Octavian Catuneanu is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, with PhD degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Bucharest. He is the recipient of several distinctions in the field of Geology, including the W.W. Hutchison Medal of the Geological Association of Canada for exceptional advances in earth science research, and best paper awards from the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, the Geological Society of America, and the Romanian Academy of Sciences. Octavian Catuneanu served as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology, Chair of the Task Group on Sequence Stratigraphy of the International Subcommission on Stratigraphic Classification, Chair of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, and member of the editorial board of several journals in North America, Europe, and Africa. He is the editor of several books and special issues, author of numerous publications in the fields of sedimentology, stratigraphy, and basin analysis, and instructor of sequence stratigraphy and related disciplines for universities, conferences, and companies worldwide. The first edition of his “Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy” textbook (Elsevier, 2006) received the 2007 “Outstanding Academic Title” Choice Award from the American Library Association and remains a best-selling title.