Academy Members

Miko Slobodan, F.C.A.

Academic titles:

• Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
• Doctor of Science

Institutions:

• Scientific adviser– Croatian Geological Survey
• Acting president – Croatian Geological Society (2022. – 2023.)
• General Director – Croatian Geological Survey (2017. – 2025.)
• Head of – Department for mineral resources, Croatian Geological Survey (2005. – 2017.)

Membership in Academy:

• Full member – Department of Natural Sciences (05/21/2026– …)

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Curriculum Vitae

Slobodan Miko was born in Varaždin on 10 February 1962. He completed his studies in ore deposits and applied geophysics at the Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb. He is currently a scientific advisor at the Croatian Geological Survey. In 2008, he achieved the position of scientific associate, and on November 29, 2012, he was promoted to the rank of scientific advisor. In 2019, he obtained a permanent appointment as a scientific advisor. Between 1988 and 1993, he was employed at the RGNF, University of Zagreb, as a junior researcher on a project led by academician Ivan Jurković. He joined the Croatian Geological Survey (HGI) in 1993 and served as the head of the Department for Mineral Resources for three terms, from 2005 to 2017. Subsequently, he was elected general director of the HGI for two terms, from 2017 to 2025.  Slobodan Miko served as a member of the Geology Scientific Field Committee from 2013 to 2017 and participated in the Geophysics-Geology Panel (Panel PZ-3) for the evaluation of project proposals for the Croatian Science Foundation between 2015 and 2019. He has been a member of the Geochemistry Committee of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts since its inception. Miko held the position of President of the Scientific Committee for the 5th Croatian Geological Congress in 2015 and presided over the Organizing Committee for the 6th and 7th Croatian Geological Congresses in 2019 and 2023, respectively. Additionally, he has contributed to approximately ten organizational and scientific committees for both domestic and international conferences. Currently, he serves as the President of the Examination Commission responsible for assessing candidates undertaking the professional examination for independent geological research at the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia, a role he has held since 2023. Between 2014 and 2024, he successfully mentored eight doctoral candidates and approximately ten graduate students. He also designed and secured funding for the aforementioned research through various projects under his leadership. Furthermore, he participated in approximately ten committees for doctoral thesis defenses. Since 2016, he has been actively engaged in the preparations for the GEOLAB project. His contributions to the preparation and execution of the infrastructure project titled “Renovation of Infrastructure and Procurement of Instruments at the Croatian Geological Institute – Geoscientific Laboratory (GEOLAB)” are particularly noteworthy. This project represents the largest infrastructure initiative in the history of the HGI and the broader geoscience community, involving the acquisition of, among other laboratory and field equipment, four mass spectrometers for isotope analysis. The project is funded through direct grant support under the National Recovery and Resilience Program 2021-2026. In recognition of his research contributions, S. Miko was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Croatian Geological Survey in 2025.

Research

Slobodan Miko has made a substantial contribution to geological science, particularly in the domains of geochemistry, paleolimnology, and the paleoenvironment of the Adriatic Sea. Through his scholarly work and publications in esteemed international scientific journals, he has elevated the global profile of Croatian geoscience. Miko employs an integrative and holistic methodology that synthesizes geochemistry, sedimentology, micropaleontology, geophysics, and geomorphology to delineate the paleoenvironment following the last ice age. He pioneered paleolimnological and geological investigations of the seabed by establishing and equipping a research team dedicated to conducting systematic studies at an unprecedented level in Croatia, with the ultimate aim of producing geological and geomorphological maps of the Croatian seabed. In addition to his published works in relevant journals, the research has garnered the interest of numerous internationally significant research groups. Notably, a multi-year collaboration was initiated with the University of Copenhagen and the Geogenetics group (Globe Institute) to utilize environmental DNA for creating paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the Adriatic Sea basin.

As of May 2026, he has authored 74 original scientific papers indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database, 90 papers indexed in the Scopus database, nine book chapters, and one editorial book. Additionally, he is a co-author of a patent (HR, P20130650A). He has contributed to numerous co-authored papers published in prestigious international geoscientific journals with high impact factors. The book “Geochemical Atlas of the Republic of Croatia,” which he co-authored, is frequently cited by researchers conducting geochemical studies of soils in the Republic of Croatia and karst terrains globally.

According to the databases of Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS), the scientific contributions of S. Mike have been cited 2,920, 1,450, and 1,170 times, respectively, as of May 2026. The works of S. Miko have been cited a total of 1,555 times in journals indexed by the WoS database. These sources indicate that the h-index of the published works is h=27, h=20, and h=19, respectively. Based on these data, Slobodan Miko is recognized as one of the most frequently cited Croatian geologists of his generation. In total, he is a co-author of over 500 distinct works documented in the CroRIS database (CroRIS ID 11596).

He has served as a reviewer for papers in esteemed international and national scientific journals. Additionally, he has evaluated scientific projects for the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and other countries, including Slovenia and Israel. He has acted as an expert evaluator for approximately 20 EU H2020 projects in the fields of environment and geosciences. Since 2015, he has assessed around 20 periodic reports for projects under the Croatian Science Foundation. As a lecturer, he has participated in over fifty scientific conferences and delivered more than ten invited lectures at scientific congresses and professional meetings both domestically and internationally.

Slobodan Miko served as the principal investigator for two projects funded by the Croatian Science Foundation (HRZZ) from 2014 to 2023. Additionally, he held roles as an associate or leader at the Croatian Geological Institute (HGI) on 18 international scientific and professional projects, including FP7, H2O2O, Horizon Europe, and Interreg.

The research conducted by S. Miko has predominantly concentrated on geochemical processes within karst environments, paleolimnology, and the geological studies of the Adriatic seabed.

Geochemical research

Geochemical research has consistently underpinned the scientific endeavors of S. Miko throughout his career. His investigations encompass environmental geochemistry, focusing on the cycles of trace elements within soils, sediments, waters, and vegetation, as well as geochemical studies related to mineral raw materials and ores. The findings from these studies have been disseminated in esteemed international scientific journals. Notably, the outcomes of his extensive research on soil geochemistry were compiled and published in a monograph in 2009, titled the “Geochemical Atlas of the Republic of Croatia.”

Paleolimnological research

Paleolimnological research, led by Slobodan Miko in collaboration with academician Juračić, has commenced on Lake Vrana, located on the island of Cres. The objective of this study is to ascertain historical fluctuations in the lake’s water levels through geochemical and micropaleontological analyses of dated sediment samples. The development and acquisition of equipment for coring in unconsolidated sediments have facilitated research at water column depths exceeding 50 meters. This advancement has enabled multidisciplinary investigations of Lake Vrana near Biograd, Lake Visovačko, and the Baćina lakes. Consequently, this has allowed for comprehensive paleolimnological studies of karst lakes, including the determination of paleoenvironmental changes, sedimentation rates, mineralogical composition, and eutrophication processes with high resolution throughout the Holocene epoch.

Paleoenvironmental research of the seabed

Slobodan Miko’s scientific contributions to the study of the paleoenvironment of the seabed are evident in his efforts to develop and equip a new generation of researchers focused on the Croatian seabed. Investigations into seabed sedimentary bodies and marine geomorphology have been facilitated by geophysical research employing acoustic seismic methods, such as subbottom profiling (SBP) and multibeam echo sounder (MBES), which enable marine geomorphological studies at a resolution of a few centimeters. Slobodan Miko initiated his research on the Adriatic seabed in 2014 by leading the HRZZ project ” Lost Lake Landscapes of the Eastern Adriatic Shelf (LoLADRIA- IP-2014-9419)” and continued with the HRZZ project “Origin and deposition of sediments during late Quaternary sea level changes: The Krka River System and the Central Adriatic Basin – QMAD (IP-04-2019-8505).” The research conducted on the development of submerged paleoenvironments in the Lošinj Channel facilitated the identification of marine deposits in the basin dating back 40,000 years, marking the first such discovery in the Croatian part of the Adriatic. This finding is significant for understanding the paleoenvironment during the arrival of the first modern humans in Europe. The findings have been published in prestigious journals. Research on post-glacial transgression in the Adriatic has led to the submergence of karst areas along the present-day Adriatic coast, resulting in a unique marine geomorphology associated with the estuaries of the Krka and Zrmanja rivers, characterized by submerged tufa barriers.

Bibliography

Slobodan Miko-CroRIS