Melina Gehrig is a temporary intern at the Statutory Seat Office in Sevilla. During her time with LifeWatch ERIC she supports the Project Management and Administration departments. Her studies in International Business Management and professional experience in international companies prepared her for the role in Sevilla.
R&D Project Manager with over a decade of experience driving innovation across sectors such as sustainability, circular economy, energy transition and smart cities. He began his career focusing on the design and execution of national and international R&D initiatives, later specialising in European project management and coordination. His expertise covers the full project cycle – from inception and proposal writing to financial management and market analysis – always ensuring alignment with strategic business and societal goals. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the success of projects funded by Horizon Europe, Eureka, and LIFE+, fostering collaboration between industry, academia, and public institutions.
Currently serving as Project Manager at LifeWatch ERIC, he is responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring international R&D projects, coordinating with partners, contractors, and stakeholders to ensure technical and administrative compliance.
Data Science Specialist
She holds a Master’s in Ichthyology and Aquatic Environmental Sciences from the University of Thessaly and a Ph.D. from the University of Salento, where she applied innovative molecular techniques to assess biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Her research integrated fieldwork, laboratory analyses and data-driven approaches to explore traditional and molecular tools for understanding biodiversity changes and supporting conservation efforts. Over the years she has published several scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals and actively contributed to conferences, seminars and workshops.
She currently works as a data scientist, specializing in developing policies and strategies for the collection, organization, storage, and accessibility of (meta)data, with a strong emphasis on harmonization, interoperability challenges, and FAIR data management. She is involved in various European projects that focus on the entire data lifecycle within environmental research.
I’m working in project management in the University of Amsterdam (UvA) for a lifetime now, and since 2008 I’ve been involved in the design and setup of LifeWatch as a legal entity. In my UvA position I was responsible for the LifeWatch Preparatory Project and later coordinating and contributing to the sequence of ENVRI projects, establishing LifeWatch ERIC as an important partner in the ENVRI community. I was involved in further projects like Creative-B, Globis-B, RAMIRI and ERIC-Forum. Since 2020 I’m working part-time for LifeWatch ERIC as General Manager of the Virtual Laboratory and Innovation Center (VLIC), the common facility in Amsterdam.
Main Publications:
Madeira Scauri holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures, with a focus on Press and Cultural Journalism, from the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale.”
With extensive experience in communication, dissemination, and outreach, Madeira previously served as the EU Project Communication, Dissemination & Outreach Manager at ENCO Engineering and Consulting. In this role, she was the Communication and Dissemination leader for projects such as MERLIN, BioSupPack, and CISUFLO, organised major EU events, and collaborated with stakeholders across various sectors. She also contributed to the European Commission’s Digital Innovation Lab at DG DIGIT, focusing on co-creation, content development, and stakeholder engagement.
Madeira is an experienced EU Project Communication Officer at LifeWatch ERIC, where she is the Communication and Dissemination leader of RESTORE4Cs and task leader of MARBEFES. She is also involved in the communication and dissemination efforts for several other Horizon EU projects, including FAIR IMPACT, ANERIS, DTO-BioFlow, DOORS, etc. Her responsibilities include content creation, social media management, and coordinating high-profile events.
EU project Training Officer, LifeWatch ERIC
Graduated in Communication and Media Studies in 2017 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Eleonora has been working as digital project officer in membership-based organisations supporting the professional development of researchers, scholars, and school education staff across Europe. Between 2019 and 2022 at European Schoolnet she coordinated the production of monthly webinar and massive open online course (MOOCs) series, while also acting as product owner for complex learning management systems. Eleonora joined LifeWatch ERIC in 2022, where she puts into practice her expertise in continuous and digital learning by designing training strategies in Horizon Europe projects, strengthening capacities in ecosystems and biodiversity management, Earth and ocean monitoring, open science, and research software engineering.
Senior Scientific Manager
She is a Senior Scientific Manager at ICT-Core, where she coordinates and manages LifeWatch ERIC activities across various Horizon Europe projects. With a transdisciplinary background, her work focuses on sustainable food production, agroecology, sustainable soil management, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. She is particularly involved in the SUSSOIL, StePPFoS, GreenCop, Agroecology, and Path2Dea projects within LifeWatch ERIC.
Iria holds a PhD in Bioeconomy from the University of Leuven (Belgium), a Master’s in Biology from the University of Uppsala (Sweden), a Master’s in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from the Complutense University of Madrid, and an MSc in Forest Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain).
From 2015 to 2021, Iria worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Seville, within the Sustainable Resources Unit. There, she evaluated the environmental and socio-economic impacts of various climate change adaptation and mitigation programs and practices. She also assessed the sustainability of biofuel production in Mali and Mexico while at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Leuven. Additionally, Iria has managed international projects in countries such as Mexico, Lebanon, Morocco, Mali, and India, while working at the International Affairs Directorate of the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia. In this role, she collaborated with organizations like the FAO and the World Bank. She is the author of over 20 publications and has participated in many seminars, conferences and workshop.
Main publications
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X24003117
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901118305471?via%3Dihub
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421514007034?via%3Dihub
Project Executive Assistant
Master’s in Project Management, Master’s in Innovation, and a Bachelor’s in Labor Relations and Human Resources. Specialist in project management, innovation, and industrialization. He has led strategic R&D&I and industrialization plans in the aerospace and automotive sectors. His expertise includes securing funding, engaging with stakeholders, transferring research results, and managing intellectual and industrial property.
He has worked in the public sector, coordinating European programs such as Next Generation, URBAN, INTERREG, ESF, and ERDF, focusing on local development and employment. His achievements include leading industrialization projects in aerospace and automotive, formulating technological roadmaps, and participating in international cooperation projects in Guatemala and Guinea-Bissau.
Currently, he leads the preparation of ERDF project proposals for biodiversity impact monitoring in environmental restoration projects and the development of digital twins for protected areas. His profile blends strategic leadership, financial management, and an innovative approach to emerging technologies, with a strong results-oriented mindset.
Holds a degree in Statistical Sciences and Techniques and a PhD in Social and Legal Sciences. She has over 15 years of experience in a multinational technology company, where she has coordinated and managed R&D&I projects at regional, national, and European levels, both individually and in consortia. Her expertise lies in data science, expert systems, digital twins, and innovation management. She has led industrialisation projects and contributed to the execution of R&D&I initiatives related to data science. Her current work focuses on managing innovation projects, ensuring their successful development and implementation. She is passionate about leveraging data science and innovation to drive technological progress and efficiency in various sectors.
Permanent activity
Coordinate collaboration among Distributed Centres, Living Labs and research communities to support the development of agroecology services within LifeWatch ERIC;
End of 2027
Improve comparability of research outputs, accelerate adoption of services, and foster co-created solutions for researchers, farmers, advisors and policy makers.
Permanent activity
Facilitate joint initiatives, project proposals and knowledge exchange to ensure sustained service development and long-term impact.
June 2026
Deployment of EDDAn data space for Agrifood sector in Andalusia; Adaptation of TITAN workflow platform and related KHAOS tools to serve as a reproducible, trustworthy analysis layer within EDDAn Data Space;
September 2026
An AGROSERV TransNationalAccess project is currently underway by LifeWatch ERIC and AnaEE ERIC to develop a VREfA (Virtual Research Environment for Agroecology). The project, led by UPO, will support the biophysical analysis of agroecosystems that are transitioning to agroecological management practices.
Permanent activity
Increase knowledge on ecological processes in agroecosystems, considering both relevant spatial scales and long-term changes.
End of 2027
Promote the advancement of Landscape Agroecology, exploring new ways of functional integration of different land and livestock uses to increase territorial efficiency and generate landscape mosaics well-endowed with biodiversity and ecosystem services.
End of 2027
Contribute to the design of agroecological food systems at local and bioregional levels to meet population food demands.
End of 2028
Research on the contribution of agroecological management to combating climate emergencies, both in terms of mitigation (sequestration) and adaptation to adverse climatic conditions at both farm and landscape level.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.