The WWF Greece CYCLADES LIFE team

Dr. Spyros Kotomatas, WWF Greece, Project Leader
s.kotomatas@wwf.gr
Spyros Kotomatas is a biologist and has a PhD in population ecology from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He has worked for more than two decades in research and protection of marine mammals (focusing on the Mediterranean Monk seal), the design and operation of protected areas in Greece and the Mediterranean and has also been involved in the management of Greek environmental NGOs. He began his collaboration with WWF Greece in May 2013, as the project leader of the “CYCLADES LIFE” project, while he participates in other activities concerning marine programs and initiatives implemented by the organization.

George Paximadis, WWF Greece, Marine Officer
g.paximadis@wwf.gr
George Paximadis was born in 1972 in Athens. He is a marine biologist with postgraduate studies in Management of Marine Resources (Heriot Watt). He has worked as a researcher in research programs and institutes in Greece and abroad focusing on cetaceans, including the Tethys Research Institute, the Institute of Cetacean Research Sea and the Wild Dolphin Project. For several years he worked in advertising and then in 2006 he decided to join WWF Greece as Head of the Marine Programme.

Christos Papadas, WWF Greece, Research and Field Team Coordinator
c.papadas@wwf.gr
Christos Papadas was born in 1982 in Salamina. He studied at the Faculty of Environment, at the University of the Aegean, where he graduated with a Masters Degree in 2005. From 2007 to 2013 he worked as an independent environmental consultant. The sea is his great love and he devotes a lot of time filming, taking photos and exploring marine life. In 2003, he became independent diver (PADI Divemaster) and he now dives regularly in Greece and abroad.

Elina Samara, WWF Greece, Researcher/ Field Technician
e.samara@wwf.gr
Elina Samara was born in 1977 in Thessaloniki. She studied Marine Biology (University of Aberdeen), with postgraduate studies in Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture (Aristotle University). She has worked as a researcher in various programs and NGOs in Greece and abroad focusing on Marine Protected Areas. She has also worked in the private sector as Ichthyologist in fish farms in Greece.  She joined WWF Greece for the first time in 2002 working for a fisheries project implemented in Castelorizo and then returned in 2013 for the “CYCLADES Life”, having now as her basis Syros Island.

Ioli Christopoulou, WWF Greece, Policy Officer
i.christopoulou@wwf.gr
Ioli Christopoulou decided early on that she wanted to participate actively in the protection of the natural environment. She graduated from Athens College, and she received a B.A. in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her Doctoral dissertation examines the contribution of the EU Structural Funds to the creation of a sustainable Europe. She was an intern at WWF Greece and a volunteer in Biopolitics, the Society for the Protection of Prespa and at the Office of the WWF European Policy in Brussels. Since 2005, Ioli has been working at WWF Greece as a member of the environmental policy team and  currently she holds the Nature Policy Officer position of the organization, that allows her to partake in the constantly evolving world of global, European and national environmental politics.

Maria Livanou, WWF Greece, Project’s Press & Communication Officer (1)
m.livanou@wwf.gr
Maria Livanou holds a BA in European Studies from the London School of Economics, Kings College London and the Institut de Sciences Politiques, in Paris and a Masters Degree in History of International Relations (LSE). She did an internship in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2001 and she worked for WWF Greece as a volunteer in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy campaign. She worked for “Reportage Without Frontiers” and “Theme Nights” documentaries and she continued her career in a series of informative television programs, while she also collaborated with Newstime information portal, the film company Rosebud as a Press Officer, and the BBC World Radio. Maria participated in research missions of Tethys Research Institute and Pelagos Research Institute and she is part of the WWF Greece family since 2010 as a Marine Associate.

Amalia Alberini, WWF Greece, Project’s Press & Communication Officer (2)
a.alberini@wwf.gr
Amalia Alberini has studied Biology at the University Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris VI and has participated in a Mediterranean Ecology course at the Oceanographic Observatory in Banyuls-sur-Mer, UPMC. She has worked as an intern in ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment & Cultural Heritage and in Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute. She has also participated as a volunteer of Medasset in an international training mission for sea turtles in Cyprus in collaboration with the Cyprus Wildlife Society. The most powerful experience that convinced her to focus on maritime policy and management issues was her participation in a research course called Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Sea Education Association, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Pantelis Sarris Σαρρής, WWF Greece, Administrative Assistant
p.sarris@wwf.gr
Pantelis Sarris is a graduate of Economics, from the University of Piraeus (BSc in Economics). He has worked in the Banking and Financial Services Industry, enriching his knowledge and gaining useful experience. He started working in 2010 for WWF Greece at the Project Management Unit and since then he has been involved in numerous projects.