People
Professor Spyros Sfenthourakis
I studied Biology at the Univ. of Athens, from where I received my PhD diploma in 1994. From 1996 to 2001, I worked as Research Assistant at the Zoological Museum of the Univ. of Athens and in 2001 I was elected as a Lecturer at the Univ. of Patras (Dept. of Biology), and as an Assistant Professor in 2006. In January 2012 I started working as an Associate Professor at the Univ. of Cyprus (Dept. of Biological Sciences) and as a Professor of Ecology and Biodiversity from 2018. My research interests lie in the field of biodiversity pattern analysis, with emphasis on terrestrial arthropod communities. My research so far has mainly focused on island biogeography, exploring factors affecting diversity in insular biota. I also explore differentiation of arthropod taxa in insular regions, at both the phenotypical and the molecular levels. A part of my work has explored reproductive and migratory behavior of bird species, phylogeography, ecology and ecophysiology of reptiles, as well as a variety of other subjects related to the study of biodiversity.
Dr Andreas Dimitriou - Research Associate
Andreas has concluded his PhD thesis at the Ecology and Biodiversity lab. His research focuses on the molecular phylogeny of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea), a taxon with global distribution and long evolutionary history, represented by more than 3,700 species in some 500 genera and 37 families. He uses approaches pertinent to three different scales: at a large scale, he aims to clarify relationships among major clades of Oniscidea and other isopod suborders, at the intermediate scale, to reconstruct the phylogeny of all Oniscidea at the genus level, and at a local scale, to explore divergence patterns among species and populations within the long isolated island of Cyprus.
Dr Ivanklin Soares Campos Filhoh - Post-doctoral Researcher (Onisilos Program)
Theodora Antoniou - PhD student
I am a biologist who graduated from the University of Crete in 2017 and my thesis focused on the study of fossilised Pleistocene fish species and the palaeoenvironment of the area in which they were found. Following, in my MSc in Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol my research encompassed a morphometric analysis in order to identify the validity of an extinct Pleistocene hyena species found in Eurasia. Currently, my Ph.D, at the University of Cyprus, focuses on population genetics of four lizard species within Cyprus.
Giorgos Papaonisiforou - PhD student
Elena Erotokritou - PhD student
Stavroulla Vasileiou - PhD student
Former Lab Members
Dr Christina Kassara
I studied Biology at the Univ. of Crete, and my diploma thesis was about the biogeographical analysis of the global distibution of terrestrial isopods (Oniscidea). Next, I attended the MSc programme on Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Management at King's ColIege, London. My master's thesis was on forest fire risk assessment with the use of GIS and remote sensing. I recently received my Ph.D. diploma from the University of Patras (Greece). My research focused on the spatial ecology of a raptor species (Falco eleonorae) during its breeding, migratory and wintering period. So far, my main research interests involve modeling species-environment interactions with the use of GIS tools and Species Distribution Models.
Dr Emmanouela Karameta, collaborating PhD student and post-doctoral researcher
I studied Biology at the Univ. of Athens, and my diploma thesis concerned the effects of fire on the structure of two ground-dwelling beetle assemblages along a gradient of vegetation structure on Mt. Mainalon (Greece). I continued my studies, attending the Ecology Evolution and Conservation MSc at the Imperial College London, where I worked on insect associative learning and mate choice copying. My PhD at the Univ. of Athens focused on the phylogeography, physiology and behavioural mechanisms and adaptations of the Rough-tail Rock Agama (Laudakia stellio). I contributed as a post-doctoral researcher to the EVOLCYP project.
Dr Pantelis Savvidis,
I received my degree from the Dept. of Medical Laboratories (School of Health and Caring) at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. Next, I completed the MSc programme of Experimental Molecular Biology at the Dept. of Biological Sciences of the Univ. of Cyprus (2012). My thesis was on the ecology, genetic variation and competitive behaviour of the freshwater crab (Potamon potamios) of Cyprus.
Dr George Michaelides
I studied Agriculture and Plant Protection at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. My diploma thesis was about the Olfactory stimuli on new hadged adults of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephrididae). On May 2019 I received my PhD on Biodiversity and Ecology from the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Cyprus. My PhD thesis was about the susceptibility of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) to insecticides, identification of resistance mutations and biological control with two generalist predators (Nesidiocoris tenuis, Macrolophus pygmaeus).
Dr Monica Demetriou
Dr Nikolas Michailides
Dr Aggelos Agathangelou
M.Sc. Katerina Achilleos
In June 2011 I completed my Bachelor Degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Cyprus. My thesis concerned the archaeology of biodiversity, studying calcareous organisms in the sedimentary record of the Mazotos shipwreck (Cyprus). I took my MSc in Biodiversity and Ecology at the University of Cyprus in 2014. My research focused on the biodiversity of artificial and natural reefs, mainly the systematics of bryozoans and corals.
M.Sc. Marios Giannapas (2015)
M.Sc. Michalis Hadjiconstantis (2015)
M.Sc. Alexandros Moulias (2018)
M.Sc. Faiza Ramzan (2020)