Vasiliki Nikiforidou is currently working as a research assistant on the National Fisheries Data Collection Project (DCF) in the section of the Processing of Biological Samplings at the Hellenic Center of Marine Research (HCMR) at the Institution of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters (IMBRIW). More particular, she is dedicated to fishery biology and the process of otoliths (age, morphometry, etc.) of various species of fish. She participates in the whole process, from the collection of samples, in the framework of the international bottom trawl survey in the Mediterranean (MEDITS), their laboratory analysis as well as the statistical analysis of the results to the writing of peer-reviewed papers and participation in congresses and workshops.
In the past, as an undergraduate student, in the Department of Agriculture, Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment (DIAE) of the University of Thessaly (UTH), she had the chance to examine the physiology of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) in a field study, attaining insight into marine mammalian research in its natural habitat, as well as the study of its skeleton, in the lab. As a master’s student in the Sustainable Management of Aquatic Environment program of the same university, she studied the morphometric data from fingerlings, juveniles, and adult seabass (Dicentrartchus labrax) using standard lab practices in conjunction with more specialized techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy, to examine the ratio of the two major minerals (Ca and P) in their bones, following a cremation step, in addition to histological sections and finally, she familiarized herself with the statistical analysis of the collected data.
In tandem with her academic pursuits, she sought to undertake formal corporate training related to the field. Thus, she was occupied as an intern in the Department of Fisheries, Prefecture of Kavala, Greece where she dealt with fisheries laws, and in a pre-growing unit for sea bream and sea bass in Almeria, Spain where she engaged in the pre-growing process in its entirety. From the reception of juveniles and the control of their physicochemical and biological parameters to the control and handling of malformations as well as fish vaccinations.
Additionally, she has participated in various conferences and workshops and more actively in the 4th International Congress on Applied Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment-Hydromedit 2021 presenting two studies and in ICES-WKARHOM4-Workshop on Age Reading of Horse Mackerel, Mediterranean Horse Mackerel and Blue Jack Mackerel (Trachurus trachurus, Trachurus mediterraneus, Trachurus picturatus), 2021 as well as in ICES-WKAMDEEP3-Workshop on Age Estimation Methods of Deep-Water Species, 2020 in which she participated as age reader.
