Team

Find out more about the team behind LifeWatch ERIC.

LifeWatch ERIC employs an international staff with wide-ranging expertise and multidisciplinary skills. Staff members, roles and contact details are displayed below.

Are you interested in joining the team? Click here to browse our job opportunities.

AllExecutive BoardQuality Assurance & Risk ManagementStatutory SeatICT CoreService CentreVLICAdministration & FinanceCommunicationProjectsHRICTScientific NetworkingTraining
 
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Christos Arvanitidis

Christos Arvanitidis

Chief Executive Officer

Lucas de Moncuit

Lucas de Moncuit

Chief Financial Officer

Alberto Basset

Alberto Basset

Interim Director of Service Centre

Peter H. van Tienderen

Peter H. van Tienderen

Interim Director of VLab & Innovation Centre

Giovanna Caputi Iambrenghi

Giovanna Caputi Iambrenghi

General Assembly & Research Infrastructure Committee Support

Cristina Huertas-Olivares

Cristina Huertas-Olivares

Senior Scientific Officer & Executive Board Support

Maite Irazábal Plá

Maite Irazábal Plá

Scientific Coordination Support

Rocío Mantero Cejudo

Rocío Mantero Cejudo

Quality & Project Engineer

María Pérez Fernández

María Pérez Fernández

Global Project Manager

Ana Bajandas

Ana Bajandas

Project Manager

Javier Saenz Reina

Javier Sáenz Reina

Finance & Accounting Officer

Elena Delgado Rivera

Elena Delgado Rivera

People & Culture Manager

Hooi Sung Lim

Hooi Sung Lim

Quality Assurance & Risk Management Officer

Javier Lopez Torres

Javier López-Torres

Procurement & Institutional Relationship Officer

Antonio José Sáenz Albanés

Antonio José Sáenz Albanés

e-Infrastructure Operations Coordinator

Francisco Manuel Sanchez Cano

Francisco Manuel Sánchez Cano

e-Infrastructure Resource Integration Coordinator

Joaquin Lopez Lerida

Joaquín López Lerida

Data e-Science Management Plan & BlockChain Officer

Adrian Guerrero Bermudez

Adrián Guerrero Bermúdez

Hybrid Cloud Data Centre & Software Systems Operation Manager

Emilio Luis Jara Fontacaba

Emilio Luis Jara Fontacaba

Distributed e-Infrastructure Control & Network Systems Manager

Salvador J. Fernández Bejarano

Salvador J. Fernández Bejarano

Data Management Specialist

Julio Paneque

Julio Paneque

Principal Software Engineer

Pablo Santos Ortiz

Pablo Santos Ortiz

Full Stack Developer

José Antonio Zaíño Rodríguez

José Antonio Zaíño Rodríguez

Full Stack Developer

Jose Manuel Avila Castuera

José Manuel Ávila-Castuera

Senior Scientific Manager

Iria Soto Embodas

Iria Soto Embodas

Senior Scientific Manager

Ana Mellado Garcia

Ana Mellado García

Senior Scientific Manager

Xavier Rotllan Puig

Xavier Rotllan-Puig

Data Management Specialist

Mariela Pino García

Mariela Pino García

ICT Core Project Manager

Javier Saura Rascón

Javier Saura Rascón

Project Manager

Eleonora Romano

Eleonora Romano

Administrative Officer

Irene Matteo

Irene Matteo

Administrative Assistant

Cosimo Vallo

Cosimo Vallo

Training Officer

Eleonora Parisi

Eleonora Parisi

EU Project Training Officer

Sara Montinaro

Sara Montinaro

Chief Communication Officer

Laura Caciagli

Laura Caciagli

Science Communication Specialist

Cristina Mancarella

Cristina Mancarella

Digital Communication Officer

Madeira Scauri

Madeira Scauri

EU Project Communication Officer

Ant Türkmen

Ant Türkmen

Scientific Community Networking Officer

Vanessa Marrocco

Vanessa Marrocco

EU Project Scientific Community Networking Officer

Lucia Vaira

Lucia Vaira

Service Centre ICT Coordinator

Eftychia Tzafesta

Eftychia Tzafesta

EU Project Data Science Specialist

Majid Fiaz

Majid Fiaz

Web Developer

Parham Ramezani

Parham Ramezani

ICT Ontology Junior Developer

Pierluigi Calasso

Pierluigi Calasso

Help Desk Technician

Nikos Minadakis

Nikos Minadakis

Semantic Engineer

Zhiming Zhao

Zhiming Zhao

VLIC Technical Manager

Gabriel Pelouze

Gabriel Pelouze

Cloud-based Virtual Research Environments Developer

Spiros Koulouzis

Spiros Koulouzis

Virtual Research Environment Developer

Koen Greuell

Koen Greuell

Cloud-based Virtual Research Environments Developer

Jacco Konijn

Jacco Konijn

Project Manager

Statutory Seat

Christos Arvanitidis

Christos
 Arvanitidis


Chief Executive Officer


Executive Board

Elena Delgado

Elena
 Delgado Rivera


People & Culture Manager



María Pérez

María
 Pérez Fernández


Project Administrative Coordinator



lucas

Lucas
 de Moncuit


Chief Financial Officer


Executive Board

huertas_rz

Cristina
 Huertas-Olivares


International Initiatives & Projects Manager


saenz_reina_rz

Javier
 Saenz Reina


Finance Officer



Ana Bajandas

Ana
 Bajandas


Project Manager for
EU-funded Projects


Hooi Sung LIM

Hooi Sung
Lim


Quality Assurance & Risk Management Officer


caputi_rz

Giovanna
 Caputi Iambrenghi


National Nodes Operations
Manager


mantero_rz

Rocío
 Mantero Cejudo


Quality and Project Engineer



ICT-Core

avila_rz

José Manuel
 Ávila-Castuera


Agroecology Coordinator



Joaquin Lopez

Joaquín
 López Lerida


Data e-Science Management Plan & BlockChain Officer


Mariela-Pino

Mariela
 Pino García


Data Analytics Project Manager



pablo

Pablo
 Santos Ortiz


Full Stack Developer



Adrian Guerrero

Adrián
 Guerrero Bermúdez


Hybrid Cloud Datacentre Systems & Operations Manager


lopeztorres_rz

Javier
 López-Torres


Procurement & Institutional Relationship Officer


Xavier Rotllan-Puig

Xavier
 Rotllan-Puig


Data Management
Specialist


Javier Saura PhotoLW

Javier
 Saura Rascon


Project Executive Assistant



Maite Irazábal Plá

Maite
 Irazábal Plá


EU-LAC Fundraising, Networking & Projects Manager


Ana Mellado

Ana
 Mellado García


Project Executive Coordinator



saenz_albanes_rs

Antonio José
 Sáenz Albanés


e-Infrastructure Operations
Coordinator


Iria Soto

Iria
 Soto Embodas


Agroecology Project Manager



Emilio Jara

Emilio Luis
 Jara Fontacaba


Distributed e-Infrastructure Control & Network Systems Manager

Julio_Paneque

Julio
 Paneque


Intelligent Systems, Robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles & HAPS Expert

cano_rz

Francisco Manuel
 Sánchez Cano


e-Infrastructure Resource Integration Coordinator


Service Centre

Alberto Basset

Alberto
 Basset


Interim Director of Service Centre


Executive Board

Sara Montinaro

Sara
 Montinaro


Chief Communication Officer



IMG_6323

Eleonora
 Romano


Administrative Officer



Laura Caciagli

Laura
 Caciagli


Science Communication Specialist



Eleonora Parisi

Eleonora
 Parisi


EU Project Training Officer



Lucia_ridim

Lucia
 Vaira


Data and Service Architect



Cristina Mancarella

Cristina
 Mancarella


Digital Communication Officer



efh_20240708161028_296147_0e326_62fe1

Parham
 Ramezani


Knowledge Engineer - ICT Ontology Developer


CosimoVallo

Cosimo
 Vallo


Training Officer



Vanessa Marrocco

Vanessa
 Marrocco


EU Project Scientific Community Networking Officer


Madeira Scauri

Madeira
 Scauri


EU Project Communication Officer



Irene Matteo

Irene
 Matteo


Administrative Assistant


Turkmen Profil

Ant
 Türkmen


Scientific Community Networking Officer


Virtual Laboratory & Innovations Centre

peter

Peter H.
 van Tienderen


Interim Director of VLIC


Executive Board

portrait

Koen
 Greuell


Developer for Cloud-based Virtual Research Environments


Jacco_2.jpg

Jacco
 Konijn


Project Manager



gabriel pelouze

Gabriel
 Pelouze


Virtual Research Environment Developer


ZhimingZhao20

Zhiming
 Zhao


VLIC Technical Manager



Spiros Koulouzis

Spiros
 Koulouzis


Virtual Research Environment Developer


Policy Relevance and Uptake

  • End of May 2026 – Policy-brief to demonstrate the application of habitat-based mapping in supporting EU strategies (e.g., Biodiversity Strategy, Nature Restoration Law).

Mapping user requirements

  • End of January 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines addressing ecological responses to climate change;
  • February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders.
Greece

The Greek National Distributed Centre is funded by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology and is coordinated by the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, in conjunction with 47 associated partner institutions.

To know more about how Greece contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Greece webpage
Italy

The Italian National Distributed Centre is led and managed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and is coordinated by a Joint Research Unit, currently comprising 35 members. Moreover, Italy hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Service Centre.

To know more about how Italy contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Italy webpage
Netherlands

The Dutch National Distributed Centre is hosted by the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. Moreover, The Netherlands hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Virtual Laboratory and Innovation Centre.

To know more about how The Netherlands contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Netherlands webpage
Portugal

The Portuguese National Distributed Centre is managed by PORBIOTA, the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity. Led by BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO – Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, PORBIOTA connects the principal Portuguese research institutions working in biodiversity.

To know more about how Portugal contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Portugal webpage
Slovenia

The Slovenian National Distributed Centre is led by the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). It focuses on the development of technological solutions in the field of biodiversity and socio-ecosystem research.

To know more about how Slovenia contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Slovenia webpage
Spain

The Spanish National Distributed Centre is supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Guadalquivir River Basin Authority (Ministry for Ecological Transition-MITECO). Moreover, Spain is the hosting Member State of LifeWatch ERIC, the location of its Statutory Seat & ICT e-Infrastructure Technical Office (LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities). 

To know more about how Spain contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Spain webpage
Bulgaria

The Bulgarian National Distributed Centre is represented by the  Agricultural University-Plovdiv.

To know more about how Bulgaria contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Bulgaria webpage

Implementing services

  • End of January 2025 – Internal distribution of a questionnaire on the most used/relevant model resources in the WG member research activity;
  • February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders.

Knowledge Exchange and Capacity Building

  • End of December 2025 – Create a shared repository of guidance documents, tools, templates, and data resources accessible to WG members and broader communities.

Organising WG workshops and conferences

  • End of January 2025 – Setting priority research lines and contributions to the BEeS 2025 LifeWatch Conference for the session on the “Ecological responses to climate change”;
  • March/April 2025 (TBD) – Workshop ‘Ecological modelling and eco-informatics to address functional responses of biodiversity and ecosystems to climate change’ co-organised with the University of Salento;
  • 30 June – 3 July 2025 – Participation to LifeWatch 2025 BEeS Conference on “Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis”.

Fund raising

  • End of January 2025 – Establishing a WG Committee on scouting project application opportunities and fundraising.

Meetings, Webinars, International Conferences & Networking (2025/2026)

  • Organising and participating at discussions on emerging technologies in biodiversity monitoring;
  • Organising webinars on machine learning, eDNA analysis, and automated data collection;
  • Fostering collaboration between researchers, technologists, and decision-makers.

Collaborative Research & Case Studies (2025/2026)

  • Conducting pilot projects to test new monitoring methods;
  • Publishing scientific and popular science papers and reports on advancements in biodiversity assessment.

Data Standardisation & FAIR Principles Implementation (2025/2026)

  • Developing best practices for data curation and sharing;
  • Ensuring that biodiversity data aligns with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) standards.

Development of VREs for Ecosystem Simulation (2026)

  • Creating virtual models of ecosystems to predict environmental changes;
  • Enhancing conservation strategies through AI-driven simulations.

Mapping Requirements and Gap Analysis

  • End of December 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines Ecosystem services mapping.

Methodological Alignment and Innovation

  • End of January 2026 – Online working table on mapping standards, classification systems, and indicators across members;
  • End of January 2026 – Catalogue of advanced techniques (e.g., remote sensing, GIS modelling, and machine learning) for scalable, habitat-based ecosystem service mapping;
  • End December 2026 – Methodological framework to support methodological innovation through joint development and testing of mapping approaches, especially linking ecosystem service supply and demand.
Belgium

The Belgian National Distributed Centre makes varied and complementary in-kind contributions to LifeWatch ERIC. These are implemented in the form of long-lasting projects by various research centres and universities distributed throughout the country and supported by each respective political authority.

To know more about how Belgium contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Belgium webpage