Teacher Ambassadors - Book a Lesson
Dimitris Sarris
Expertise: Food Biotechnology
Title of presentation: Food Security
Email: dsarris@aegean.gr
Dr. Dimitris Sarris is an Associate professor at the University of Aegean, an expert on food biotechnology and industrial fermentations, specifically on treatment and valorization of agro-industrial waste streams towards the production of bio-based, high-added value compounds within the framework of bioeconomy, circular economy, circular agriculture and sustainability. He is the coordinator of three Erasmus+ projects introducing and promoting the concepts of Circular agriculture and Green Growth.
Eleni Naziri
Expertise: Food Biochemistry
Title of presentation: Food Safety
Email: dsarris@aegean.gr
Dr. Eleni Naziri is an Assistant Professor in Food Biochemistry, in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of The Aegean. Her expertise includes the biotechnological production of functional lipids and value-added ingredients, their extraction with safe chemical means and the examination of their antioxidant and/or pro-oxidant activities. Her current research interests focuses on the valorization of agro-industrial by-products through the application of circular economy principles for the production of functional food products, as well as the incorporation of these by-products in the process optimization of novel fermented foods.
Stathis Kaloudis
Expertise: Computer Simulations and Informatics in Agri-Food
Title of presentation: Usage of Pesticides
Email: stathiskaloudis@aegean.gr
Dr. Efstathios Kaloudis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of the Aegean in Greece. His main research interest is the development of computational models for the agri-food industry. In particular, computational fluid dynamics and data analysis applied to post-harvest grain quality, pest management methods (including fumigation and controlled atmosphere techniques), and sensory science (sentiment analysis of food-related social media posts, eye tracking).
Zacharias Ioannou
Expertise: Food Engineering
Title of presentation: Usage of Pesticides
Email: zioan@aegean.gr
Assist. Professor Dr. Z. Ioannou has graduated from the School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). In 2011, he received his Ph.D. from the same university. Zacharias Ioannou is currently researcher at the University of the Aegean. His research interests focus on adsorptive materials (activated carbons, molecular sieves, minerals), the remediation of waters and soils from organic compounds (phenols, nitrophenols, dyes etc) and heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr), the valorization of agri-food wastes and the management of greenhouse gases emissions from industries. He has authorized and co-authorized many papers in peer-reviewed international journals, conferences and chapters in books.
Gaio Cesare Pacini
Expertise: Agroecology
Title of presentation: What is agroecology?
Email: cesare.pacini@unifi.it
Gaio Cesare Pacini is an Associate Professor in Agroecology, specializing in agroecosystem monitoring, management, and agroecological design. His key responsibilities include research in Agroecology and Organic Agriculture with a focus on sustainable agri-food systems, climate impact, farm modeling, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions. He serves as the scientific coordinator of the Montepaldi Long Term Experiment (MoLTE), the Mediterranean’s longest-running organic farming study. Since March 2023, he has been the President of the Italian Association of Agroecology (AIDA). Additionally, he coordinates the DIFFER project on organic and biodynamic systems, funded by Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture, and is a member of the editorial board for Experimental Agriculture, published by Cambridge University Press.
Francesco Serafini
Expertise: Agroecology
Title of presentation: Agrobiodiversity and UNIFI seeds bank
Email: francesco.serafini@unifi.it
Born in Borgo San Lorenzo (FI) on 31/12/1993, he earned his Bachelor’s in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Florence in 2017, with a thesis on the effects of conventional vs. conservation agriculture on soil and crops. In 2020, he completed his Master’s in Agricultural Science and Technology at the same institution, focusing on the productivity of organic herbaceous systems. That same year, he was awarded a research grant at the University’s Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Forestry Sciences (DAGRI), where he studies agroecological practices for sustainable agroecosystem management, organic farming, and soil fertility indicators. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at DAGRI.
Fabio Olmastroni
Expertise: Agroecology
Title of presentation: Small-scale farming and agroecology
Email: fabio.olmastroni@unifi.it
Graduating in Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture in 2006, he spent over a decade managing rural development projects in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. With expertise in agricultural production systems and natural resource management, he has extensive experience in project management and fieldwork. His main roles in the Tropics included implementing agroecological projects with farmer groups, promoting agroecological practices, and overseeing community natural resource plans. Since May 2022, he has collaborated with the University of Florence’s DAGRI department, focusing on agroecological research to boost climate resilience in Angola and developing indicators for organic wheat traceability and sustainable agroforestry systems.