadjisolomou, E., Paraschos, F., Sakellariou, D., Bailey, G., 2022. Influences of sea level changes and the South Asian Monsoon on southern Red Sea oceanography over the last 30 ka. Quaternary Research 110, 114–132.

[6]* Sergiou, S., Geraga, M., Rohling, E.J., Rodríguez-Sanz, L., Prandekou, A., Noti, A., Paraschos, F., Sakellariou, D., Bailey, G., 2022. The evolution of seafloor environmental conditions in the southern Red Sea continental shelf during the last 30 ka. Marine Micropaleontology 177, 102181.

[5] Koutsodendris, A., Auer, G., Beny, F., Iatrou, M., Kern, O., Kolb, L., Livanos, I., Mantopoulos, P., Martinot, C., Meier, K., Morfis, I., Panagiotopoulos, I., Paraschos, F., Sakellariou, D., Tsampouraki-Kraounaki, K., 2021. Climate dynamics and environmental change in the Aegean Sea during the Holocene. EUROFLEETS+ Cruise Report ‘MYRTOON’, September 30th – October 9th, Piraeus (Greece) – Piraeus (Greece), 1-19. 

[4]* Tsampouraki-Kraounaki, K., Sakellariou, D., Rousakis, G., Morfis, I., Panagiotopoulos, I., Livanos, I., Manta, K., Paraschos, F., Papatheodorou, G., 2021. The Santorini-Amorgos Shear Zone: Evidence for Dextral Transtension in the South Aegean Back-Arc Region, Greece. Geosciences 11, 216.

[3]* Panagiotopoulos, I., Paraschos, F., Rousakis, G., Hatzianestis, I., Parinos, C., Morfis, I., Gogou, A., 2020. Assessment of the eruptive activity and mud breccia's source and mobilization depth in the Olimpi mud volcano field, Eastern Mediterranean. Deep Sea Research Part II 171, 10471.

[2]* Protopapa, M., Koppelmann, R., Zervoudaki, S., Wunsch, C., Peters, J., Parinos, C., Paraschos, F., Gogou, A., Möllmann, C., 2019. Trophic positioning of prominent copepods in the epi- and mesopelagic zone of the ultra-oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II 164, 144-155.

[1] Argyraki, A., Paraschos, F., Marmara, M., Papadopoulou, K., Maglaropoulou, A., 2013. Comparative geochemistry of the three urban streams in Athens: Kifisos-Podoniftis-Pikrodafni. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece 47, 910-919.