The relationships between tectonics and volcanism are fundamental questions in modern Earth Sciences. How do volcanoes react to external forcings, how sensitive are these interactions, and what are the feedbacks? The Christianna-Santorini-Kolumbo (CSK) volcano-tectonic line in the Southern Aegean Sea (Greece) is an excellent natural laboratory for the study of these questions, lying as it does in a 100-km-long, 45-km-wide rift zone that cuts across the Hellenic Volcanic arc. The line hosts volcanic centers, including the extinct Christianna Volcano, Santorini caldera with its intracaldera Kameni Volcano, Kolumbo seamount, and 25 other submarine cones of the Kolumbo chain. It is one of Europe's most important volcanic fields, having produced more than 100 explosive eruptions in the last 400,000 years, the mass flows from which have poured into the surrounding submarine basins. During the IODP Expeditions 398: Hellenic Arc Volcanic Field, drilling the fills of these basins will enable access to a complete record of the sedimentary, environmental, tectonic, and volcanic evolution of the CSK line since the Pliocene, enabling high-resolution reconstruction of the evolution of the rift and its volcanoes. 

Currently, Kolumbo is being monitored using an underwater observatory called SANTORY (SANTORini's seafloor volcanic observatorY), a collaborative research project involving international institutions and universities funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation. The project aims to understand the connections between deep-seated geological processes, associated risks, and hydrothermal activity. Our international research team employs state-of-the-art technology for in situ monitoring, combined with discrete sampling and measurements. So far, the research team has conducted three oceanographic expeditions funded by the municipality of Thera, during which we deployed and maintained the seafloor observatory, conducted various measurements within Kolumbo's crater using innovative sensors, continuously monitored the active hydrothermal vent field with optical cameras and conducted real-time measurements of radioactivity using advanced instruments. 

Paraskevi Nomikou is a Geological Oceanography and Physical Geography Professor at the Faculty of Geology and Geo-Environment at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has created an extensive scientific network among universities and research centers worldwide by participating in over 80 scientific oceanographic cruises in the Mediterranean, Red, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. She has co-authored more than 450 papers in scientific journals and Workshop Proceedings. Nomikou is considered an expert in the design and execution of oceanographic expeditions, mainly for underwater mapping and tectonics and geohazards assessment (underwater volcanoes, active faults, landslides, tsunamis). She was born in Santorini, and during the last decade, she has been intensively focused on the study of the volcanic field of Santorini both onshore and offshore and more specifically with Kolumbo submarine volcano (7 km NE of Santorini) but also with the mapping of the hydrothermal field of Milos with underwater remote-controlled vehicles.  

She effectively transfers her enthusiasm for seafloor exploration using innovative marine technologies to younger students through her educational lectures at the university, creating a high-profile role model for young women pursuing careers in oceanography.  

Having participated in numerous documentary films (National Geographic, History Channel, Arte, etc.) has allowed her to wade into transmitting scientific knowledge to the citizens. 

She was awarded in 2017 with ATHENS ACADEMY AWARD for the best paper (Nomikou et al., 2016-NatCom), which promotes the geology of Greece, and she also holds the EGU Geoscience Day 2023 Grant award and the Higher Education Teaching Grant EGU 2023 award. The total number of citations in international journals is 2.758 with an h-index of 31 in 1493 Cited Documents (August 2024) according to SCI-EXPANDED και SSCI. According to Google Scholar (August 2024), the h-index is 36, and the i10-index is 95.