Dr. Dimitrios Koutsianitis is a Forester-Wood Scientist and he teaches courses as an academic fellow at the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. In 2015 he was awarded a PhD by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the field of Wood Structure and Properties. In the period 2016-2017 he conducted postdoctoral research, with a scholarship of excellence of the Research Committee of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with the topic "Use of high frequency electromagnetic waves for analysis of growth rings width and density of coniferous and broadleaf species". In the period 2013-2014 he worked as a researcher at the Institute of Wood and Paper Technology, at the University of Western Hungary. He has also gained knowledge and experience from the manufacturing process of wood products and wooden constructions, as he has worked (period 2015-2018) as a production manager in a Greek wood manufacturing company. He has participated in national and european research projects related to the improvement of wood properties, the production of alternative composite wood products, the quality control of wood and the utilization of biomass residues. He teaches courses (as an academic fellow and as a lecturer PD 407/80) at the Agricultural University of Athens, at the University of Thessaly and at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in the subjects of wood structure and properties, wood technology and wood quality. He has published and continues to publish in journals with a high impact on the scientific community. His research interests relate to new technologies in wood science, techniques for improving the properties of wood, quality classification of wood, utilization of biomass residues and the development of innovative wood products.
My research focuses in the field of forest operations engineering planning and management. I am particularly interested in interpreting, assessing and optimizing how humans affect the environment in forest operations planning and management, leveraging transitions towards Nature Based Solutions.
Dr. Dimitris ZIANIS graduated from the Forestry Department of the Technological Education Institute of Kavala in 1997. He obtained his MSc degree in the University of Aberdeen (1999) and completed his PhD studies (2003) in Forest Ecology and Biometry in the Institute of Ecology and Resource Management (IERM, University of Edinburgh).
He has participated in several research projects funded by national and European programmes (COST E21, FP6, FP7, INTERREG) and worked as a research fellow in the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh), the Greek Forest Research Institute (FRI), TEI of Kavala, and TEI of Larissa. He was employed as a forester (permanent position) in the Greek Forest Service in 2009 and in April 2016 he became a member of Laboratory staff in TEI of Thessaly. In 2021 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forestry and Management of Natural Environment in the Agricultural University of Athens.
He is the first author in 11 articles published in scientific journals, a co-author in two scientific papers and wrote two chapters for books related to Ecology. In total he has more than 1050 citations. His research interests focus on forest inventory and estimating net ecosystem productivity of forest resources using the following three approaches: Analysis of trees and stands based on fractal geometry; Spatial modeling of abiotic factors that affect forest productivity; Mechanical implications of tree growth and development. He is a reviewer for Forest Ecology and Management, Annals of Botany, Silva Fennica, Trees, European Journal of Forest Research, Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research and PLoS.
ANASTASIA PANTERA is professor at the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment Management, Agricultural University of Athens in Karpenissi, Greece. She has a Doctoral diploma on Agroforestry from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a M.Sc. diploma from Purdue University, USA on Forest Ecology and Biology. She has organised many stakeholders groups meetings throughout Greece on agroforestry. She has coordinated and/or participated in research projects on agroforestry (mostly silvopastoral), forest ecology, ecology and vegetation, environmental education, long-distance learning and MSc programs. She has taught courses on agroforestry, forest soils, forest ecology, and forest vegetation. She has over 130 publications in scientific journal, conference proceedings and books. She acts as scientific editor in two international scientific journals and many as reviewer. Since 1993 she is a member in the Honorary Scientific (Honorary Society) American Company "Xi Sigma Pi".
Georgios Fotiadis has graduated the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (AUTh) in 1998. He finished his M.Sc. thesis in 2000 with distinction. In 2004 he obtained the Ph.D. degree in Phytosociology. Both studies (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) were undertaken in the Laboratory of Forest Botany-Geobotany of AUTh. During his studies he obtained four scholarships released either by state or by AUTh. He was a part-time lecturer of Botany in several Departments of Universities and Technological Educational Institutes (TEI) of Greece. From 2019 he is Assistant Professor in Agricultural University of Athens. He also offered lectures of Botany in seminars for native or foreign speakers. He has been engaged in more than 50 national and European research projects run by AUTh, Forest Research Institute, University of Ioannina, TEI of Kavala, TEI of Larissa, TEI of Lamia etc. His published work (in sources with referee systems) includes more than 20 research papers in international journals, 7 in national journals, 15 in proceedings of international symposia, and 20 in national symposia. He has also published chapters in 11 Scientific Books concerning Botany.