Noel James is a Professor of Geology at Queen's University, Canada. For over 40 years, he has focused his research on carbonate sediments and rocks that range from the modern seafloor to the Archean, studying their origin via extensive marine and terrestrial fieldwork, petrography, and geochemistry. He has taught numerous courses on oceanography, carbonate sedimentology, petroleum geology and the evolution of North America to undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals as well as editing or authoring nine scientific books. He has been honoured many times by learned societies, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Member of the Order of Canada.

• The geological setting of Belize reefs. The geophysical anatomy of the southern Belize continental margin and adjacent basins.The morphology, sediments and organisms of the deep barrier reef and fore-reef.The Perireefal sediments.The composition and age of limestones from the reef front, wall and fore-reef.Petrography of limestones from the wall and fore-reef.Comparative anatomy, organism distribution and late quaternary evolution of modern reef margins.Sedimentation and diagenesis on the deep seaward margin of modern reefs