Short CV
- BSc in Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2010)
- MSc in Environmental Biology and Management of Terrestrial and Marine Resources, University of Crete
- PhD in Biology, University of Crete
Dr. Irini Tsikopoulou is a biologist. Her scientific interests are orientated towards the long-term impacts of human activities, including eutrophication, bottom fishing and aquaculture effects, on the benthic ecosystem. She is currently working for the implementation of Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/ΕU.
Dr. Irini Tsikopoulou has graduated from the Department of Biology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and her bachelor thesis concerned the distribution of benthic fauna in Thermaikos gulf. During her MSc at the University of Crete, she had studied the impact of organic enrichment and hypoxia in microphytobenthos. During her PhD thesis, she has studied the long-term impacts of human activities on the marine environment. She has been involved in more than 10 RTD projects, focusing on marine ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem function of benthic communities and ecological status assessment.
During her academic and working experience, she has collaborated with researchers from different fields of science including researchers from Biology Department (UOC), Chemistry Department (UOC), Institute of Oceanography and Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture at HCMR. She has authored or co-authored 16 papers (8 as a corresponding author) published in international peer reviewed journals, while results of her work have been published in 20 conference presentations and posters.
Indicative Publications
- Panagiotis D, Dimitriou Ioulia Santi, Manos L Moraitis, Irini Tsikopoulou, Paraskevi Pitta and Ioannis Karakassis (2022). Benthic-pelagic coupling in the oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean: A synthesis of the HYPOXIA project results, Frontiers in Marine Science, 9, DOI=10.3389/fmars.2022.886335
- ICES, (2022) Working Group on Fisheries Benthic Impact and Trade-Offs (WGFBIT; outputs from 2021 meeting). International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
- Tsikopoulou Irini, Dimitriou Panagiotis D., Karakassis Ioannis, Lampadariou Nikolaos, Papadopoulou Nadia, Smith Christopher J., (2021). Temporal Variation in the Ecological Functioning of Benthic Communities After 20 Years in the Eastern Mediterranean, Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, DOI=10.3389/fmars.2021.768051
- Tsikopoulou, I., Lampa, M., Tsiola, A., Pitta, P., Tsapakis, M., Karakassis, I. Functional adaptations of benthic communities to organic matter enrichment at the edge of an Allowable Zone of Effect (AZE) (2021). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 262,107596, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107596.
- Tsikopoulou, I., Santi, I., Dimitriou, P.D., Papageorgiou, N., Pitta, P., Karakassis, I. Response of Microphytobenthos and Benthic Bacteria Viability to Eutrophication in a Benthic–Pelagic Coupling Mesocosm Experiment (2020) Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, art. no. 270, DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00270
- Tsikopoulou, I., Papageorgiou, N., Tsiavos, T., Fodelianakis, S., Kotzabasis, K., Karakassis, I. Microphytobenthic response to organic matter enrichment: Does the same stressor lead to identical communities? (2019) Regional Studies in Marine Science, 29, art. no. 100682, DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100682
- Tsikopoulou, I., Smith, C.J., Papadopoulou, N.K., Eleftheriadou, E., Karakassis, I. A fishing ground benthic ecosystem improved during the economic crisis (2019) ICES Journal of Marine Science, 76 (2), pp. 402-409. DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsy176
- Tsikopoulou, I., Moraitis, M.L., Geropoulos, A., Papadopoulou, K.N., Papageorgiou, N., Plaiti, W., Smith, C.J., Karakassis, I., Eleftheriou, A.Long-term changes in the structure of benthic communities: Revisiting a sampling transect in Crete after 24 years (2019) Marine Environmental Research, 144, pp. 9-19. DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.11.008
- Moraitis, M.L., Tsikopoulou, I., Geropoulos, A., Dimitriou, P.D., Papageorgiou, N., Giannoulaki, M., Valavanis, V.D., Karakassis, I. Molluscan indicator species and their potential use in ecological status assessment using species distribution modeling (2018) Marine Environmental Research, 140, pp. 10-17. DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.05.020
- Tsikopoulou, I., Moraitis, M.L., Tsapakis, M., Karakassis, I. Can intensive fish farming for 20 years induce changes in benthic ecosystems on a scale of waterbody? An assessment from Cephalonia bay (Ionian Sea) (2018) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 190 (8), art. no. 469, DOI: 10.1007/s10661-018-6846-5
- Vasileiadou, K., Pavloudi, C., Camisa, F., Tsikopoulou, I., Fragopoulou, N., Kotoulas, G., Arvanitidis, C.Genetic diversity of Nephtys hombergii (Phyllodocida, Polychaeta) associated with environmental factors in a highly fluctuating ecosystem (2018) Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 98 (4), pp. 777-789. DOI: 10.1017/S0025315416001910
- Dimitriou, P.D., Papageorgiou, N., Geropoulos, A., Kalogeropoulou, V., Moraitis, M., Santi, I., Tsikopoulou, I., Pitta, P., Karakassis, I. Benthic pelagic coupling in a mesocosm experiment: Delayed sediment responses and regime shifts (2017) Science of the Total Environment, 605-606, pp. 637-645. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.239
- Dimitriou, P.D., Papageorgiou, N., Geropoulos, A., Kalogeropoulou, V., Moraitis, M., Santi, I., Tsikopoulou, I., Pitta, P., Karakassis, I.A novel mesocosm setup for benthic-pelagic coupling experiments (2017) Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 15 (4), pp. 349-362. DOI: 10.1002/lom3.10163
- Fodelianakis, S., Moustakas, A., Papageorgiou, N., Manoli, O., Tsikopoulou, I., Michoud, G., Daffonchio, D., Karakassis, I., Ladoukakis, E.D. Modified niche optima and breadths explain the historical contingency of bacterial community responses to eutrophication in coastal sediments (2017) Molecular Ecology, 26 (7), pp. 2006-2018. DOI: 10.1111/mec.13842
- Tsikopoulou, I., Legaki, A., Dimitriou, P.D., Avramidou, E., Bailly, N., Nikolopoulou, S. Digging for historical data on the occurrence of benthic macrofaunal species in the southeastern Mediterranean (2016) Biodiversity Data Journal, 4 (1), art. no. e10071, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.4.e10071
- Fodelianakis, S., Antoniou, E., Mapelli, F., Magagnini, M., Nikolopoulou, M., Marasco, R., Barbato, M., Tsiola, A., Tsikopoulou, I., Giaccaglia, L., Mahjoubi, M., Jaouani, A., Amer, R., Hussein, E., Al-Horani, F.A., Benzha, F., Blaghen, M., Malkawi, H.I., Abdel-Fattah, Y., Cherif, A., Daffonchio, D., Kalogerakis, N. Allochthonous bioaugmentation in ex situ treatment of crude oil-polluted sediments in the presence of an effective degrading indigenous microbiome (2015) Journal of Hazardous Materials, 287, pp. 78-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.01.038